Jean Kennedy Smith Quotes

The diplomatic representatives of the United States of America to other nations are almost entirely Jews.

I won't let any ambassador have a say about my foreign travels.

It was the view of the people in the Department of State that the handling of Yemen affairs from Aden was too much of a burden on the then Consul, so an additional officer was named to the American Consulate at Aden to handle Yemeni affairs. I was designated for that task.

I was initially assigned to the American Consulate in Aden, not as Principal Officer but as a supernumerary officer to handle Yemen affairs. We had no resident diplomatic mission in Yemen at the time. People from Aden went up to Yemen regularly.

When the President picks up the phone and calls the Prime Minister, what does it mean to be an ambassador?

If we start seeing one ambassador I don’t know how we’re going to avoid seeing the other 113 …. I don’t see what mileage we get in seeing 80 African ambassadors.

The job of a diplomat is to be the eyes and the ears of the country he or she is representing.

I intend to ruin the Foreign Service. I mean ruin it—the old Foreign Service—and to build a new one. I’m going to do it.

If Ambassador Grenell is unwilling to refrain from political statements, he should be recalled immediately.

Do we want someone as secretary of state that is somehow tainted in this Benghazi issue?

Susan Rice, she's distant. She is the UN ambassador, got nothing to do with Benghazi, not in the State Department. She has no representation at the consulate or at Benghazi, send her out there, and so Brian Williams said, "Why send you?".

It is an ambassador's duty to stand up for his nation's foreign policy in any era and under any government whatsoever. Ambassadors are, in the full meaning of the term, titled spies.

An ambassador also serves as an emblem of the country that appoints him.

No state, without the Consent of the United States in Congress assembled, shall send any embassy to, or receive any embassy from, or enter into any conference, agreement, alliance or treaty with any King prince or state;

Ambassadors are the eyes and ears of states.

At home you always have to be a politician. When you're abroad you almost feel yourself a statesman.

In Washington, the funds available to the several other agencies for their overseas operations exceed those available to the State Department; the White House has not always given the State Department the necessary support.

The reason for having diplomatic relations is not to confer a compliment, but to secure a convenience.

Embassies are fixed assets and as such are always subject to terrorist attacks.

States should engage [negotiate] with other states, but only so long as their diplomats reflected the will of elected officials.

Yes, sir, from Constantinople, or from the Brazils; from Turk or Christian; from black or white; from the dey of Algiers or the bey of Tunis; from the devil himself, if he wore a crown, we should receive a minister.

When I was UN ambassador, the French were monitoring me.

'Daughters of Britannia' is a fascinating book, not least because it shines a light on a very dark corner of Foreign Office dealings. Diplomatic spouses are the Aunt Sallys of the foreign service: responsible for nearly everything, recognised for almost nothing.

I did not have any private meetings nor do I recall any conversations with any Russian officials at the Mayflower Hotel.

There is an interesting parallel between the 'Argo' story and '13 Hours' in that, around the world, we have 285 or so diplomatic outposts and the expectation that the local government will come to our aid if we ever come under attack on the sovereign property of the United States in an embassy.