[1] Article II, section 2 of the US Constitution authorized the President to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, "Ambassadors, other public Ministers, and Consuls."

Taking the original ideas, Root worked with Senator Henry Cabot Lodge and succeeded in passing a merit-based bill for the consular service in 1906.

He noted tensions between the diplomatic and consular corps in London and was "shocked to see the staff still wearing top hats and long-tailed coats to work each day".

"[5] With trade becoming an important foreign relations issue in the 1920s, U.S. Representative John Jacob Rogers of Massachusetts sought to complete reforms started by Carr, now Assistant Secretary of State.

[3] After passage of the Rogers Act, the Executive Committee of the Foreign Service Personnel Board drafted a memorandum on avoiding appointment of blacks and women in the new competitive process.