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It looks like all of the Ambassadors on that list are professional foreign service officers. The news reports seem to be trying to give these guys extra legitimacy by connecting them to the Reagan and Bush I administrations (imagine the same AP story citing instead of Matlock, "Amb. McHenry, who served as UN ambassador under Pres. Carter").
But what really seems to be the main theme is that they represent the foreign policy establishment. As noted in my post above, this is at best a "status quo" establishment (at worst a bunch of self-important wine-swilling cheeseheads who think navigating the cocktail and canape circuit is more important than advancing America's interests and who seem to view the role of ambassador as apologizing to foreigners for the actions of crass declassé Americans not fit for the august ranks of the Foreign Service).
I only know three of them personally - McHenry, Newsom and Oakley - though none very well. The Ambassadors Oakley have been pains in the ass to me and quite a few colleagues of mine for a long time in places ranging from Afghanistan to Somalia.
Of course, my low opinion of ambassadors long predated my first day of class at the School of Foreign Service, and goes back to the original Star Trek, where pretty much every ambassador was a pain in the ass.
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