the proper image of American society by maintaining a proper upper-class household full of servants, entertaining guests and dignitaries, and even taking part in informal information intelligence gathering. The wife had to relate well to the high society lifestyle of European diplomacy. Family money helped a great deal, given the modest pay scales of the American diplomatic service, and the limited entertainment budgets. Extremely rich diplomats had an advantage, such as Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. as Ambassador to the Court of St. James, 1938–40. Frances E. Willis (1899–1983) was a famous pioneer. She joined the foreign service after earning a PhD in political science from Stanford. She was the third woman in the foreign service, and practically all her postings were "firsts"—the first woman chargé d'affaires, the first woman appointed deputy chief of mission, the first female Foreign Service officer (FSO) appointed ambassador, the first woman to serve as ambassador to three posts, the first woman appointed Career Minister in 1955 and the first woman appointed Career Ambassador in 1962. She was posted to Chile, Sweden, Belgium, Spain, Britain, and Finland as well as the State Department. In 1953, she became the first woman American ambassador (to Switzerland) and later served as ambassador to Norway and Ceylon. Her biographer credits her competence, language skills, research abilities, hard work, and self-confidence, as well as mentoring from the undersecretary of state, Joseph Grew, and Ambassador Hugh Gibson. Since the late 20th century, high-profile ambassadorships typically are selected by the White House and go to prominent political or financial supporters of the president. These amateurs are mostly sent to Western Europe or nations with strong economic ties to the U.S. Professional career ambassadors move up through the State Department hierarchy and typically are posted to smaller countries and those with lower trade with the United States. The vast majority of semiprofessional diplomats were appointed to the most powerful countries. The pattern varies according to presidential style. For example, under President George W. Bush (2001–2009) the foreign service and the U.S. Agency for International Development were underfunded and often used for political rather than diplomatic reasons. See also Timeline of United States history History of United States diplomatic relations by country List of United States treaties American diplomatic missions Foreign policy of the United States Criticism of U.S. foreign policy United States Foreign Service United States State Department International relations (1648–1814) International relations (1814–1919)