ABSTRACT
From the beginning, the American people have been of two minds about diplomacy: On the one hand, they felt that America needed proficient diplomats to cope with the wiles of European diplomacy; on the other, even their own diplomats stood in the odor of being smooth and slick intriguers, rather than forthright and simple men such as Americans thought themselves to be. Benjamin Franklin personified the American's ideal representative: embodying homespun virtue and simple deportment, yet canny in doing the Republic's business. Though an enormous effort has gone into polishing the image of American diplomacy and popularizing American foreign policy, all things being equal, most Americans would dispense with international politics and its professional personnel, the diplomats. In Europe, the foreign policy establishments have always been buttressed by a long tradition of exclusivity and trust. In Europe, democratic government is parliamentary government. Prime ministers are the chiefs of the parliamentary majority, be it one party/several parties, thus forming a coalition.
