Want to be the American ambassador to France? It’s not about your skills or background. It’s about the money according to a study reported on by Brad Plumer:

• The American President gets to name ambassadors to countries all over the world.
• About 55 of those positions are generally reserved for appointees who were either wealthy donors to the President’s campaign or top fund-raisers.
• These individuals can get posted to stable, developed countries such as France, Japan, or Canada.
• The ambassadorship to the United Kingdom, for example, requires, on average, about $1.1 million personal donations.
• The most expensive is Austria where an ambassadorship has on average cost $1.3 million in donations.
• In fairness to the President rich countries might be getting rich ambassadors because their job consists of throwing expensive parties that the state department’s budget can’t always cover.

Read more about the findings of the paper, as well as further links to more information about the topic over here.

Source: The Washington Post