Charles E. Bohlen Quotes

United States, Diplomat
August 30, 1904 – January, 1, 1974.

Charles Eustis "Chip" Bohlen was a US diplomat from 1929 to 1969 and an expert on the Soviet Union. He served in Moscow before, during, and after World War II, succeeding George F. Kennan as US Ambassador to the Soviet Union. He then became ambassador to the Philippines and to France. He was an exemplar of the nonpartisan foreign policy advisers who came to be known colloquially as "The Wise Men."

You see, the Foreign Service of the United States has grown so unbelievably in the last twenty years, and the requirements for admission are so high, and yet an awful lot of the work, I'd say fully 50-percent of the work in the Foreign Service abroad, is really routine work. All this is something that no one has licked.... You get a certain amount of discontent. It's bad for morale.

Charles E. Bohlen
- Certain
- Awful
- Routine
In dealing with the Communists, remember that in their mind what is secret is serious, and what is public is merely propaganda.

Charles E. Bohlen
- Mind
- Remember
- Serious