United States Ambassador to the Bahamas

Ambassador of the United States to the Bahamas

Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent
Lisa A. Johnson
as Chargé d’Affaires
Nominator Barack Obama
Inaugural holder Moncrieff J. Spear
as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim
Formation July 10, 1973
Website U.S. Embassy - Nassau

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Bahamas, usually simply called U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas, is an official position and title appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate by majority vote. The ambassador oversees diplomatic relations and foreign policy between the United States and The Bahamas.

Traditionally, the position is considered a "plum post"—a sought-after post that is usually appointed to political friends of the president. The ambassador lives in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas. However, due to political disputes between Republican senators and President Barack Obama, the United States Senate has refused to confirm an ambassador for many years, and the post has accordingly been vacant and held by interim appointees since November 2011. Cassandra Butts, nominated for the post in 2013, died of leukaemia in 2016 having spent more than two years awaiting a vote on her appointment.

List of U.S. Ambassadors to the Bahamas

The following is a list of United States Ambassadors, or other Chiefs of Mission, to The Bahamas. The title given by the United States State Department to this position is currently Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.

Representative Title Presentation
of Credentials		 Termination
of Mission		 Appointed by
Moncrieff J. Spear Chargé d'Affaires ad interim July 10, 1973 September 7, 1973 Richard Nixon
Ronald I. Spiers Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary September 7, 1973 September 2, 1974
Seymour Weiss Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary September 11, 1974 December 15, 1976 Gerald Ford
Jack B. Olson Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary December 22, 1976 April 30, 1977
William Bernstein Schwartz Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary October 11, 1977 January 31, 1981 Jimmy Carter
Lev E. Dobriansky Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary March 15, 1983 August 30, 1986 Ronald Reagan
Carol Boyd Hallett Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary November 17, 1986 May 10, 1989
Mayer Jacob Hecht Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary August 23, 1989 March 1, 1993 George H. W. Bush
Lino Gutierrez Chargé d'Affairs ad interim March 1993 July 1993 Bill Clinton
John S. Ford Chargé d'Affairs ad interim July 1993 March 1994
Sidney Williams Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary March 27, 1994 January 11, 1998
Arthur Louis Schechter Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary October 29, 1998 March 1, 2001
J. Richard Blankenship Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary December 3, 2001 July 18, 2003 George W. Bush
Robert M. Witajewski Chargé d'Affairs ad interim July 2003 September 2004
John D. Rood Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary September 1, 2004 April, 2007
D. Brent Hardt Chargè d'Affaires ad interim April, 2007 October 25, 2007
Ned Siegel Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary October 26, 2007 January 2009
Timothy Zúñiga-Brown Chargè d'Affaires ad interim January 2009 September 9, 2009 Barack Obama
Nicole Avant Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary October 16, 2009 November 21, 2011
John W. Dinkelman Chargè d'Affaires November 2011 July 2014
Lisa A. Johnson Chargè d'Affaires July 9, 2014 Present

See also

References

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