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The President of the United States J. Klahr Huddle
as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary |
This is a list of Ambassadors of the United States to Burma. In 1989 the military government of Burma changed the name of the nation to Myanmar, but the United States government—and all other Western governments—do not accept the name and still refer to the country as Burma in official usage.
Burma became a province of India in 1886 under the British Raj. The country was occupied by Japan during World War II but after the war, again came under control of Britain. In 1946 Britain began negotiations with the Burmese to establish independence for the nation, and reached a final agreement on January 27, 1947. A transitional government was established and Burma became fully independent on January 4, 1948.
The United States recognized Burma and established the Embassy of the United States, Rangoon on September 19, 1947, with Earl L. Packer as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim.
After 1990 the United States appointed no ambassador to Burma in protest against the policies of the military regime. A chargé d'affaires became the head of mission until 2012.
On January 13, 2012, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that "at the direction of President Obama, we will start the process of exchanging ambassadors with Burma. We will identify a candidate to serve as U.S. Ambassador to represent the United States Government and our broader efforts to strengthen and deepen our ties with both the people and the government." On June 29, 2012, the U.S. Senate confirmed Derek Mitchell as the new U.S. Ambassador to Burma.
J. Klahr Huddle – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: October 17, 1947
Presented credentials: March 3, 1948
Terminated mission: Relinquished charge November 28, 1949
David McK. Key – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: March 17, 1950
Presented credentials: April 26, 1950
Terminated mission: Left post, October 28, 1951
William J. Sebald – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: April 25, 1952
Presented credentials: July 18, 1952
Terminated mission: Left post, July 15, 1954
Joseph C. Satterthwaite – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: April 4, 1955
Presented credentials: May 10, 1955
Terminated mission: Left post, April 1, 1957
Walter P. McConaughy – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: May 20, 1957
Presented credentials: August 20, 1957
Terminated mission: Left post, November 2, 1959
William P. Snow – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: November 9, 1959
Presented credentials: December 1, 1959
Terminated mission: Left post, May 4, 1961
John Scott Everton – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: May 4, 1961
Presented credentials: June 10, 1961
Terminated mission: Left post, May 21, 1963
Henry A. Byroade – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: September 10, 1963
Presented credentials: October 7, 1963
Terminated mission: Left post, June 11, 1968
Arthur W. Hummel, Jr. – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: September 26, 1968
Presented credentials: October 1968
Terminated mission: Left post, July 22, 1971
Edwin W. Martin – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: August 10, 1971
Presented credentials: October 1, 1971
Terminated mission: Left post, November 20, 1973
David L. Osborn – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: February 28, 1974
Presented credentials: March 22, 1974
Terminated mission: Left post, July 25, 1977
Note: Osborn and subsequent ambassadors were commissioned to the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma.
Maurice Darrow Bean – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: September 19, 1977
Presented credentials: November 8, 1977
Terminated mission: Left post, August 10, 1979
Patricia M. Byrne – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: November 27, 1979
Presented credentials: January 14, 1980
Terminated mission: Left post, September 14, 1983
Daniel Anthony O'Donohue – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: November 14, 1983
Presented credentials: December 26, 1983
Terminated mission: Left post, December 16, 1986
Burton Levin – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: April 7, 1987
Presented credentials: May 26, 1987
Terminated mission: Left post, September 30, 1990
Note: No ambassador was appointed to replace Levin. The U.S. was represented by a succession of chargés d’affaires.
Derek Mitchell – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: July 5, 2012
Presented credentials: July 6, 2012
Terminated mission: Left post, March 14, 2016
Scot Marciel – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: March 2, 2016
Presented credentials: April 27, 2016
Franklin P. Huddle, Jr. (September 1990–September 1994)
Marilyn Meyers (September 1994–October 1996)
Kent M. Wiedemann (October 1996–May 1999)
Priscilla A. Clapp (July 1999–August 2002)
Carmen Maria Martinez (August 2002–August 2005)
Shari Villarosa (August 2005–September 2008)
Larry M. Dinger (September 2008–August 2011)
Michael Thurston (August 2011–July 2012)
Frederick Vreeland was nominated to the ambassadorial post by President Bush in 1990, but the Senate declined to act on the nomination.
Parker W. Borg was nominated by President Bush on July 22, 1991, but the Senate declined to act on the nomination.
Michael J. Green was nominated by President Bush in 2008 to fulfill a special envoy position delegated by the Tom Lantos Block Burma JADE Act, but the nomination was not voted on by the end of the Bush Administration.
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