Rich Nominees’ Credentials Questioned

The question is almost as old as the country itself: Should political campaign contributors without foreign affairs experience be rewarded with ambassadorships?

The union of career diplomats says they should not and is campaigning against three deep-pocketed Democrats slated for European posts.

At issue are President Clinton’s nominees to Denmark, Switzerland and the Netherlands, whose combined political contributions, including those of their wives, exceeded $200,000 last year.

All are successful businessmen, but Tex Harris, president of the 10,700-member American Foreign Service Assn., complains that none has any foreign policy experience and therefore should be excluded.

“In an age of shrinking governmental resources, we can no longer afford the former luxury of bringing aboard generous political contributors to an 18- to 20-month training session on how to be an American ambassador,” Harris said. “We have got to choose Americans who have experience and a track record in international affairs. We cannot afford to send amateurs. The age of amateurs is over.”

The Foreign Service, many of whose members aspire to become ambassadors, often has complained about the quality of political ambassadors but has noted that some have served honorably, such as former Sen. Mike Mansfield in Japan and George Bush at the United Nations.

Some have been an embarrassment. One frequently cited example is a former ambassador to a Caribbean country who often went boating in the evening, using the sail as a screen to show pornographic movies.

Clinton has used the foreign service for about 70% of his ambassadorial appointments, somewhat higher than the Republican average over the last dozen years.

The GOP administrations all were accused of nominating too many campaign contributors, and Secretary of State Warren Christopher promised a new approach when he met with State Department employees a week after Clinton’s inauguration.

“Recommendations for ambassadorships will be based upon qualifications that extend beyond campaign participation and will require some real expertise with respect to the appointment,” he said.

Two of the nominees for the European posts are private investors from Atlanta: Edward Elliott Elson, picked for Denmark, and Kirk Terry Dornbush for the Netherlands. The third is a California hotelier, M. Larry Lawrence, slated for Switzerland.

Elson contributed more than $120,000 in support of the Democratic Party and its candidates last year, according to his federal campaign contribution report. The reported contributions of his wife, Suzanne, last year totaled more than $20,000. Dornbush and his wife, Marilyn, chipped in more than $42,000; Lawrence and his wife, Shelia, contributed more than $21,000.

Elson declined comment in a brief telephone interview. Dornbush and Lawrence did not return phone calls.

Asked to defend the appointments in light of Christopher’s statement in January, the State Department said, “All of the President’s appointments to ambassadorial positions bring a special perspective to their positions and will serve the United States well and honorably.”

He did not address the lack of foreign policy experience of the nominees opposed by Harris’ group. Harris says Clinton’s nominees overall are a significant improvement over the crop appointed by Bush.