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Studies in Conflict, Diplomacy, and Peace
Breaking Protocol: America's First Female Ambassadors, 1933-1964
An in-depth history of the Big Six, the first six female ambassadors for the United States.
"It used to be," soon-to-be secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright said in 1996, "that the only way a woman could truly make her foreign policy views felt was by marrying a diplomat and then pouring tea on an offending ambassador's lap."
This world of US diplomacy excluded women for a variety of misguided reasons: they would let their emotions interfere with the task of diplomacy, they were not up to the deadly risks that could arise overseas, and they would be unable to cultivate the social contacts vital to success in the field. The men of the State Department objected but had to admit women, including the first female ambassadors: Ruth Bryan Owen, Florence "Daisy" Harriman, Perle Mesta, Eugenie Anderson, Clare Boothe Luce, and Frances Willis. These were among the most influential women in US foreign relations in their era.
Using newly available archival sources, Philip Nash examines the history of the "Big Six" and how they carved out their rightful place in history. After a chapter capturing the male world of American diplomacy in the early twentieth century, the book devotes one chapter to each of the female ambassadors and delves into a number of topics, including their backgrounds and appointments, the issues they faced while on the job, how they were received by host countries, the complications of protocol, and the press coverage they received, which was paradoxically favorable yet deeply sexist. In an epilogue that also provides an overview of the role of women in modern US diplomacy, Nash reveals how these trailblazers helped pave the way for more gender parity in US foreign relations.
Praise for Breaking Protocol
"Here at last is the long-neglected story of America's pioneering women diplomats. Breaking Protocol reveals the contributions of six trail-blazers who practiced innovative statecraft in order to surmount all kinds of obstacles?including many posed by their own employer, the U.S. State Department. Philip Nash's illuminating study offers an invaluable foundation for our understanding of contemporary foreign policy decision-makers." --Sylvia Bashevkin, author of Women as Foreign Policy Leaders: National Security and Gender Politics in Superpower America
"Diplomacy is the one field of public political life that has been relatively open to women?we need only think of Hillary Clinton, Condoleeza Rice, and Madeleine Albright. In Breaking Protocol, Philip Nash reminds us of the history of their achievements with an enduring and enticing record of the much longer, surprising history of female diplomats and their individual efforts to shape American and international politics." --Glenda Sluga, University of Sydney
"It used to be," soon-to-be secretary of state Madeleine K. Albright said in 1996, "that the only way a woman could truly make her foreign policy views felt was by marrying a diplomat and then pouring tea on an offending ambassador's lap."
This world of US diplomacy excluded women for a variety of misguided reasons: they would let their emotions interfere with the task of diplomacy, they were not up to the deadly risks that could arise overseas, and they would be unable to cultivate the social contacts vital to success in the field. The men of the State Department objected but had to admit women, including the first female ambassadors: Ruth Bryan Owen, Florence "Daisy" Harriman, Perle Mesta, Eugenie Anderson, Clare Boothe Luce, and Frances Willis. These were among the most influential women in US foreign relations in their era.
Using newly available archival sources, Philip Nash examines the history of the "Big Six" and how they carved out their rightful place in history. After a chapter capturing the male world of American diplomacy in the early twentieth century, the book devotes one chapter to each of the female ambassadors and delves into a number of topics, including their backgrounds and appointments, the issues they faced while on the job, how they were received by host countries, the complications of protocol, and the press coverage they received, which was paradoxically favorable yet deeply sexist. In an epilogue that also provides an overview of the role of women in modern US diplomacy, Nash reveals how these trailblazers helped pave the way for more gender parity in US foreign relations.
Praise for Breaking Protocol
"Here at last is the long-neglected story of America's pioneering women diplomats. Breaking Protocol reveals the contributions of six trail-blazers who practiced innovative statecraft in order to surmount all kinds of obstacles?including many posed by their own employer, the U.S. State Department. Philip Nash's illuminating study offers an invaluable foundation for our understanding of contemporary foreign policy decision-makers." --Sylvia Bashevkin, author of Women as Foreign Policy Leaders: National Security and Gender Politics in Superpower America
"Diplomacy is the one field of public political life that has been relatively open to women?we need only think of Hillary Clinton, Condoleeza Rice, and Madeleine Albright. In Breaking Protocol, Philip Nash reminds us of the history of their achievements with an enduring and enticing record of the much longer, surprising history of female diplomats and their individual efforts to shape American and international politics." --Glenda Sluga, University of Sydney
295 pages, ebook
Published January 21, 2020
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24 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 11, 2020
Philip Nash's book is academically rigorous, accessible, and engaging... these things not being mutually exclusive. His style engages the reader and leaves her ready for the next chapter. Further, Nash conveys a great deal of information in a succinct space without overwhelming the reader.
Nash brings these important, and little known, women to life for the reader, giving a true sense of being with them rather than reflecting back eighty years. Humorous anecdotes and quotations add to the reader's interest. He doesn't sugar coat the contributions of these diplomats, but also presents clearly the discrimination each had to overcome or endure.
Nash has the ability to sum up the careers of these diplomats with the same elegance, diligence, and care taken by the diplomats themselves.
In the interest of full disclosure, I am a colleague and friend of the author. I have been honest in my review, and I am not receiving any remuneration for it.
Nash brings these important, and little known, women to life for the reader, giving a true sense of being with them rather than reflecting back eighty years. Humorous anecdotes and quotations add to the reader's interest. He doesn't sugar coat the contributions of these diplomats, but also presents clearly the discrimination each had to overcome or endure.
Nash has the ability to sum up the careers of these diplomats with the same elegance, diligence, and care taken by the diplomats themselves.
In the interest of full disclosure, I am a colleague and friend of the author. I have been honest in my review, and I am not receiving any remuneration for it.
June 17, 2023
Quite interesting and well-researched. Incredible the things these first women Ambassadors had to face! I understand the focus on the first 6 women to ever be appointed as Ambassadors but would have loved a feature or two on the first women of color appointed as Ambassadors.
July 22, 2020
Smart, nuanced feminism, and a pleasure to read.
August 16, 2021
Amazing book about the first women who held these highest levels of authority and some of their experiences. Worth reading and committing to memory.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews