Would Vogue's Anna Wintour make a good ambassador?
The fashion-industry superstar raised a fortune for Obama's campaign. Now she might get a plum job in London or Paris
President Barack Obama is considering nominating Vogue editor Anna Wintour to a plum ambassadorship, according to Bloomberg. Sources close to the matter say Wintour, who has dual British and American citizenship, might get the nod to represent the administration in the U.K. or France, as the U.S. ambassadors in both countries have signaled they won't be staying on for Obama's second term. Wintour was one of the biggest donation bundlers for the president's campaign (in mid-September, New York reported that she'd bundled some $2.7 million), and big donors frequently get rewarded with cushy embassy posts in the capitals of our closest allies. But is a fashion-world fixture like Wintour really the right person for the job?
Wintour might be a good fit: "Wintour's credentials as a major fundraiser may well be enough to earn her" an ambassadorship, says Meghan Keneally at Britain's Daily Mail. Remember, the current envoys to the U.K. and France were fundraisers, "not career politicians." Louis Susman, the ambassador to the U.K., was a Chicago-based investment banker, and Charles Rivkin, in France, was CEO of Muppets creator Jim Henson Co. Plus, Wintour's dual citizenship makes her a natural to go to London.
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This must be some kind of joke: Anna Wintour is "a successful, and by all accounts fearsome, woman," says Thomas Pascoe at Britain's The Telegraph. She might make a good ambassador somewhere, but not in the U.K. The U.S.-U.K. relationship is sure to get "increasingly spiky in the years ahead," as Britain edges toward a European exit, for example, over U.S. objections. The job requires a veteran negotiator, not someone "used to their word being writ." Obama can't be serious, can he?
"Anna Wintour as American Ambassador to Britain? At least Barack Obama has a sense of humor"
She still might not get the job — or want it: Wintour has competition, says Isabel Wilkinson at The Daily Beast. Matthew Barzun, Obama's campaign finance chairman, wants the London job, and Marc Lasry, managing partner of Avenue Capital Management, is angling for Paris. Plus, Vogue reps deny Wintour is interested. One of her friends, movie magnate Harvey Weinstein, advises against it. An ambassadorship "is a lame-duck job. After four years, you're out."
"Obama is reportedly considering Anna Wintour for ambassadorship to U.K. or France"
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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
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