Are diplomats typically rich?

Question

my best friends dad is a diplomat and she gets pretty much everything and anything she wants. so im assuming they make pretty good money but would they be considered rich people?

Answer 1

This is for Gordon L.

Your information is all wrong btw.

Ambassadors are not "appointed."

Honorary Consuls purchase the right to be a consul and they are not paid and have a day job but they don't have any "power" and are not citizens of the country to which they are honorary consul.

But official diplomats are employees of their government.  They usually have held other government positions before being posted overseas. They are paid very well but they often have large expenses.  The lower ranked diplomats have to cover their expenses wherever they are living. It is only the higher ranked diplomats that get their expenses covered by their government, not the host government.

Please get your facts right Mr. Top Contributer!

Answer 2

Agirl- you are wrong. Ambassadorial positions are all appointed by the President or the Prime Minister.

Not all diplomats are well-off. Sometimes if the salary and allowances of the diplomats in their host countries go down when the exchange rates also go down.

There are two kinds of diplomats, one is a career diplomat - a diplomat who moved through the ranks and the political appointee - a top campaign contributor usually.

Even if the political appointee is chosen by the President, his/her office are still to be confirmed by a specific commission tasked to do so.

Answer 3

Well, diplomats are people who have worked their way up the ladder in their own countries, and usually have a high salary because of their job and the responsibility that follows.

Answer 4

Most US diplomats have to work for a living. Not that many are independently wealthy. A number of ambassadors are, especially the political appointees as many of them got there by giving large amounts of money to whichever party is in power. Overseas, most governments provide housing and other allowances that offset the cost of living. If they didn't, all diplomats would have to be wealthy, or live in a box on the street, especially in the more expensive capitals.

Edit: Agirl, Well, let's start with the factoid that I'm George L, not Gordon. hmmmm, if you're going to berate me for lack of knowledge, it seems the least you could do is get my name right.

Anyway, what do honorary consuls have to do with ambassadors? US Foreign Service Officers are indeed career employees with the Department of State. However, many of the higher ranking positions at the Department of State are indeed political appointees as are many of the  positions at the Department of Justice, DHS, etc.

As for expenses, the US Foreign Service does provide housing for its employees overseas, but not when they serve in the US. So for many, the Department of State is a hardship post, at least when it comes to money. Education for dependent children overseas is provided for free as well. In a place like Tokyo, many Foreign Service Officers would have to spend more than their salaries if housing was out of pocket. And there are other expenses that are covered as well.

  

As for ambassadors, a number are career Foreign Service, and many are political appointees. What percentage are career and how many are political appointees tends to vary from administration to administration, but every administration appoints a significant number of ambassadors and most are big financial contributors to the party in power. Even the career ambassadors are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. Some ambassador slots are invariably political appointees, as the expense of serving in that particular position is so prohibitively expensive that no normal career officer could possibly afford to serve in that position. Take the Court of St. James in London. The ambassador is required to do so much socializing that the liquor bill alone every year exceeds the actual salary. Usually, you'll find the smaller Third World embassies have career ambassadors, but not always. One year, a political appointee decided he wanted to serve in Botswana, primarily because he loved big game hunting. But most prefer cushier Europrean posts. Saudi Arabia likes to have  political appointees who are close friends of the president so they have someone who can reach out when times get tough. George H.W. Bush was a political appointee as ambassador to China years ago. Walter Mondale was the political appointee to Japan.

Shall I go on?

Edit 2: No, they aren't.

Answer 5

Actually agirl, ALL ambassadors are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, and while some of these are career diplomats, quite a few are political appointees. Get your facts right please.