Monday, January 11, 2010

Washington Post: 'Hillary effect' cited for increase in female ambassadors to U.S.

"There are 25 female ambassadors posted in Washington -- the highest number ever, according to the State Department.

'This is breaking precedent,' said Selma 'Lucky' Roosevelt, a former U.S. chief of protocol.

Women remain a distinct minority -- there are 182 accredited ambassadors in Washington -- but their rise from a cadre of five in the late 1990s to five times that is opening up what had been an elite's men club for more than a century.

A key reason is the increase in the number of top U.S. diplomats who are women, what some call the "Hillary effect.'"

Read full article at the Washington Post.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I haven't read the article in the Washington Post, but it appears to me that the author is mixing apples and oranges. First of all, those are Ambassadors of foreign countries to the US. Does the author really believe that they care who the US Secretary of State is prior to sending an Ambassador to the US? The previous Secretary of State, Condeleeza Rice, was also a woman, why not the Candy effect? How many female ambassadors were added in the past year since Hillary was SofS? If there was a substantial number of women added to the US diplomatic corps since Hillary, that would be a legitimate Hillary effiect.