Dem
47
GOP
53
Being U.S. ambassador to China is no sinecure as the trade war revs up and the ambassador will have to defend the U.S. position to Chinese leaders. On Tuesday, the Senate confirmed former one-term senator from Georgia, David Perdue, to be ambassador to China by a vote of 67-29. At his hearing, Perdue said the relationship with China is the most consequential diplomatic challenge of the 21st century.
Fifteen Democrats voted for Perdue for the important post, even though he has no diplomatic experience. His experience as a one-term senator probably won't be of much value as ambassador. Before being in the Senate, he worked for Reebok and rejuvenated its brand of sneakers. Of course, the sneakers aren't made in the U.S. They are made in Vietnam.
After that stint, he worked for Dollar General, a store that sells cheap merchandise. That may work against him as ambassador. He probably thinks that China makes cheap junk. It does, but it also makes very high-tech products and is way ahead of the U.S. in advanced manufacturing. In addition, as CEO of Dollar General, he arranged selling the company to private equity company KKR. He got $42 million for that. Nice deal... until the lawsuits came saying that it was a sweetheart deal that hurt the stockholders. The company had to pay out $40 million to settle the claims, but Perdue did just fine. Is he really the diplomat of the century? (V)