Evening star., 1951-12-11
Where Good Men Are Needed

George McGhee is excelenty equipped to
succeed George WadSworth as our Ambassador to
Turkey In his position as Assistant Secretary of
State for Near Eastern, African and South Asian
Affairs-an obviously huge and complex sphere
of foreign policy-he has acquired very special
qualifications in terms of the experience, knowl-
edge, understanding and good judgment needed
for doing an effective job in Ankara.
When he takes over his new duties from Mr.
WadSworth-a distinguished career man who is
to receive a fresh assignment on his return to
this country-Mr McGhee will be the youngest
ambassador in our diplomatic service However,
despite being only SO years DID, he has long since
demonstrated an exceptional maturity of mind
and breadth of vision in the field of international
affairs. Since first entering the State Depart
ment in 1946 he has dealt principally with the
problems of the Near or Middle East and his
rapid rise to high-evel authority in the depart
ments chain of command is good measure of
how impressed his superiors have been with the
outstanding quality of his work in particularly
difficult area of foreign policy.
The fact that Mr.. McGhee is retiring as
Assistant Secretary to go to Ankara the fact
that he has been singled out for the job because
he is uniquely well qualified for it, is evidence of
the great significance that the President attaches
to our relations with Turkey AS incoming
ton, as co-sponsors of the Middle East Com
mand, and as valiant allies against the Red
aggressor in Korea, the Turks today are playing
role of high Importance in the free worlds
effort to build up a common defensive front
powerful enough to deter the Soviet Union-their
threatening neXt-door neighbor-from embark
ing on a course that could precipitate another
global war. In the circumstances, it is logical
and necessary that man of Mr. McGhees
stature and caliber should be our ambassador
to them.
In fact, throughout the whole Middle East,
it is imperative that the United States-and the
other free Western nations as wel-be repre-
sented by the best men available. With only a
few exceptions like Turkey that crucial region
notably Egypt and Iran-is seething with social
unrest, blindly emotional natonalism grave eco
nomic distress, political crisis and incipient
chaos. Certainly, in such a situation, nothing
could be more obvious than the need for the
ablest kind Of diplomacy-a diplomacy that has
no room in it for mediocrities, but solely for
people with vgor, vision, understanding and a
capacity to shape and execute policy in genu-
inely effective way.
The recruitment of people of that sort is not
easy. Large numbers of them are simply not
available AS far as our State Department is
concerned-with high-level executive vacancies
to be filled as a result of such changes as Mr.
McGhee's shift to Ankara and Dean Rusk's resig-
nation to head the Rockefeller Foundation-the
problem can be stated more readily than it can
be solved. Yet 1t is a problem that must be met.
AS never before in our history it is vital that our
foreign policy-both in its direction here at home
and in its execution abroad-be conducted by the
best possible men that the President can find
and persuade to serve.