Richard Haass’ Home and Away publication noted the passing of Foreign Service Officer Frank Wisner, and the related diminution of the Foreign Service as an institution. Haass wrote:
Frank’s death is not just a personal loss for me, the passing of a friend and colleague I both liked and respected. It also underscores the passing of a generation. Frank was one of a cadre of extraordinarily talented Americans whose outlooks were forged by the Vietnam War. Some, like Richard Holbrooke, were foreign service officers. Others, like David Halberstam, were journalists. What they had in common is that they dedicated their lives to public service, and in many cases to foreign policy. I do not see many equivalents today. The best and the brightest tend to gravitate towards Silicon Valley and Wall Street and away from the State Department given decades of disparagement and underfunding of public service, its loss of sway to the National Security Council, and the unpopularity of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The nation will be poorer for this trend and for the loss of Frank. May his memory be for a blessing.