[KarlInOhio]

I always thought that these high end ambassadorships were essentially goodies for donors and friends of the president. The second in charge is the one running the embassy with the ambassador there to attend parties and enjoy herself. Maybe Chad will get the best State Department employee for the job, but never a Western European or other major country.

[laconic]

The high end embassies are for the donors to the winning party’s candidate. The UK, Vatican, Japan, France always seem to go to some knucklehead with money. There is no demand among the monied class donors to be ambassador to say Somalia, Iraq or Syria; career types always get these posts.

[TontoKowalski]

You are correct, and I think this is fertile ground for a general election campaign.

Hillary says she's never been influenced by donors, but I bet if you looked at who her ambassadors were for France, Belgium, Sweden, etc. You'd find that they were Democratic donors with little, if any, qualifications.

Before being appointed Ambassador to Japan, I doubt Caroline Kennedy spoke Japanese, had any real experience in or connection to Japanese culture, or anything else that would recommend her as our Nation's emissary to an important ally. Heck, she may not have ever traveled to Japan before.