Politico - Newt Gingrich goes to spouse school

Annie Karni at Politico ("We reach the most influential people in the country") shares a look behind the curtain of diplomatic training.

Money quote(s):

"Aware that this new, less celebrated role will take some getting used to, Gingrich eagerly enrolled himself in what he referred to, excitedly, as “spouse school.”

The program, run by the State Department and hosted on the Arlington, Virginia, campus of the Foreign Service Institute, was started in the 1950s, when it was referred to simply as the “Wives Seminar.”"

This is not your father's (or even your older brother's) Foreign Service.  

At half of the embassies CAA has worked at the ambassador was a woman.  Of those three all were married:  one husband was a former ambassador himself (he sometimes had trouble remembering he was a former ambassador, but only in his dealings with American staff).  The others two were each a retired and a serving FSO (assigned elsewhere) so they already knew the lay of the land.

"Gingrich and the 12 other spouses of waiting-to-be-confirmed ambassadors were educated on some basic rules of the road. “You always have two fridges,” Gingrich marveled in an interview with POLITICO, “one for personal food, one for entertaining, so you’re not eating out of the taxpayer refrigerator. I didn’t know that.” "

If only every serving member of Congress got a look behind the curtain to see the lengths we go to not live high on the taxpayer's dime.

" “We learned about art,” Gingrich marveled. “They have an entire loan program for trying to keep the embassies with appropriate art representing the United States.”

As for furnishing the place, he noted, “you can bring your own furniture and store theirs, but you’re moving into a furnished facility. I think we’re going to use theirs, but that’s not a decision I would pretend to be the final arbiter on.” "

The public areas of an ambassador's residence are exactly that:  public.  They are representational spaces.  That being said, the ambassador and her or his family have to actually live there so each one's decisions of what's personal and what's mission are going to vary a bit based on preferences and on the nature of the building and the host country themselves.

At a minimum this suggestion:  bring your own bed.

"“I sat through a couple of hours on how to do interviews,” Gingrich said. “The first point they make over and over is, you are not the principal. I’m wearing my spouse hat. I’ve got to be very circumspect. We don’t want to confuse people about who speaks for the United States. Callista speaks for the United States. I just speak for Newt Gingrich.” "

Mr. Gingrich doesn't need a lot of coaching on giving interviews personally but it's encouraging he recognizes the altered boundaries due to his wife's mission.  Wish him luck!