Disarray in historian's office at Foggy Bottom

Posted By Carolyn O'Hara Tuesday, February 3, 2009 - 5:08 PM Share

Secretary Clinton has inherited many headaches from her predecessor (and her predecessor's boss), but while most of them concern foreign shores, at least one is far closer to home. According to a number of recent reports, the Office of the Historian at the State Department is in serious disarray.

Now, before you even ask whether this bears any relevance whatsoever to the workings of the State Department or to Sec. Clinton, let's be clear: It absolutely does. The Office of the Historian is in charge of publishing the Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS), a documentary series first started under Abraham Lincoln that features declassified government documents - from State, Defense, NSC, CIA, and other government agencies - relating to how U.S. foreign policy is made. It's the first stop for researchers, journalists, historians, and ordinary citizens wanting to know the secrets to how the sausage is made. Want to see the minutes from Oval Office meetings on the Iraq war circa March 2003? Check the FRUS in a few decades' time.

And from the recent reports (and through no fault of her own, commenters), it sounds as though Sec. Clinton has inherited something of a hornet's nest. In December, the chairman of the watchdog committee overseeing the series resigned in protest, citing mismanagment of the FRUS. William Roger Lewis, a former president of the American Historical Association, said in his resignation letter to Condoleezza Rice:

The Historian’s Office has become an intolerable place to work; the exodus of experienced historians is significant; and the future of the Foreign Relations series is at risk. [...] At the present rate of attrition, the Foreign Relations series faces as grave a crisis as at any time in its history.

The reported disorder in the Historian's office is causing the publication of declassified materials to fall behind schedule by several years. How is this any of Clinton's problem? It's up to the Secretary to make sure the series is published on time. Secretary Rice met with members of the Advisory Committee just before she left State, and an outside report was prepared in an attempt to solve the office's issues. It was released just days before Obama took office, and there's worry that its critical recommendations might have gotten lost in the shuffle of the new administration. It need not necessarily be at the top of her to-do list, but support from Secretary Clinton early on in her tenure could get this critical resource back on track. 

Thanks to reader BB for the tip.

EXPLORE:HILLARY, STATE DEPARTMENT, U.S. FOREIGN POLICY
 

SKULLHAPPY1

5:14 PM ET

February 3, 2009

I'm sorry, but Foggy Bottom

I'm sorry, but Foggy Bottom just sounds wrong.

 

CAITLYNA

5:24 PM ET

February 3, 2009

FRUS

Carolyn, you are right. I went through the portions of FRUS dealing with global and ocean issues in the late 1960s (the most recent release on that topic) to find the roots for the policies I am working on today. Since the russians and other countries had this history available to them, it is useful, even critical, that our own experts have access to the same information.

 

NANCY SABET

5:40 PM ET

February 3, 2009

Thanks for posting this,

Thanks for posting this, Hillary can only clean these mess. Obama knew she is the only one.

 

THUCYDIDES

9:35 PM ET

February 3, 2009

One correction

I suspect the Oval Office minutes from March 2003 have mysteriously disappeared, never to be seen in FRUS or anywhere else.

 

FOIA

9:50 PM ET

February 3, 2009

Historian's Office

Things seem pretty tense at that office. Employees or former employees have been posting comments after the Chronicle of Higher Education article about the dispute: http://chronicle.com/review/brainstorm/katz/the-state-of-history-and-the-history-of-state. It doesn't sound like a fun place to work right now.

 

QWERTY42

12:47 AM ET

February 4, 2009

FRUS

A thanks to FOIA for the link. This looks to be a serious problem; I hope it is successfully addressed.

 

DELAVALLETTE

12:35 PM ET

February 12, 2009

Dis-array? or Dis-gruntled

I have been watching in silence for a while... after all the only dog that I have in this fight is that feact that I am a taxpayer who doesn't think that the anonymous allegations of disgruntled employees should get this much attention.

I really think that this business is no more thean a tempest in a teapot, which, at the end of the day, will blow over. Leaving only bad feelings and ill will.

People take jobs that they eventually tire of, or have bosses that they don't like, right?

This is small potatoes, from where I sit (at a different government agency, and we all have our sub-culteres, eh?). I mean, it isn't as if there was any sexual hanky-panky between supervisors and subordinates, right?

 

FOIA

4:46 PM ET

February 12, 2009

Historian's Office Review Committee Report

Well, although some may not see a problem unless "hanky-panky" is involved, the Review Committee established by Secretary Rice thinks there is a problem. It has euphemistically recommended a "reorganization" of the Historian's Office and closer observation of its office director, the Historian. See Steve Aftergood's post at Secrecy News: http://www.fas.org/sgp/advisory/state/ho-review.pdf and http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2009/02/management.html.

The comments by current and former employees in response to "Anonymous" at the following website provide insight into the problems of the Historian's Office. See http://www.progressivehistorians.com/2008/12/weekend-open-thread.html.

 

DELAVALLETTE

3:49 PM ET

February 13, 2009

Did the unhappy employees of

Did the unhappy employees of the office seek any of the many protections or resources available to civil servants before their collective conniption fit?

 

FOIA

4:18 PM ET

February 13, 2009

Strong terms

Undoubtedly, they did so. But as you know from the federal agency where you work, many of these procedures are confidential. So whether they did or not will never appear in the public record.

"Conniption fit"? You seem rather emotionally invested in all this for someone who doesn't work in the Historian's Office.

 

FOIA

7:18 AM ET

March 2, 2009

Update on the Historian's Office

Douglas Selvage has posted an update on the Historian's Office at History News Network.

 

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