Q&A > Ted Osius
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What inspired or motivated you to become a diplomat?
Traveling through the Middle East during a gap year, I became fascinated by cultures different from my own. I wanted to see the world and to address some of its problems.
Who was your best boss and why?
Four-time chief of mission Cameron Hume took the time to teach me key lessons about diplomacy. I worked for him in three countries, and never stopped learning from him and trying to make use of the wisdom he shared.
What would you tell your a-100 self?
I would tell that self what Tom Hubbard told me during my first tour: choose jobs because you believe you can make a difference and will enjoy doing so. The “system” is capricious, but one meaningful job will lead you to another, and another.
Describe a day you felt you made a difference.
As a duty officer in October 1996, I helped save a man’s life. The story below* is an excerpt from Nothing Is Impossible: America’s Reconciliation with Vietnam, to be published by Rutgers University Press in 2021.
What has a colleague done for you that made you wish all of us had a colleague like that?
When I asked Glynn Davies whether it was presumptuous to try and be considered for ambassador to Vietnam, he laughed and said, “you speak Vietnamese, and you have the credentials. Go for it.” He gave me courage.
What was the mistake you learned the most from?
In Thailand, I didn’t listen carefully to what the Thais were saying during a negotiation. When the negotiations collapsed, I realized my mistake, and tried from then on to really, truly listen to my counterparts.
What was your best and worst experience working with the interagency?
The best was working with Admiral Harry Harris, Pacific Commander, to build a security relationship with Vietnam. The worst was fighting Immigration and Customs Enforcement when some of its officials tried to keep non-white people out of the United States.
What is the one tour you would recommend FSOs consider?
Work in a developing country different from the United States. For us, India and Indonesia, with their wild ethnic, religious, linguistic and cultural diversity, were especially rewarding adventures.
If the state department had a mascot, what animal should it be?
Benjamin Franklin, one of our first diplomats, considered the eagle a scavenger and proposed for the national bird a turkey, because it is “a true original native of America” and “a bird of courage.” Why not a turkey?
What was the biggest challenge of FS life for your family, and how did you manage it?
We found it difficult to adopt children overseas, and therefore returned to the United States where adoption was possible for a same-sex couple. For non-traditional families, there can be challenges holding a family together overseas.
What is your leadership philosophy?
Empower your team. When I served at the United Nations, political counselor Cameron Hume took a step none of his predecessors had dared to take. He placed the lowly action officer—sometimes a very junior diplomat—directly behind the Permanent Representative to the Security Council. So when Madeleine Albright turned around to ask what to say next about Cyprus, or the Western Sahara, she was faced with—me. Sitting in the “hot seat,” I had to ensure I mastered the subject before each Council meeting. If a Cabinet-level officer was going to use my words, they had better be accurate, because those words would instantly become U.S. policy. Cameron was there for back-up and for matters that required more experienced judgment. But each action officer knew he or she had to be thoroughly prepared.
What tips would you give a first-time manager?
Listen to your team members. Sometimes, make decisions and stick to them even when they’re unpopular.
What would you change about the State Department?
The clearance process is ridiculous, and turns thoughtful writing into mush.
What were your pet peeves?
I don’t like bureaucratic thinking, or keeping one’s head down. The diplomat’s responsibility is to find where interests converge and then take action.
How did you promote diversity and inclusion in your Mission or your office?
White men were overrepresented in EAP leadership, so I made sure to recruit talented women for leadership roles such as DCM and counselor positions. Recruitment isn’t enough; retention is also a problem at State. I met regularly with Pickering and Rangel fellows to show my support and respect for the program. As my spouse, children and I belong to traditionally marginalized groups (BIPOC, LGBT+), we found that showing up as a family made a difference.
How did you and your team respond to “fake news” or disinformation?
We sought to counter fake news with facts. Our embassy was a trusted source of accurate news for many in Vietnam.
Who was your “brain trust” or sounding board, and when would you go to them for guidance?
A “limited” country team, composed of the DCM, CG, State counselors, DATT, ODC Chief, COS and Commercial Counselor, served as “brain trust” for all policy matters. Regarding personnel, I consulted with my spouse, also an FSO. Occasionally, I reached out to mentors such as Amb. Cameron Hume, DAS Scot Marciel, or former Assistant Secretary Kurt Campbell.
What tips do you have for the “tough talk” on performance management, counseling, and honest feedback (for FSOs, Civil Service employees, and LES)?
Read Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High, which is easy to find and download if you’re overseas.
How did you build resilience in your team and yourself?
I made sure to model a reasonable work-life balance. When I served as ambassador, we had small kids, and with rare exceptions weekends were for them.
What are your best practices for crisis management?
Keep open lines of communication with the State Department, as there are experienced crisis management teams on hand to help ensure that those with a need to know have the correct information.
What tips do you have for first-time mentors? For establishing a mentoring program at a Mission or an office?
Don’t get locked into an idea that mentors and mentees exist only within cones, or must be the same gender or the same agency. Encourage both a formal process and an organic one.
How did you adapt to hostile or unforgiving environments? (eg, authoritarian host governments, high-risk security situations, aggressive foreign media, etc)
You have to put yourself into the mindset of your host or adversary. What does he or she seek from the United States? Once you’ve taken the time to understand what the other side wants, you can develop an appropriate strategy so that common interests can be found and action taken. As an example, please see below an excerpt from Nothing Is Impossible: America’s Reconciliation with Vietnam, to be published later this year.*
How did you manage transitions—between administrations, between senior leaders (Ambassador/DAS), or during extended staffing gaps of key personnel?
The Obama-Trump transition was tough, as a lot of efforts we’d made were devalued. I found that going back to first principles was essential. What was in the interest of the United States? What policies that benefited the United States could be pursued even as policy shifted?
How did you form and manage coalitions for policy advocacy (within the USG interagency, with like-minded partners, or through multilateral institutions)?
The key is not to worry too much about ownership. If you can recognize a good idea, it doesn’t matter so much who gave birth to it. Look for shared ownership of smart initiatives.
Mid-career entry is a hot topic. Good or bad? Advantages and disadvantages? How do we sell this to FSOs facing slow promotion rates?
It’s essential, especially now. The FS needs to be more porous, as specialized skills are needed. How many generalists are up-to-speed on the latest internet technologies, or fully conversant in the science of climate change? That said, generalists can teach specialists how to make their knowledge useful and operational in diplomatic initiatives.
How do we improve relationships between political appointees and career officers? Is the era of majority political appointees here to stay?
Some political appointees are needed. A president must send to Tokyo, for example, an ambassador with good White House connections. It’s possible to choose qualified political ambassadors. Congress needs to take its role seriously and weed out the unqualified candidates.
Is it time to get rid of the cones system?
I don’t know.
How did you encourage creativity and generate ideas from your staff?
It starts with empowerment. I ensured that action officers “owned” their portfolios. The DCM and I let officers know they could seek guidance from their direct supervisors, or from the front office, but we trusted that they would do so bringing ideas and their own deep knowledge of the problem at hand. When a diplomat designs and then implements a strategy—and sees it through to completion—he or she is changed in the process and will never settle for less in the future.
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*Saving Timothy
Full diplomatic relations between the United States and Vietnam brought tangible benefits to American citizens traveling there, and to one in particular. Many Americans may not know that if they are overseas and have a problem, someone at the American embassy will answer the phone at any time, day or night. If there is a bombing, someone will come looking for Americans known to be in the area, including in all hospitals, and will call the traveler’s family with news. If there is a coup, embassy personnel will try to round up citizens and get them to some place safe. If Americans are hurt and in need of help, people at the embassy will assist them.
At 6:10pm on October 26, 1996, I was the embassy duty officer when the phone rang. Embassy Marines were patching through an administrator calling from a provincial hospital in remote Yên Bái province northwest of Hanoi.
Although the telephone line was bad and the administrator spoke in a local Vietnamese dialect, I could make out that an American had been in an automobile accident. I knew he was in serious trouble because health care in the provinces at that time was terrible.
Then an Australian came on the line and told me his friend, 36-year-old Timothy Vickers, had been hit by a truck while riding a motorcycle. Timothy had suffered massive internal injuries and was bleeding to death. With multiple pelvic fractures, a ruptured spleen and kidney, he was fighting for his life.
Timothy had quit his job to take a dream trip around the world. Vietnamese doctors wanted to operate on the injured American and, to prevent them, the Australian had thrown his body across his friend. “The scalpels are rusty,” he told me. “I’m a veterinarian, and I wouldn’t want one of my animals to be treated in this hospital.”
I was new to the embassy and to Vietnam, and I didn’t know what to do, so I called my friend Kristen Bauer, a consular officer. Kristen advised me to call the embassy doctor. An Israeli with a strong sense of duty, Dr. Rafi Kot quickly got on the line with the hospital in Yên Bái. Dr. Kot then told me he needed enough blood to stabilize Timothy and a helicopter to retrieve him from Yên Bái.
Hanoi’s blood bank was not safe, so Kristen and I called members of the Embassy community who shared Timothy’s blood type, O-positive. All thirteen of them came forward to donate, waiting their turns until 2:00 a.m. in Dr. Kot’s clinic, none of them complaining.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have access to a helicopter, but two Embassy drivers took Dr. Kot and a makeshift ambulance on the rough roads at night to Yên Bái. Meanwhile, I tracked down Timothy’s parents, in Peoria, Illinois and told them all I knew. Distraught, Mrs. Vickers said to me, “Please, please save him. I’ve already lost one son. I can’t lose another.”
I told her, “We’re doing everything we can, ma’am,” though at that point I wasn’t sure her son would make it.
Dr. Kot drove with Timothy back to the city, arriving at 6:00 a.m. at the airport, where we had arranged for an evacuation flight. There were no cell phones, so every call had really been a series of calls via landlines. The blood we had collected from our embassy community was still not enough, and we had reached out to a number of other Americans in our consular network. They came into the clinic to donate blood, which we delivered to the airport up to the moment near dawn.
We met Dr. Kot and his unconscious patient at the airport with several liters of O-positive blood. Dr. Kot loaded Timothy onto the evacuation plane, equipped with an intensive care unit, and flew with him to Singapore, using every unit of blood we had collected. At Mount Elizabeth Medical Center in Singapore, the doctors said our efforts, and especially the blood, had saved Timothy’s life.
A few days later, Chargé d’Affaires Desaix Anderson received a telegram from senior State Department leadership. “Your staff’s successful management of the Vickers case, despite considerable obstacles, strongly reinforces in a most tangible way the immeasurable value of our presence in Vietnam.” Assisting Americans abroad is the first task of any U.S. embassy.
After Timothy recovered enough to board a plane, he flew home to Illinois, where he was met on the tarmac by his mother and sister. Given the extent of his injuries, doctors did not expect Timothy to walk again, but he was determined and endured very tough rehab. A year later, he came back to Hanoi. He walked through the embassy and thanked everyone there for his life.
In nearly thirty years as a diplomat, I handled many emergencies, including ones that occurred during a coup attempt in Manila in 1989, a terrible bombing in Mumbai in 2008, and an earthquake in Padang in 2009. In all of these situations, I joined embassy staff in assisting Americans in these countries, but I still feel especially proud that my colleagues and I were able to help save Timothy Vickers.
Safe travel back-and-forth between the United States and Vietnam—by tourists like Timothy, or Americans of Vietnamese origin, or businesspeople, or students—reinforced the human ties between the two nations. Because safe travel for Americans involved providing assistance when they were hurt or in trouble, saving Timothy was another step along the path to reconciliation.
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