Ambassador of the United States to the Gambia
Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent
Sharon L. Cromer
since March 18, 2022
NominatorThe President of the United States
AppointerThe President
with Senate advice and consent
Inaugural holderMercer Cook
as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
FormationMay 18, 1965
WebsiteU.S. Embassy - Banjul

This is a list of United States ambassadors to the Gambia, the first of who was appointed on May 18, 1965, exactly three months after it attained independence from the United Kingdom.

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
Mercer Cook[1][a] - Non-career appointee Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary May 18, 1965 August 9, 1965 July 1, 1966
William R. Rivkin[a] - Non-career appointee October 13, 1966 January 16, 1967 March 19, 1967 Died in office
L. Dean Brown[a] - Career FSO October 18, 1967 January 18, 1968 August 15, 1970
G. Edward Clark[a] - Career FSO October 12, 1970 November 24, 1970 October 16, 1973
O. Rudolph Aggrey[a] - Career FSO November 23, 1973 January 17, 1974 July 10, 1977
Herman J. Cohen[a] - Career FSO June 24, 1977 March 29, 1978 July 21, 1980
Larry Gordon Piper - Career FSO June 30, 1980 August 21, 1980 August 23, 1982
Owen W. Roberts Chargé d'Affaires ad interim August 23, 1982 June 1983
P. Wesley Kriebel July 1983 November 1983
Alan Logan November 1983 April 1984
Edward Brynn May 1984 June 20, 1984
Robert Thomas Hennemeyer - Career FSO Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary May 11, 1984 June 20, 1984 June 27, 1986
Herbert E. Horowitz - Career FSO September 12, 1986 October 24, 1986 November 4, 1989
Jimmie Stone Chargé d'Affaires ad interim November 4, 1989 January 1990
A. Donald Bramante January 1990 December 31, 1990
Arlene Render - Career FSO Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary October 22, 1990 December 31, 1990 August 8, 1993
Andrew J. Winter - Career FSO July 11, 1993 October 29, 1993 May 31, 1995
Gerald W. Scott - Career FSO December 28, 1995 February 16, 1996 June 27, 1998
George Williford Boyce Haley - Political appointee June 29, 1998 October 15, 1998 July 14, 2001
Jackson McDonald - Career FSO October 1, 2001 November 29, 2001 May 26, 2004
Joseph D. Stafford III - Career FSO July 2, 2004 September 15, 2004 June 5, 2007
Barry L. Wells - Political appointee October 29, 2007 February 13, 2008 May 13, 2009
Pamela Ann White – Career FSO October 1, 2010 November 29, 2010 June 2, 2012
Edward M. Alford – Career FSO July 5, 2012 November 5, 2012 July 28, 2013
Patricia Alsup – Career FSO October 15, 2015 January 13, 2016 September 18, 2018
Richard Carlton Paschall III - Career FSO[2] January 2, 2019 April 9, 2019[3] February 15, 2022
Sharon L. Cromer – Career FSO December 18, 2021 March 18, 2022 present

Notes

  1. ^ During Cook's tenure as non-resident Ambassador, the Embassy in Bathurst (now Banjul) was established September 9, 1965, with John G. Gossett as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim.
  2. ^ "Ambassador Richard Carlton Paschall III (Bio)". U.S. Embassy in The Gambia. 2019-03-15. Retrieved 2019-04-12.
  3. ^ Dampha, Ebrima (2019-04-11). "New US Ambassador presents credentials". The Standard Newspaper. Retrieved 2019-04-12.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f Also accredited to Senegal; resident at Dakar.

References

External links

Ambassadors of the United States
Categories