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Dad's letter chose his career
Cairo at Eighteen
William Burns's father was a career Army officer, and the family moved constantly. At eighteen, in the summer of 1974, he spent time in Cairo, where the father of one of his best friends from high school had just become the US ambassador. It was a tiny embassy, right after the 1973 war between Arabs and Israelis, and it gave him a glimpse of what being a diplomat was like.
The Letter
After graduate school in the UK, he took the written exam for the Foreign Service. The letter from his father came in an era when people still wrote by hand, and one line stood out: nothing can make you prouder than to serve your country with honor.
He passed the exam, somewhat to his surprise, and figured he would give it a try. He never thought it would last three and a half decades.
Why was the US embassy in Cairo so small?
Egypt broke diplomatic relations with the United States in June 1967, during the Six-Day War. Relations were restored in 1973, and the embassy that reopened was small and just getting started again. Its staff were rebuilding contacts that had lapsed for years. The break had lasted about six years.
How did the 1973 war open diplomatic doors?
The war in October 1973 convinced American leaders that the stalemate between Israel and its neighbors was dangerous. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger then shuttled between capitals to negotiate troop disengagement agreements in 1974 and 1975. Those talks built trust between Egypt and the United States. Egypt and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1979.
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