Ambassador of the United States to Ghana
Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent
Virginia Palmer
since May 10, 2022
NominatorThe President of the United States
AppointerThe President
with Senate advice and consent
Inaugural holderDonald W. Lamm
as Chargé d'Affaires
FormationFebruary 28, 1957
WebsiteU.S. Embassy - Accra

The following is a list of ambassadors of the United States to Ghana. The embassy in Accra was established March 6, 1957, with Donald W. Lamm in charge as chargé d'affaires. President Joe Biden nominated career U.S. diplomat and Acting Assistant Secretary/Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Energy Resources Virginia E. Palmer for the position on June 2, 2021.

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.

Ad interim
Latin phrase meaning "for the time being", "in the meantime".
Name Title Appointed Presented credentials Terminated mission Notes
Donald W. Lamm[1] - Career FSO Chargé d'Affaires March 12, 1957 April 19, 1957
Peter Rutter[2] - Career FSO April 25, 1957 June 19, 1957
Wilson C. Flake - Career FSO Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary May 20, 1957 June 19, 1957 November 21, 1960 Reaccredited when Ghana became a republic
Francis H. Russell[3] - Career FSO November 11, 1960 January 23, 1961 March 13, 1962
William P. Mahoney Jr. - Political appointee May 21, 1962 June 22, 1962 May 26, 1965
Franklin H. Williams - Political appointee October 20, 1965 January 17, 1966 May 3, 1968 Reaccredited after change of government
Thomas W. McElhiney - Career FSO July 24, 1968 September 14, 1968 May 29, 1971
Fred L. Hadsel - Career FSO July 23, 1971 September 25, 1971 July 29, 1974
Shirley Temple Black - Political appointee September 19, 1974 December 6, 1974 July 13, 1976
Robert P. Smith - Career FSO October 4, 1976 December 17, 1976 May 7, 1979
Thomas W. M. Smith - Career FSO September 28, 1979 December 12, 1979 July 2, 1983
Robert E. Fritts - Career FSO July 6, 1983 July 28, 1983 June 2, 1986
Stephen R. Lyne[4] - Career FSO March 27, 1987 July 11, 1987 September 9, 1989
Raymond Charles Ewing - Career FSO August 7, 1989 November 9, 1989 August 14, 1992
Kenneth Lee Brown - Career FSO July 14, 1992 September 24, 1992 July 19, 1995
Edward P. Brynn - Career FSO October 3, 1995 December 19, 1995 July 10, 1998
Kathryn Dee Robinson - Career FSO October 22, 1998 December 16, 1998 September 1, 2001
Nancy Jo Powell - Career FSO July 16, 2001 September 14, 2001 May 26, 2002
Mary Carlin Yates - Career FSO November 26, 2002 January 28, 2003 July 25, 2005
Pamela E. Bridgewater - Career FSO June 21, 2005 October 11, 2005 June 10, 2008
Donald G. Teitelbaum - Career FSO June 6, 2008 September 9, 2008 August 24, 2012[5]
Gene A. Cretz - Career FSO April 11, 2012 October 8, 2012 June 26, 2015
Robert P. Jackson - Career FSO November 22, 2015 February 4, 2016 July 27, 2018
Stephanie S. Sullivan - Career FSO September 10, 2018 January 23, 2019 April 8, 2022[6]
Virginia Palmer - Career FSO March 2, 2022 May 10, 2022 Incumbent

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Not commissioned; letter of credence dated February 28, 1957.
  2. ^ Not commissioned; letter of credence dated April 17, 1957.
  3. ^ Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Feb 6, 1961.
  4. ^ Nomination of Oct 3, 1986, was not acted upon by the Senate.
  5. ^ "Outgoing US Ambassador calls on E.T.Mensah". Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  6. ^ Yeboah, Rex Mainoo (April 8, 2022). "Ghana: Outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Ghana Honoured with State Grand Medal". Ghanatoday.

References

Senior Staff Of Travel Relations Peter Asante Smith

External links

Ambassadors of the United States
United States Ambassadors to Ghana
Categories