Locals shed light on being an ambassador

LAURA DENON

STAFF WRITER

Local real estate agent Art Fisher was recently nominated to be the next United States ambassador to Austria. On Dec. 16 President-elect Donald Trump posted on Truth Social: “I am pleased to announce that I will nominate Arthur Graham Fisher as the next United States Ambassador to the Republic of Austria. Art is President of Fisher Realty, a full service real estate firm founded in 1977 with three offices in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina.

“He has been consistently ranked as a top broker in the area, and the State of North Carolina, representing many of the most astute clients in America. Art has been a staunch supporter of America First Policies, and will make us proud in Austria!”

Ambassador nominations must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

The Transylvania Times has been unable to reach Fisher for comment on his nomination.

Transylvania County is home to at least two retired U.S. ambassadors who were reached for comment on what it was like to serve in the role.

During his 34-year career in the Foreign Service, Peter Chaveas served as U.S. ambassador to Malawi from 1994-1997 and Sierra Leone from 2001-2004.

There are basically two ways someone becomes an ambassador, Chaveas said.

He said depending on the administration roughly 60% to 70% of ambassadors typically come from the “career” Foreign service.

“The Foreign Service is an elite cadre within the U.S. government of people who spend their careers learning about foreign cultures, learning foreign languages, foreign histories and so on in the areas that they work,” Chaveas said. “They either do their work in the State Department in Washington or they’re in any one of more than 200 embassies, consulates general and so on that we have overseas.”

“Those Foreign Service officers conduct the business of the U.S. government in whatever country they’re assigned to and that varies greatly, depending on what the country is,” he continued. “Those folks serve over a career. There’s a rank system in the Foreign

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Service, just like there is in the military, and eventually a number of them will become ambassadors.”

Chaveas said the other way someone typically becomes an ambassador is because of some kind of “personal relationship with the president.”

“That varies greatly,” he said. “It may be an old-time friend and advisor. It may be somebody who has had a career that involved them in business in a particular region of the world or a particular country. They might be an academic expert on a particular area. But frankly, more often than not, it’s because they made a major financial contribution to the individual’s campaign.

“ The people who become ambassadors that way have a tendency to go to frankly the more comfortable parts of the world. They go to London. They go to Paris. They go to Vienna or they go to countries where the relationship is of a particular importance. Japan is an example. We have often had these kinds of ambassadors in Japan — or sometimes, not always, but sometimes in China.”

“The ambassador and the people who work for him in the embassy overseas are doing whatever kind of business the U.S. government has to do in that country,” Chaveas added. “In a European country, you’re talking about major trading partners and military allies.”

Most of Chaveas’ career was spent in Africa where he was involved with foreign assistance programs, economic development and the development of new democracies.

“When I went to Malawi they had just held their first ever democratic elections,” he said. “I used to describe a big part of my job as being a democracy coach — they just weren’t familiar with many of the processes and requirements of a functioning democracy.”

Marshall McCallie also retired to Transylvania County following a career in the Foreign Service. He served as ambassador to Namibia from 1993-1996.

“I think it makes sense to send out professionals to about 80% of your posts and then use the strength of America, culturally and politically, to send out people who’ve had quite a bit of exposure in other fields,” he said.

McCallie said each year about 20,000 Americans take an exam consisting of a written and day-long exam and a background check. About 200 are usually accepted into the Foreign Service creating a pool of career ambassador candidates.

“You are basically nonpartisan,” said McCallie, who served under five Republican and three Democrat presidents: Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Car ter, Ronald Regan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

“When you’re a foreign ser vice of f icer, whether you’re a Democrat or Republican, you’ve sworn your allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and your job is to represent the administration that the American people have elected,” he said.

In each country, ambassadors have a team who have different responsibilities “One would be following the economy of the country. The other would be following the politics of the country. Another is in charge of your consular services which takes care of American citizens but also handles leases for members out of the country wanting to come to the United States,” he said. “You have an administrative officer who takes care of all the housing of your people and all the expenses and budget and that sort of thing. Then you have a public affairs officer who is really in charge of outreach.”

While in Namibia most of the U.S. aid was on supporting the country’s Ministry of Education, McCallie said.

“My great hope was to promote the education in civic society,” he said.

McCallie also worked promoting business and economics in the region and with South Africa during its time transitioning out of apartheid.

Ambassador terms are only a few years, McCallie said, to keep the mission objective and fresh eyes in the country.

After being an ambassador, he spent two and half years as the African Crises Response Initiative special coordinator, training African armies to do peacekeeping.

AUSTRIA AMBASSADOR Victoria Reggie Kennedy has served as the U. S. ambassador to Austria since Jan. 12, 2022.

She is the widow and the second wife of former U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy.

According to the U.S. Embassy in Austria website, Kennedy works to advance and strengthen the transatlantic relationship diplomatically, culturally and commercially while emphasizing the engagement of young people and those from diverse backgrounds as well as the empowerment of women and girls.

Prior to her appointment as ambassador, she was a corporate attorney with an international law firm where she advised clients and devised strategies to help them resolve complex business problems and served on the Board of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.

She also co-founded and serves as president emerita of the board of directors of the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate, a nonprofit organization in Boston which educates the public about the U.S. system of government and works to inspire new generations of citizens and leaders.

She ser ved as an advocate for expanded medical research and access to health care for all Americans and actively promoted the passage of the Affordable Care Act of 2010.

ART FISHER According to Fisher Realty’s website, Fisher is passionate about civic and community service and has traveled the world.

He is a trustee of Brevard College and The Pisgah Health Foundation, board member of United Community Bank and a senate appointee to the North Carolina Travel and Tourism Board.

He previously served on the Board of Transylvania Vocational Services and on the local and North Carolina boards of The Boys and Girls Club.

He attended The College of Charleston where he served as president of the Association of Collegiate Entrepreneurs, vice president of the Interfraternity Council and delegate to the Harvard University Model United Nations.

After graduating with a bachelor’s of science in business administration and bachelor’s of art in corporate communications, he entered his family’s real estate business.

He has visited all seven continents and approximately 100 countries, many with his twin sister Amy and family.

Fisher Realt y was founded by Brevard natives Lloyd and Mary Kathryn Fisher.

The company offers properties throughout Transylvania County including Straus Park, Glen Cannon, Connestee Falls, Burlingame, Lake Toxaway Estates, Sylvan Habitat, Chasewood, Sylvan Heights, Stone’s Lake, The Reserve, Mountain Brook and downtown Brevard.

In 2010, Fisher Realty opened a second office to serve the Sapphire/Lake Toxaway area.

POLITICAL DONATIONS The Federal Election Commission’s official government website provides data on political election spending.

According to a search on its database, Fisher made 115 separate donations totaling $374,032.31 to political campaigns from 2016-2024.

The largest individual contributions listed were for Buckeye Values PAC, $25,000; Ted Cruz Victory Committee, $11,600; The G Team, $10,800; Trump Victory, $10,000; NRCC, $10,000; Cawthorn Triumph Committee, $10,000; Cotton Majority Committee, $10,000; and Josh Hawley Victory Committee, $10,000.

Laura Denon can be reached by calling (828) 862-5749 or emailing ldenon@transylvaniatimes.com.