Obama’s protocol chief talks about diplomacy and planning a summit

It was a typically warm day in Los Cabos during the 2012 G20 Summit. Ambassador Capricia Penavic Marshall, chief of protocol for President Barack Obama, waited on the steps for the president’s next - and arguably most important - sideline meeting:  President Vladimir Putin.

But the Russian leader was late. Marshall looked at her Russian counterpart who just shrugged. “A diplomatic power play?” she wondered.

When Putin finally appeared, it was Marshall who was the first to shake his hand and then introduce him to her boss. Soon, the two heads of state were in a room discussing the key issues of the day — the Eurozone economic crisis, Afghanistan, Iran, and Syria, about which the two nations had come to have significant differences.

From the size of the room to the floral arrangements to the other aesthetics, each characteristic of the meeting was designed by Marshall to try to help foster communication that might bridge the widening gap that had been growing between the two nations.

Marshall writes about the moment — and many such others — in her recently published book “Protocol: The Power of Diplomacy and How to Make It Work for You” in which she also dispenses advice on how protocol is an important tool for those who aren’t necessarily world leaders.

The chief of protocol may largely fly under the radar, but it’s a role with lofty titles including ambassador and assistant secretary of state, and requires someone well-versed in cultural differences. A daughter to Polish and Mexican immigrants who demonstrates an eye for detail, Marshall seemed an appropriate fit.

Marshall, a daughter of Croation and Mexican immigrants spoke about the importance of protocol and the preparation that goes into meetings, negotiations, and deliberations that can have an overlooked impact on the quality of the interaction. Are the ceilings too high? Too low? Do the colors inspire hope or something else? Should the president bow to foreign royalty? (“No” is Marshall’s answer to that last question but notes when Obama forgot the advice and bowed to Japan’s Emperor Akihito, it turned out all right in the end.)

“We created a foundation for diplomacy to take place,” Marshall said. “We were the ones who selected the room and what went inside of that room before any leader walked through that door - every element we put into place.”

Sometimes, details are missed, however, and when they are, the buck stops with the chief of protocol. At the U.S.-ASEAN summit in 2010, the Philippine flag was hung upside down.

“My heart stopped,” Marshall wrote in the book. “Not only was this a fundamental disrespect to their country — flag protocol is one of the top priorities a host country is expected to execute perfectly — but, in this case, the visual sent a very specific message: In the Philippines, an inverted flag signifies that a nation is in a state of war.”

Marshall apologized directly to the Philippine ambassador before the delegation even noticed it but after the Philippine media had. It had the potential for a serious diplomatic blunder but “I suspect that because we’d immediately accepted responsibility and acted swiftly to right the wrong,” Marshall said, “We’d moved it off the table before it gained any traction.”

That ability to speak directly with world leaders that also helped, a function of those lofty titles. The title was applied in 1961, which means that the position now requires Senate confirmation, an experience Marshall called “not fun.”

The title was important because “we stand in the stead of the president," she said. "Someone has to be at a high level to be receiving on behalf of the president of the United States.”

Asked about how much the media is taken into account, Marshall said that protocol includes ensuring press freedom and access, which sometimes proved a battle when operating abroad, whether it be the result of states that didn’t hold the same reverence for a free media or just logistical snafus. 

“There were times in some countries where our press bus was accidentally sent down a dark road and I would have to go and turn to the president and say ‘we can't find our press corps right now,” Marshall explained. “And he said, well, then I'm not leaving this room until we do.”

Marshall said Sony Pictures has optioned “Protocol” and on she’s working with them on “both a scripted and unscripted series.”

Members and others who missed the interview hosted by the International Correspondents Committee can watch it on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km16CNvm5mE