1 The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign ...

with C. S. Lewis Chaucer, Spencer, Shakespeare, and Milton – everything up to the 19 th
century. When you hit the 19 th century that was for Oxford modern English. The
twentieth century was modern writing. You did that on your own. The formal study of
literature stopped at the Victorians.
Q: What was this preparing you for, did you see?
MILLER: The intent of the Oxford Schools, as they were called, was to lay out the full
extent of knowledge on particular subjects. Mastery of the subject would prepare you for
teaching. You sit at the foot of the master, learning what he knows, and you transmit what
he knows through you to others, adding to the total knowledge to some degree. At that
point, I was very convinced that after Oxford and Harvard, I would teach English
literature. I was very interested in Renaissance literature so I spent a lot of time reading
the great works in Italian, and of course English, and French, to some extent. I thought
that I would go on and teach at an American university as a life’s work.
So that’s what I was driving towards, a life of university teaching, but during that time,
the Hungarian uprising took place.
Q: 1956.
MILLER: And during that time George F. Kennan was there in London giving the Reith
lectures. I had the opportunity to meet with him. This is how it happened. I still had the
“fire engine, I’d become a fireman” idea. I wanted to be like him – like Mr. “X”. I wrote a
letter to George Kennan, having been given his address in London, and said I’d like to
talk to him about going into the Foreign Service. He agreed to do so. When we met, I
asked him what his advice would be. He said, “No don’t go into the Foreign Service. It’s
not what it used to be. It’s no longer relevant to Foreign Policy. It’s something else.” He
was very clear about the diminished state of the Foreign Service. I was not convinced that
the Foreign Service was not a key element in our foreign policy. So I took the exam
anyway. I took the exams in Frankfurt and I passed them.
Q: What year did you take them?
MILLER: Fifty-six.
Q: I took mine in Frankfurt in ’53, when I was still in the Air Force.
MILLER: There were three examiners – I remember Ambassador Butterworth was one.
There were three officers: one was consular and the third was in public affairs. I enjoyed
the interview very much.
Q: Which one of the questions were asked? This is for the oral?
MILLER: Yes, it was the oral exam. The questions were all on the contemporary
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