Daniel Lewis Foote

A native of Syracuse, New York, Foote graduated from Williamsville East High School in 1981. He attended Columbia University, where he was a member of the school's football and track and field teams and graduated with a B.A. in economics.[2]

Foote began his career as a natural gas trader and broker. In 1992, he became a Peace Corps volunteer in Sopachuy, Bolivia. He later taught high school Spanish and coached football and track in Northern California.[2]

In 1998, Foote joined the United States Department of State. He held positions at the State Department Operations Center, in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, at the U.S. Embassy in London, and in the U.S. consulate in Guadalajara, Mexico. He was part of the reconstruction team in Erbil, Iraq, was a management officer and political/economic chief in the U.S. Embassy in Luxembourg, and was a management counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires.

Foote also completed postings at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and as leader of the provincial reconstruction team in the Maysan Governorate. He went on to lead the activities of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs in Colombia. He was posted in both Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, as deputy chief of mission. In the Dominican Republic, he also served as chargé d'affaires. At the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, Foote served as coordinating director, managing U.S. civilian foreign assistance and law enforcement activities in the country. In 2015, he took a role in Washington, D.C., at the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, where he oversaw operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

In December 2019, it was reported that Foote was "horrified" by Zambia’s jailing of same-sex couple Japhet Chataba and Steven Samba. After an appeal failed and the couple were sentenced to 15 years in prison, Foote asked the Zambian government to review both the case and the country's anti-homosexuality laws. Foote faced a backlash and cancelled public appearances after he was threatened on social media, and was subsequently recalled after President Edgar Lungu declared him persona non grata. U.S. embassy sources said they "do not expect a replacement soon."[4]

On May 22, 2020, President Lungu pardoned Samba and Chataba in commemoration of Africa Freedom Day.[5]

• Biography at U.S. Department of State
• Appearances on C-SPAN