Obama's Man in London

After 40 years of working tirelessly for Democrats—and sucking up so much cash for the party he was called "the Hoover"—Louis Susman finally picked a winning presidential candidate: Barack Obama. Susman bundled $247,000 for Obama's 2008 campaign and another $300,000 for his inauguration, and he was rewarded handsomely. Susman is now the American Ambassador to the U.K., widely recognized as the most plum of all diplomatic appointments, one that comes with a 35-room mansion in a country blissfully free of imminent civil war. But Susman, a Chicago investment banker, has taken some flak for being the latest beneficiary of a long tradition of rewarding the best fundraisers with diplomatic positions. Obama promised change, after all. "If the reporters seemed snappish, perhaps it was because the press secretly had hoped for more celebrity wattage. Among the names that had been loosely mentioned as possible candidates for the ambassadorship were Oprah Winfrey; Anna Wintour, the editor of Vogue; and Caroline Kennedy," Chicago Magazine says. Beginning with John Adams, Five envoys to England have gone on to become president.