United States Ambassador to Thailand
Encyclopedia
This is a list of Ambassadors of the United States to Thailand
.
Thailand has had continuous bilateral relations with the United States since 1882. Relations were interrupted during World War II
when Bangkok
was occupied by Japanese forces. Normal relations were resumed after the war in 1945.
The United States Embassy to Thailand is located in Bangkok.
Note: President Wilson
nominated Alexander Sweek of Oregon for the post in 1913 but Sweek’s nomination was not confirmed by the United States Senate
.
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
.
Thailand has had continuous bilateral relations with the United States since 1882. Relations were interrupted during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
when Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
was occupied by Japanese forces. Normal relations were resumed after the war in 1945.
The United States Embassy to Thailand is located in Bangkok.
Ambassadors
- John A. Halderman
- Title: Minister Resident/Consul General
- Appointed: July 13, 1882
- Presented credentials: October 23, 1882
- Terminated mission: Left post April 1, 1885
- Jacob T. Child
- Title: Minister Resident/Consul General
- Appointed: March 9, 1886
- Presented credentials: June 5, 1886
- Terminated mission: Presented recall, January 17, 1891
- Note: President HarrisonBenjamin HarrisonBenjamin Harrison was the 23rd President of the United States . Harrison, a grandson of President William Henry Harrison, was born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana at age 21, eventually becoming a prominent politician there...
nominated Alexander C. Moore for the ministerial post on July 9, 1890, but Moore declined the appointment.
- Sempronius H. BoydSempronius H. BoydSempronius Hamilton Boyd was a nineteenth century politician, lawyer, judge and teacher from Missouri.-Biography:...
- Title: Minister Resident/Consul General
- Appointed: October 1, 1890
- Presented credentials: January 17, 1891
- Terminated mission: Relinquished charge, June 13, 1892
- John BarrettJohn Barrett (diplomat)John Barrett was a United States diplomat and one of the most influential early directors general of the Pan American Union. On his death, the New York Times commented that he had "done more than any other person of his generation to promote closer relations among the American...
- Title: Minister Resident/Consul General
- Appointed: February 14, 1894
- Presented credentials: November 15, 1894
- Terminated mission: Presented recall, April 26, 1898
- Hamilton King
- Title: Minister Resident/Consul General
- Appointed: January 14, 1898
- Presented credentials: April 26, 1898
- Terminated mission: April 27, 1903.
- Hamilton King
- Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: April 27, 1903
- Presented credentials: July 3, 1903
- Terminated mission: Died at post September 2, 1912
- Fred W. Carpenter – Political appointee
- Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: September 12, 1912
- Presented credentials: January 22, 1913
- Terminated mission: Left post November 16, 1913
Note: President Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
nominated Alexander Sweek of Oregon for the post in 1913 but Sweek’s nomination was not confirmed by the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
.
- William H. Hornibrook – Political appointee
- Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: February 12, 1915
- Presented credentials: May 31, 1915
- Terminated mission: Presented recall, October 24, 1916
- George Pratt Ingersoll – Political appointee
- Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: August 8, 1917
- Presented credentials: November 24, 1917
- Terminated mission: Left post June 23, 1918
- George W. P. Hunt – Political appointee
- Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: May 18, 1920
- Presented credentials: September 6, 1920
- Terminated mission: Left post October 1, 1921
- Edward E. Brodie – Political appointee
- Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: October 8, 1921
- Presented credentials: January 31, 1922
- Terminated mission: Left post May 2, 1925
- William E. Russell – Career FSO
- Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: September 28, 1925
- Presented credentials: January 9, 1926
- Terminated mission: Left post January 7, 1927
- Harold Orville MacKenzie – Political appointee
- Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: March 3, 1927
- Presented credentials: June 28, 1927
- Terminated mission: Left post March 29, 1930
- Arthur H. Geissler – Political appointee
- Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: December 16, 1929
- Presented credentials: —
- Terminated mission: —
- David E. Kaufman – Political appointee
- Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: June 12, 1930
- Presented credentials: December 9, 1930
- Terminated mission: Left post June 15, 1933
- James Marion BakerJames Marion BakerJames M. Baker was an American political figure, who held the position of Secretary of the United States Senate from 1913–1919.- Life and career :...
– Political appointee- Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: August 30, 1933
- Presented credentials: December 9, 1933
- Terminated mission: Left post May 2, 1936
- Edwin L. Neville – Career FSO
- Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: May 28, 1937
- Presented credentials: October 2, 1937
- Terminated mission: Left post May 1, 1940
- Note: Siam changed its name to Thailand in 1939, but ambassadors were commissioned to Siam until 1954.
- Hugh Gladney Grant – Political appointee
- Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: April 3, 1940
- Presented credentials: August 20, 1940
- Terminated mission: Left post August 30, 1941
- Willys R. Peck – Career FSO
- Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: August 19, 1941
- Presented credentials: September 16, 1941
- Terminated mission: Japanese forces occupied Bangkok, December 8, 1941
- Note: Thailand declared war on the United States January 25, 1942. Ambassador Peck was initially interned and then freed. He departed Thailand on June 29, 1942.
- Note: Normal relations between Thailand and the United States were resumed after the war in October 1945.
- Charles W. Yost – Career FSO
- Title: Chargé d’Affaires
- Appointed: Not commissioned
- Presented credentials: A letter of credence was sent to Yost by telegram, October 16, 1945.
- Terminated mission: Superseded by commissioned envoy July 4, 1946
- Edwin F. Stanton – Career FSO
- Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: April 27, 1946
- Presented credentials: July 4, 1946
- Terminated mission: Promoted to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary April 10, 1947.
- Note: The legationLegationA legation was the term used in diplomacy to denote a diplomatic representative office lower than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an Ambassador, a legation was headed by a Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary....
in Bangkok was raised to embassy status March 18, 1947. At the same time the envoy was promoted to ambassador.
- Edwin F. Stanton – Career FSO
- Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: April 10, 1947
- Presented credentials: May 9, 1947
- Terminated mission: Left post June 30, 1953
- Note: Hereafter ambassadors were commissioned to Thailand rather than Siam, as previous envoys had been.
- William J. Donovan – Career FSO
- Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: August 3, 1953
- Presented credentials: September 4, 1953
- Terminated mission: Left post August 21, 1954
- John E. PeurifoyJohn Emil PeurifoyJohn Emil Peurifoy was an American diplomat, an ambassador in the early years of the Cold War. He served as United States ambassador in Greece and Thailand and was the United States Ambassador to Guatemala during the 1954 coup that overthrew the democratic government of Jacobo Arbenz.-Early life...
– Career FSO- Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: September 15, 1954
- Presented credentials: December 3, 1954
- Terminated mission: Died near Hua HinHua HinHua Hin is a famous beach resort town in Thailand, in the northern part of the Malay Peninsula, some 200 km south of Bangkok. It has a population of 84,883 in an area of 911 km², and is one of eight districts of the Prachuap Khiri Khan province.Hua Hin is closely associated with the...
, August 12, 1955
- Max Waldo Bishop – Career FSO
- Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: December 3, 1955
- Presented credentials: January 9, 1956
- Terminated mission: Left post January 6, 1958
- U. Alexis JohnsonU. Alexis Johnson-Background:Ural Alexis Johnson was born in Falun, Kansas into a family of Swedish descent. His mother named him for the mountain range, of which she learned from a geography book. He had a rural upbringing and schooling until 1923, when the family moved to Glendale, California. He graduated...
– Career FSO- Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: January 30, 1958
- Presented credentials: February 14, 1958
- Terminated mission: Left post April 10, 1961
- Kenneth Todd Young – Political appointee
- Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: March 29, 1961
- Presented credentials: June 22, 1961
- Terminated mission: Left post August 19, 1963
- Graham A. MartinGraham MartinGraham Anderson Martin succeeded Ellsworth Bunker as United States Ambassador to South Vietnam in 1973. He would be the last person to hold that position. Martin previously served as ambassador to Thailand and as U.S. representative to SEATO....
– Career FSO- Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: September 10, 1963
- Presented credentials: November 7, 1963
- Terminated mission: Left post September 9, 1967
- Leonard S. UngerLeonard S. UngerLeonard Seidman Unger was a diplomat and United States Ambassador to Laos , Thailand , and was the last US ambassador to the Republic of China .-Personal life:...
– Career FSO- Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: August 11, 1967
- Presented credentials: October 4, 1967
- Terminated mission: Left post November 19, 1973
- William R. Kintner – Political appointee
- Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: September 28, 1973
- Presented credentials: November 29, 1973
- Terminated mission: Left post March 15, 1975
- Charles S. WhitehouseCharles S. WhitehouseCharles Sheldon Whitehouse was an American career Foreign Service Officer. He was U.S. Ambassador to Laos and Thailand in the 1970s.-Early life:...
– Career FSO- Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: May 8, 1975
- Presented credentials: May 30, 1975
- Terminated mission: Left post June 19, 1978
- Morton I. AbramowitzMorton I. AbramowitzMorton Isaac Abramowitz is an American diplomat and former State Department official.-Biography:Abramowitz was born in Lakewood Township, New Jersey on January 20, 1933. He was educated at Stanford University, receiving a B.A. in 1953. He then attended Harvard University, earning an M.A. in 1955...
– Career FSO- Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: June 27, 1978
- Presented credentials: August 9, 1978
- Terminated mission: Left post July 31, 1981
- John Gunther DeanJohn Gunther DeanJohn Gunther Dean is a distinguished career United States diplomat. From 1974-1988, Dean served as the United States Ambassador to five different nations under four different U.S. Presidents.-Early years:...
– Career FSO- Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: October 1, 1981
- Presented credentials: October 26, 1981
- Terminated mission: Left post June 6, 1985
- William Andreas BrownWilliam Andreas BrownWilliam Andreas Brown was U.S. Ambassador to Thailand 1985–88 and U.S. Ambassador to Israel 1988-1992.-External links:* * 1882 to 2008...
– Career FSO- Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: June 6, 1985
- Presented credentials: July 5, 1985
- Terminated mission: Left post August 5, 1988
- Daniel Anthony O'DonohueDaniel Anthony O'DonohueDaniel Anthony O'Donohue of Virginia served as United States Ambassador to Burma from November 1983 to December 1986, and to Thailand, July 11, 1988 to August 10, 1991.-External links:* http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/po/com/10404.htm...
– Career FSO- Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: July 11, 1988
- Presented credentials: August 13, 1988
- Terminated mission: Left post August 10, 1991
- David Floyd LambertsonDavid Floyd LambertsonDavid Floyd Lambertson of Kansas served as United States Ambassador to Thailand from July to September, 1991.-External links:* http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/po/com/10404.htm* 1882 to present...
– Career FSO- Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: July 22, 1991
- Presented credentials: September 24, 1991
- Terminated mission: Left post August 25, 1995
- William H. Itoh – Career FSO
- Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: December 19, 1995
- Presented credentials: February 20, 1996
- Terminated mission: Left post February 1, 1999
- Richard E. Hecklinger – Career FSO
- Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: December 1, 1998
- Presented credentials: March 9, 1999
- Terminated mission: Left post December 21, 2001
- Darryl N. JohnsonDarryl N. JohnsonDarryl Norman Johnson is a retired American statesman and career Foreign Service Officer who held many positions in American government around the world. Most recently and importantly he was the United States Ambassador to Thailand from 2001–2004...
– Career FSO- Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: November 26, 2001
- Presented credentials: March 29, 2002
- Terminated mission: Left post December 28, 2004
- Ralph Leo BoyceRalph L. BoyceRalph Leo "Skip" Boyce is a United States diplomat and career foreign service officer with the State Department.Boyce was born February 1, 1952, in Washington, D.C. He obtained a B.A. from George Washington University in 1974 and an M.P.A. from Princeton University in 1976...
– Career FSO- Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: July 2, 2004
- Presented credentials: March 9, 2005
- Terminated mission: Left post, July 21, 2007
- Eric G. JohnEric G. JohnEric G. John is the former U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand, having been appointed October 22, 2007. Previously, he was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Southeast Asia from 2005 to 2007. In that capacity, he coordinated policy in Washington with regard to the eleven nations...
– Career FSO- Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: August 3, 2007
- Presented credentials: January 8, 2008
- Terminated mission: September 30, 2010
- Kristie A. Kenney - Career FSO
- Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
- Appointed: December 9, 2010
- Presented credentials: January 8, 2011
- Terminated mission: Incumbent
See also
- Thailand – United States relations
- Foreign relations of ThailandForeign relations of ThailandThe foreign relations of Thailand are handled by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand.Thailand participates fully in international and regional organizations...
- Ambassadors of the United States