Diplomatic Dearth
When the top U.S. diplomat in Bonn requests an appointment with Chancellor Kurt Kiesinger, it is presumably to discuss a subject of considerable import to both of their governments. Thus it raised eyebrows recentlyand provoked some snickerswhen American Chargé d'Affaires Russell Fessenden was kept waiting while the ambassador of a small Latin American country paid a formal courtesy call on West Germany's chief executive. There was nothing Kiesinger could do about it; by diplomatic protocol, an ambassador has automatic precedence over any lesser rank.
The incident did, however, point up the fact that there has been no U.S. ambassador...
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