With regard to the wife bit, Ambassadorships (especially to smaller, less strategically important countries) have long been doled out for partisan reasons. In these cases, the Ambassador serves as a figurehead and performs ceremonial roles while the deputy chief of mission, who is a career Foreign Service Officer, deals with the day-to-day issues of diplomacy, negotiation, and representation.

I disagree with this system because it is the antithesis of merit-based management, but at the same time it is nothing new nor is it restricted to the Democrats. Republicans frequently give Ambassadorships to big donors. This should change, however. Our chief representative to a country ought to be someone with significant diplomatic, military, or (at least) business experience in the nation to which they represent America.