List of ambassadors of the United States to Gabon

Ambassador of the United States to Gabon
Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent
Cynthia Akuetteh
since August 13, 2014
Nominator The President of the United States
Inaugural holder W. Wendell Blancke
as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Formation December 12, 1960
Website U.S. Embassy - Libreville

This is a list of Ambassadors of the United States to Gabon.

Gabon had been an overseas territory of France since 1910. At that time it became part of French Equatorial Africa, which included Middle Congo (now Republic of the Congo), Chad, and Oubangui-Chari (now Central African Republic). Gabon achieved its independence as the Gabonese Republic on August 17, 1960.

The United States immediately recognized the new Gabonese Republic and moved to establish diplomatic relations. The new U.S. embassy in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo, had been established two days earlier on August 15. The current resident in Brazzaville, Alan W. Lukens, was commissioned also to Gabon and presented his credentials to the government on August 17. W. Wendell Blancke was appointed as the first ambassador on December 12, 1960. He served concurrently as the ambassador to Gabon, Central African Republic, Chad, and the Republic of the Congo while resident in Brazzaville.

During Blanke’s tenure as non-resident ambassador, the embassy in Libreville was established March 20, 1961, with Walker A. Diamanti as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim. In September 1961 the first ambassador was appointed solely for Gabon. In 1975 the ambassador to Gabon was also accredited to the newly independent nation of São Tomé and Príncipe.

The U.S. Embassy in Gabon is located in Libreville.

Ambassadors

U.S. diplomatic terms

Career FSO
After 1915, The United States Department of State began classifying ambassadors as career Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) for those who have served in the Foreign Service for a specified amount of time.

Political appointee
A person who is not a career foreign service officer, but is appointed by the president (often as a reward to political friends).

Appointed
The date that the ambassador took the oath of office; also known as “commissioning”. It follows confirmation of a presidential appointment by the Senate, or a Congressional recess appointment by the president. In the case of a recess appointment, the ambassador requires subsequent confirmation by the Senate to remain in office.

Presented credentials
The date that the ambassador presented his letter of credence to the head of state or appropriate authority of the receiving nation. At this time the ambassador officially becomes the representative of his country. This would normally occur a short time after the ambassador’s arrival on station. The host nation may reject the ambassador by not receiving the ambassador’s letter, but this occurs only rarely.

Terminated mission
Usually the date that the ambassador left the country. In some cases a letter of recall is presented, ending the ambassador’s commission, either as a means of diplomatic protest or because the diplomat is being reassigned elsewhere and replaced by another envoy.

Chargé d'affaires
The person in charge of the business of the embassy when there is no ambassador commissioned to the host country. See chargé d'affaires.

Ad interim
Latin phrase meaning "for the time being", "in the meantime". See ad interim.
  • W. Wendell Blancke – Career FSO[1][2]
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: December 12, 1960
    • Presented credentials: January 13, 1961
    • Terminated mission: Superseded, October 10, 1961
  • Charles F. Darlington – Political appointee[3]
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: September 20, 1961
    • Presented credentials: October 18, 1961
    • Terminated mission: Left post, July 26, 1964
  • David M. Bane – Career FSO
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: July 22, 1965
    • Presented credentials: August 14, 1965
    • Terminated mission: Left post, June 29, 1969
  • Richard Funkhouser – Career FSO
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: June 13, 1969
    • Presented credentials: August 9, 1969
    • Terminated mission: Left post, August 2, 1970
  • John A. McKesson, III – Career FSO
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: December 10, 1970
    • Presented credentials: February 4, 1971
    • Terminated mission: Left post, June 1, 1975
  • Andrew L. Steigman – Career FSO
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: June 10, 1975
    • Presented credentials: August 9, 1975
    • Terminated mission: Left post, August 21, 1977
  • Note: São Tomé and Príncipe achieved independence on July 12, 1975. The U.S. ambassador to Gabon and subsequent ambassadors were concurrently commissioned to São Tomé and Príncipe while resident in Libreville.
  • Arthur T. Tienken – Career FSO
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: February 3, 1978
    • Presented credentials: March 6, 1978
    • Terminated mission: Left post, July 19, 1981
  • Francis Terry McNamara – Career FSO
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: December 11, 1981
    • Presented credentials: January 19, 1982
    • Terminated mission: Left post, August 3, 1984
  • Larry C. Williamson – Career FSO
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: August 13, 1984
    • Presented credentials: November 20, 1984
    • Terminated mission: Left post, August 21, 1987
  • Warren Clark, Jr. – Career FSO
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: August 10, 1987
    • Presented credentials: September 19, 1987
    • Terminated mission: Left post, August 24, 1989
  • Keith Leveret Wauchope – Career FSO
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: November 6, 1989
    • Presented credentials: December 8, 1989
    • Terminated mission: Left post, July 13, 1992
  • Joseph Charles Wilson IV – Career FSO
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: July 14, 1992
    • Presented credentials: September 17, 1992
    • Terminated mission: Left post, August 5, 1995
  • Elizabeth Raspolic – Career FSO
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: October 3, 1995
    • Presented credentials: November 29, 1995
    • Terminated mission: Left post July 24, 1998
  • James V. Ledesma – Career FSO
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: October 22, 1998
    • Presented credentials: December 16, 1998
    • Terminated mission: Left post June 18, 2001
  • Note: The post was vacant June 2001–June 2002. Thomas F. Daughton served as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim in the interval.
  • Kenneth Price Moorfield – Career FSO
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: January 30, 2002
    • Presented credentials: June 20, 2002
    • Terminated mission: 2004(?)
  • R. Barrie Walkley – Career FSO
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: July 2, 2004
    • Presented credentials: November 12, 2004
    • Terminated mission: Left post, April 27, 2007
  • Eunice S. Reddick – Career FSO
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: November 9, 2007
    • Presented credentials: December 6, 2007
    • Terminated mission: Unknown, prior to December 2010
  • Eric D. Benjaminson – Career FSO
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: September 15, 2010
    • Presented credentials: December 3, 2010
    • Terminated mission: 2013
  • Cynthia Akuetteh – Career FSO
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: August 1, 2014
    • Presented credentials: December 26, 2014
    • Terminated mission: incumbent

Notes

  1. ↑ Blancke was also accredited to the Central African Republic, Chad, and Republic of the Congo while resident at Brazzaville.
  2. ↑ Blancke was commissioned during a recess of the Senate and recommissioned after confirmation on February 6, 1961.
  3. ↑ Darlington the first ambassador appointed solely to Gabon and resident in Libreville.

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.