The Ugly American demonstrates a kind of ignorance that lingers in the American Ambassadors and the process by which foreign policy is created and implemented. Throughout the novel the characters consistently prove of this theory. One character in specific is that of the Honorable Gilbert MacWhite who is sent to Sarkhan in replacement of the Honorable Louis Sears. His downfall in office was a compilation of things of seemingly his own fault and misjudgment of his own and others. On the other hand there was, simultaneously, a plethora of success from non-government officials in state just adding to the bad image that is created for government officials serving in other countries.
MacWhite’s time in office seemed to be beneficial in a number of ways but was just not enough to grant his wish of remaining the Ambassador there. He wanted to accomplish a lot of things while in office; however some were not entirely practical or beneficial enough. It is this constant struggle that can very easily determine the future of Ambassadors.
The first problem of MacWhite’s was a wrongfully accused man named John Clovin who was beaten nearly to death during Sears’ time in the country. MacWhite’s second problem was his misplaced trust in Donald, a house tenant. His third problem was his proposal to the American Aid Mission in Phnom Penh Cambodia to have a chicken expert sent to Sarkhan. A summation of his time in office was a failure on his part even with all of his efforts to improve. Some of his efforts even lead to his downfall and each will be explored equally. Towards the end a summation of his time in Sarkhan is explored. During a letter from the Secretary of State a number of points are made to cover his downfall. One point in the letter is that his leave of absence seemed to cause a quite the stir up and his statements as a result of his journey during this time.
The first problem that even put MacWhite in the country was the failure of Sears and