Cynthia Stroum

Cynthia Stroum: 5 Facts About The Former U.S. Ambassador

The State Department issued a report on Cynthia Stroum, a former U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg, who found that a diplomat and a great time financial donor Barack Obama was so abrasive in his work that she was driving her staff to seek posts in Afghanistan, rather than continue working under her supervision .

Surge Desk rounds a few facts about the woman, “a confrontational management style, as they say, reduces the Embassy of Luxembourg in a” state of dysfunction. “ ( Read Cynthia Stroum more... )

Cynthia Stroum: 5 Facts on the Former Ambassador to Luxembourg Now Under Fire

1. She is a big time philanthropist
Apart from donating approximately $78,000 during the 2008 election cycle, Stroum is one of the founders of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. She has also served on the board of directors at the Shoah Foundation, Birthright Israel, and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

2. She knows how to invest her money
Shroud earned a considerable about of cash from well placed investments in Starbucks and Mosaix, Inc., according to the State Department's website.

3. She has dabbled as a Broadway producer
Among her many activities, Shroud co-produced the Tony Award winning Broadway play "A Raisin in the Sun" in 2004.

4. She got the Luxembourg post because of her donations to Obama
As is the history with the ho-hum duties of being Luxemburg's ambassador, this job is handed to an individual who brings in cash during a presidential campaign. According to Opensecrets.org, Stroum was a "bundler" who saw to it that a cool $500,000 made it into Obama's coffers. That's hardly anything new, however. As the website DiploPundint points out, of the 21 ambassadors appointed to Luxembourg by the U.S. over the last 50 years, only three had actual diplomatic experience. ( Read Cynthia Stroum more... )

Big Obama donor Cynthia Stroum quits envoy job amid criticism

WASHINGTON (AP) — As a supporter of presidential candidate Barack Obama, Cynthia Stroum was a superstar whose financial backing of the campaign landed her a plum diplomatic posting in Europe.

As America’s ambassador to Luxembourg, the wealthy Seattle-based businesswoman was a disaster.

According to an internal State Department report released Thursday, less than a week after she quit, Stroum’s management of the U.S. Embassy in the tiny country was abysmal. The report says her tenure of about one year was fraught with personality conflicts, verbal abuse and questionable expenditures on travel, wine and liquor.

Stroum’s case illustrates the pitfalls that presidents can face when they appoint non-career diplomats to ambassadorships as a reward for their political support. ( Read Cynthia Stroum more... )

Ambassador to Luxembourg Resigns: Who was Cynthia Stroum ?

The U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg, Cynthia Stroum, has resigned effective January 31. She gave the usual generic reasons for her resignation—family and business.

The American ambassadorship to Luxembourg has long been reserved as a post for rewarding political friends and benefactors of presidents. In the last 50 years, only three out of 21 U.S. ambassadors to the tiny European country have been career diplomats. Cynthia Stroum, who was sworn in as Ambassador to Luxembourg December 7, 2009, and announced her resignation on January 12, 2011, was not one of them. ( Read Cynthia Stroum more... )

Cynthia Stroum

Cynthia Stroum, (AP) – As a supporter of presidential candidate Barack Obama, Cynthia Struma was a superstar whose financial support of the campaign earned him a plum diplomatic post in Europe. As U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg, the wife of wealthy businessman based in Seattle was a disaster. According to an internal State Department on Thursday, less than a week after her departure, the management of the Struma U.S. embassy in the tiny country was catastrophic. The report states that the mandate of about one year was fraught with personality conflicts, verbal abuse and questionable expenditures on travel, wine and liquor. ( Read Cynthia Stroum more... )

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