A diplomat's role can be frustrating. It is his task to report on events, to analyze the political and economic situation in the nation to which he is accredited, and to keep his national leaders informed about what to anticipate in the immediate future; at times a diplomat must speculate on long-term expectations. A diplomat may attempt to influence policy, but his essential purpose is to carry out the decisions made by foreign policy leadership at home, whether or not he feels the policy is wise or effective. Occasionally diplomats have gone out of their way to influence or even to extend their government's policy in new directions. They were aware that, if they went too far, they might be risking their careers.

Ambassador Sackett was not a career diplomat, but he was a personal, if formal, friend of President Hoover. As Sackett saw the problems of the Weimar Republic move toward a crisis, he was moved to act, to influence foreign policy, in the interest of saving democracy in Germany. He might not have been prone to do much had it not been for a remarkable political friendship he developed with Chancellor Heinrich Brüning. The two men grew to become close political allies; theirs was an alliance characterized by Sackett's commitment, almost devotion, to saving the Brüning government, while the chancellor for his part responded by suggesting new moves the American might make to achieve German goals. Sackett acted on Brüning's behalf beyond what one should expect from an ambassador.