Further, I would hope that we could pay attention to little things. While observing the operations of our Government in various parts of the world, I have felt that in many situations where our policies were good we have tended to ignore minor problems which spoiled our main effort. To cite only a few examples: The wrong man in the wrong position, perhaps even in a junior position abroad, can be a source of great harm to our policy; the attitudes of a U.N. delegate who experiences difficulty in finding adequate housing in New York City, or of a foreign diplomat in similar circumstances in our Capital, can be easily be directed against the United States and all that it stands for. Dozens of seemingly small matters go wrong all over the world. Sometimes those who know about them are too far down the line to be able to do anything about them. I would hope that we could create the recognition in the Department and overseas that those who come across little things going wrong have the responsibility for bringing these to the attention of those who can do something about them.

If the Department of State is to take primary responsibility for foreign policy in Washington, it follows that the ambassador is expected to take charge overseas. This does not mean in a purely bureaucratic sense but in an active, operational, interested, responsible fashion. He is expected to know about what is going on among the representatives of other agencies who are stationed in his country. He is expected to supervise, to encourage, to direct, to assist in any way he can. If any official operation abroad begins to go wrong, we shall look to the ambassador to find out why and to get suggestions for remedial action.