“What qualifies you to be the US ambassador to our country?” — a blunt question — was asked in 2009 by the head of the Liberal Party in Sweden of a U.S. Ambassador newly arrived in country, Matthew Barzun, who had been a major fundraiser for President Obama. As the embassy number two accompanying the ambassador, one of the authors jumped in and deflected the question. This leader of Sweden was reflecting feelings that, in our experience, are often widely shared by friendly governments and publics in countries that get campaign donors and fundraisers as the U.S. ambassador. They don’t like being treated as a prize in the U.S. spoils system. They send professional diplomats — not campaign donors — to represent their countries in Washington.