Before the Foreign Service Act, many senior Foreign Service Officers didn’t actually have a post. They just waited at Main State for something for them to show up.

The Foreign Service Act instituted an up or out system along with many other changes. However, when an institution like the State Department changes so quickly, it’s bound to rustle a few feathers.

Read on at the link to learn more about how the State Department changed the way it operated in the early 1980s.