Another Small “Conversation” Changes the Course of a Career

As the Ford Administration was coming to an end, Amb. Quinn recounts how he and the other three career Foreign Service Officers, working on Asia, are all given their “pink slips” and would be returning to the State Department. One other young Foreign Affairs Officer, however, is kept on the NSC staff and moved to the office of the incoming National Security Advisor. His name was Bob Gates, and he would go on to be the head of the CIA and Secretary of Defense. Amb. Quinn’s next assignment was going to study economics for six months followed by an assignment working on international trade and commerce. However, once again, a small conversation would change the direction of his career and the course of his life.