Political diplomats
You might think that the term "political diplomat" is an oxymoron, but it is not one in the United States. Ambassadors representing that country are often chosen, not on the basis of any diplomatic experience or skills, but because they are friends and supporters of the current President. Joseph Kennedy, who died 50 years ago on November 18th, 1969, was such an appointee, representing President Roosevelt and US interests in Britain in the run-up to the Second World War, and during its early stages.
His qualifications for this highly important post were that he was an investor and businessman who had supported and contributed to the Democratic Party, and helped to bring Roman Catholic voters onside, as a high-profile Catholic himself. He was also very rich. He made a fortune in the 1920s bull market, often by what today would be called illegal insider trading. Famously he decided to quit the market in 1929, deciding it was over-extended when a shoe-shine boy gave him investment tips.
His wealth vastly increased when he invested in property during the Great Depression. He also invested in the newly-emergent movie industry in Hollywood. Allegations that he profited from bootlegging during Prohibition were never substantiated. President Roosevelt rewarded his massive financial backing and fundraising by making him Chairman of the new Securities and Exchange Commission, then Chairman of the US Maritime Commission.
In 1938 Joseph Kennedy was appointed US ambassador to the UK, and he hoped to succeed Roosevelt as President in 1940. However, he supported appeasement, and tried to arrange meetings with Hitler. He opposed the US giving military and economic aid to Britain. He sent back reports saying Britain was finished, and was looked down on for his defeatism. When the Royal Family and the government stayed in London during the blitz, Kennedy retreated to the countryside, prompting a Foreign Office official to say, “I thought my daffodils were yellow until I met Joe Kennedy."
Joe Kennedy wanted to be the first Catholic President, but it was not to be. Roosevelt stood again in 1940, and Kennedy’s influence declined. He resigned as ambassador. British MP Josiah Wedgwood described him as “a rich man, untrained in diplomacy, unlearned in history and politics, who is a great publicity seeker.” He was also thoroughly unpleasant, virulently anti-Semitic, saying of the Jews that “as a race they stink. They spoil everything they touch.” When he learned of Nazi assaults on Jews. Kennedy’s comment was, "Well, they brought it on themselves."
His wealth brought him political alliances, and it was alleged that he bought the Presidency for his son, JFK, by paying the notoriously corrupt Democratic Chicago machine to rig the votes in Illinois. Of the three sons who went into politics, two were assassinated and the third was disgraced when he crashed a car off a bridge and was too concerned to set up a false alibi that he left a girl to drown in the back.
There was nothing remotely diplomatic about the former ambassador. On the contrary he was a fixer and a crook, but he had money and used it to buy political favours. UK ambassadors are usually those who have worked their way through the Foreign Office and shown or learned the diplomatic niceties. Occasionally political appointments happen, but they are rare. On the whole, the UK system works. It is more low-key and more mannered. It doesn’t always appoint urbane and skilful diplomats, but it never appoints charlatans.