American diplomats chafe at both President Donald Trump’s disrespect toward the professional foreign service and the closure of several U.S. embassies. While they have a point, neither money nor staff size equates with effectiveness.

The current State Department is a relatively new phenomenon. The State Department began in 1789 with just two overseas posts, London and Paris. As the United States became an industrial power in the late 19th century, America’s diplomatic footprint expanded rapidly. By 1870, the State Department had three dozen embassies. It added five embassies by 1900, with just the secretary of state and 90 U.S.-based employees overseeing all the diplomatic and consular missions.