2009.06.08
The State Department's historian
President Nixon meets with China's Chairman Mao
The U.S. State Department employs historians, a whole department of them. Who knew? The office of the Historian compiles the official documentary record of America's foreign relations. That record mostly appears in the "Foreign Relations of the United States" series, a collection of primary source documents invaluable to researchers.
We're writing an editorial that will run later in the week about the historian. The Obama Administration quietly replaced Marc Susser, who had been the Bush appointed head of the department. An investigation by the Office of the Inspector General found "serious mismanagement for which the director must be held accountable" under Susser. (Read the entire OIG report.)
In our editorial, we'll applaud the Obama Administration for making the change and observe that a change in administration can bring needed revisions to Washington.
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