Q&A > Tom Krajeski​
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What inspired or motivated you to become a diplomat?
When I was 12 years old, I learned to speak Russian & German from a rather odd, but remarkable teacher at our small country high school in Massachusetts. I was good at languages. He suggested I look at the Foreign Service as a career. Fifteen years later, after a few turns in the road, I took the exam and joined. It seemed exciting and interesting and, after the debacle of Vietnam, I wanted to serve my country.
Who was your best boss and why?
I’ve been lucky. I’ve worked for some terrific FSO’s throughout my career. So, I’ll mention my first “best” boss, Peter Burleigh, the DCM in Kathmandu, my first tour in 1980. I was a JO (junior officer) in a rotational program, a JORP. AmEmb Kathmandu was small and literally on the edge of the world. Peter gave me a dozen assignments. I ran the motor pool, worked the budget, assisted in the consular section (where another great FSO, Nancy Powell, was the post’s only consular officer). Peter sent me on treks throughout the country in search of a missing Peace Corps volunteer, to inspect wayward aid projects, talk with Gurkha veterans of the British Army, and report on the state of the Everest Base Camp. Every day it was something new. I learned how an Embassy worked, and I began to learn from Peter how to run one. He was fair, kind, and full of good humor and advice. He cared about everyone at post, and he understood that one of his most important jobs was nurturing junior officers.
What would you tell your a-100 self?
Keep an open mind, let your career develop without too much hand-wringing and machinations. I entered the Service in 1979 with excellent Russian and good German. I figured I would spend my career working in and about the Soviet Union. As noted above, my first tour was Kathmandu, then South India, and most of my 36 years was spent in the Middle East. I never made it to Moscow, and never regretted it. Relax, have fun, work your butt off in hard places, mostly overseas although Washington can be hard and tough too. Always do a good job whether it’s on the visa line, managing the motor pool, handling a CODEL, or negotiating boundaries with the Kurds.
Describe a day you felt you made a difference.
May 4, 1994. The signing of the Gaza-Jericho Agreement that established the Palestinian Authority and led the way for Arafat’s return to Palestine and the possibility of a genuine peace with Israel. I played a small role in the talks as a political officer in Embassy Cairo. For 8 months I had covered the negotiations, meeting with Palestinian negotiators and reporting daily to Washington on the progress of the talks. I had arranged countless meetings for the US team of mediators led by Dennis Ross who came to Cairo often. In the week prior to the signing, I lived at the hotel where the talks were taking place, not sleeping, hardly eating, doing a thousand things as the senior officials, eventually led by Secretary Christopher, PM Rabin, and Chairman Arafat ironed out the last details of the agreement. We all thought we had done it, made peace in the Middle East. It was not to be. Oslo failed to live up to its early promise. Rabin was assassinated, and the negotiations collapsed. But for at least one day, we had hope.
What has a colleague done for you that made you wish all of us had a colleague like that?
Like bosses, I’ve been blessed with many wonderful, gracious, intelligent, and kind colleagues throughout my career. It’s hard to single out anybody so I’ll go back to the beginning again, Kathmandu in 1980. Nancy Powell (now a retired Career Ambassador) was the post’s consular officer. I was her loyal assistant. She trusted me and my judgment from the start, giving me full responsibility to handle cases and run the office when she was on leave. As she went on to do for hundreds of FSO’s, her kind advice and genuine friendship were instrumental to any successes in my early career.
What was the mistake you learned the most from?
Never trust (fully) reporters. I have had many friends among the press corps who covered State and international affairs, but I learned early on to be wary, and state clearly what the ground rules were. What’s on the record, background and deep background? Never go off the record, even with your most trusted reporters. Bernie Gwertzman, the NY Times State Dept correspondent in 1985 told me (a newbie press officer in PA): “Don’t trust us kid, ever. We’d sell our mother’s soul to the devil for a byline above the fold on page one.” This after he’d burned me on a Sudan coup story I was supposed to hold until the Secretary had approved it.
What was your best and worst experience working with the interagency?
The worst is easy. The Iraq debate in 2002. State was slowly squeezed out by the VP and SecDef. Even my colleagues in DOD stopped returning my calls. It was a mess. Even though we all doubted and questioned the decision to invade Iraq, our voices, including Secretary Powell’s, were just so much wind. I was actually relieved when the war started and I could go to Iraq and do some real work for a change. That didn’t go so well. It’s still hard to talk about it. The best? Never in Washington. I didn’t like working there. A country team in a well-run embassy with a strong Chief of Mission is the best example of genuine inter-agency cooperation.
What is the one tour you would recommend FSOs consider?
If you can work it out, go to a small embassy in an out-of-the-way capital, like Kathmandu. Learn how it works from the motor pool to the country team. Have an adventure. Next, go to a hard, maybe dangerous place, do a tough job and do it well. Finally, try the Operations Center. That was fun.
If the state department had a mascot, what animal should it be?
A friend of mine, a retired FSO, divided FSO’s into three animal categories. The peacocks: they served in Washington, Europe, Japan, other first world capitals where they delivered UNSC demarches and discussed NATO and the World Bank. Then came the bears: they worked on humanitarian aid and development in the poorest places, Haiti, the Congo, Bangladesh. Finally, the tigers: give them a war zone, dress them in PPE, and fly them around in Blackhawks and C-130’s in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Yemen. So I think we need at least three mascots.
What was the biggest challenge of FS life for your family, and how did you manage it?
We were lucky. Our three kids were able to live with us throughout their school days in Warsaw, Tunis, Cairo & Dubai. My wife was a teacher in their schools. We had strong communities almost everywhere we served. We were never evacuated (maybe the only career NEA-hand to claim that.) Only later in my career did I live alone in Yemen & Iraq. The biggest challenges were similar to the challenges everyone faces raising a family, keeping relationships strong, and staying in touch with the folks back home. We tried to give the kids a relatively normal “American” life liberally salted with great adventures in the Sinai, down the Nile, throughout Europe, and at every post. It may be harder now with so many unaccompanied postings, and with spouses/partners’ career needs.
What is your leadership philosophy?
Try to recruit the smartest and most energetic people you can find and let them do their jobs with minimal management. And it may be a cliché, but always take the blame when things go wrong, and spread the praise around when things go right. Pay attention, listen to everyone before you speak. Make decisions when you have to, but try to be flexible, change your mind if it makes sense, don’t take criticism personally, and encourage your team to be critical. I led when I had to, but preferred to be cheerleader-in-chief, supporting others, helping them do their jobs.
What tips would you give a first-time manager?
See previous. And sort out as best you can the strengths and weaknesses of the whole team, especially the local staff. Avoid overloading the hardest worker with more work while the less energetic staffers have lighter loads. Rely on the experience and knowledge of long-time local staff but be the boss.
What would you change about the State Department?
Fewer political appointees. Period.
What were your pet peeves?
The frustrating inflation of EER’s. FSO’s who shirked hardship posts. Civil service employees and staff who would not retire when they should have. The difficulty of recruiting civil service staff to overseas posts when we needed more people immediately. Working at Main State. (Embassies are much more fun!)
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