Career ambassador is a personal rank of Foreign Service officers within the United States Department of State Senior Foreign Service. The rank of career ambassador is awarded by nomination of the president and confirmation by the United States Senate. According to the Department of State:
The class of Career Ambassador was first established by an Act of Congress on Aug 5, 1955, as an amendment to the Foreign Service act of 1946 (P.L. 84-250; 69 Stat. 537). Under its provisions, the President with the advice and consent of the Senate was empowered to appoint individuals to the class who had (1) served at least 15 years in a position of responsibility in a government agency, including at least 3 years as a Career Minister; (2) rendered exceptionally distinguished service to the government; and (3) met other requirements prescribed by the Secretary of State. Under the 1980 Foreign Service Act (P.L. 96-465; 94 Stat. 2084), which repealed the 1946 Act as amended, the President is empowered with the advice and consent of the Senate to confer the personal rank of Career Ambassador upon a career member of the Senior Foreign Service in recognition of especially distinguished service over a sustained period.
List of career ambassadors
Listed by date of appointment. Names on this list are drawn from the U.S. Department of State's list of career ambassadors, except where another reference is given.
- H. Freeman Matthews (1956)
- Loy W. Henderson (1956)
- Robert Daniel Murphy (1956)
- James Clement Dunn (1956)
- George V. Allen (1960)
- Raymond A. Hare (1960)
- Livingston T. Merchant (1960)
- James Williams Riddleberger (1960)
- Ellis O. Briggs (1960)
- Llewellyn Thompson (1960)
- Charles E. Bohlen (1960)
- Frances E. Willis (1962)
- Walter C. Dowling (1962)
- William Walton Butterworth (1962)
- U. Alexis Johnson (1964)
- Charles Yost (1964)
- Douglas MacArthur II (1964)
- Foy D. Kohler (1964)
- Winthrop G. Brown (1969)
- Edwin M. Martin (1969)
- Walworth Barbour (1969)
- Charles Burke Elbrick (1969)
- Alfred Atherton (1981)
- Arthur W. Hummel Jr. (1981)
- Walter J. Stoessel Jr. (1981)
- Lawrence Eagleburger (1984)
- Arthur A. Hartman (1984)
- Thomas R. Pickering (1984)
- Ronald I. Spiers (1984)
- Richard W. Murphy (1985)
- Deane R. Hinton (1987)
- George S. Vest (1987)
- Terence Todman (1989)
- Morton I. Abramowitz (1989)
- Herman Jay Cohen (1992)
- Frank G. Wisner (1995)
- J. Stapleton Roy (1996)
- Mary A. Ryan (1999)
- George Moose (2002)
- Ruth A. Davis (2002)
- Jeffrey Davidow (2002)
- A. Elizabeth Jones (2004)
- Johnny Young (2004)
- Alan Larson (2004)
- Ryan Crocker (2004)
- Marc Grossman (2004)
- Richard A. Boucher (2008)
- David Welch (2008)
- Anne W. Patterson (2008)
- William J. Burns (2008)
- James Franklin Jeffrey (2011)
- Nancy Jo Powell (2011)
- Earl Anthony Wayne (2011)
- Kristie Kenney (2012)
- William R. Brownfield (2012)
- Thomas A. Shannon Jr. (2012)
- Stephen D. Mull (2016)
- Victoria Nuland (2016)
- Philip S. Goldberg (2018)
- David Hale (2018)
- Michele J. Sison (2018)
- Daniel Bennett Smith (2018)
- John R. Bass (2024)
- Brian A. Nichols (2024)
Nominees for Career Ambassador pending Senate confirmation
References
- ^ "Career Ambassadors". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2011-07-17.
- ^ "Obama honors three veteran diplomats". Politico.com. Retrieved 2011-07-22.
- "Nominations sent to the Senate June 9, 2011". whitehouse.gov. June 9, 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-22 – via National Archives.
- ^ "Senate passes dozens of bills in the middle of the night". FP.com. Retrieved 2013-06-20.
- ^ "PN1907 - 2 nominees for Foreign Service, 114th Congress (2015-2016)". December 7, 2016.
- ^ Pompeo, Michael (September 13, 2018). "Secretary Pompeo on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
Today marks a proud moment for the @StateDept . Four of our finest diplomats have been conferred by @POTUS as Career Ambassadors—the highest rank in the U.S. Foreign Service. Congratulations, Philip Goldberg, David Hale, Michele Sison & Dan Smith on this high honor. Much deserved!
- ^ "PN587 — Foreign Service". Retrieved December 11, 2024.
- ^ "The Promotion to Career Ambassador of Daniel J. Kritenbrink, Geoffrey R. Pyatt, Elizabeth Richard, Todd D. Robinson, and Alaina B. Teplitz". December 10, 2024. Retrieved December 11, 2024.