List of ambassadors of the United States to Niger

The day before Niger's independence on August 3, 1960, the first American Chargé d'Affaires ad interim, Donald R. Norland, presented his credentials to take effect the following day. The first United States ambassador to Niger, R. Borden Reams was appointed on October 14, 1960 and presented his credentials on November 23.

Ambassador of the United States to Niger
Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent
Kathleen A. FitzGibbon
since August 19, 2023
NominatorThe President of the United States
AppointerThe President
with Senate advice and consent
Inaugural holderR. Borden Reams
as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
FormationOctober 14, 1960
WebsiteU.S. Embassy- Niamey

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
Donald R. Norland - Career FSO Chargé d'Affaires ad interim August 3, 1960[lower-alpha 1] N/A October 14, 1960
R. Borden Reams[lower-alpha 2][lower-alpha 3] - Career FSO Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary October 14, 1960 November 23, 1960 August 2, 1961
Mercer Cook - Political appointee June 22, 1961 August 2, 1961 May 30, 1964
Robert J. Ryan - Career FSO July 9, 1964 August 24, 1964 August 19, 1968
Samuel C. Adams, Jr. - Political appointee July 24, 1968 September 10, 1968 October 3, 1969
Roswell D. McClelland - Career FSO July 8, 1970 July 27, 1970 July 7, 1973
L. Douglas Heck - Career FSO March 22, 1974 May 30, 1974 July 20, 1976
Charles A. James - Political appointee September 16, 1976 December 11, 1976 July 5, 1979
James Keough Bishop - Career FSO July 2, 1979 September 1, 1979 May 29, 1981
William Robert Casey, Jr. - Political appointee March 9, 1982 April 3, 1982 July 29, 1985
Richard Wayne Bogosian - Career FSO August 1, 1985 October 11, 1985 August 7, 1988
Carl Copeland Cundiff - Career FSO August 12, 1988 September 9, 1988 July 10, 1991
Jennifer C. Ward - Career FSO March 25, 1991 August 16, 1991 May 28, 1993
John S. Davison - Career FSO August 9, 1993 October 23, 1993 July 28, 1996
Charles O. Cecil - Career FSO June 11, 1996 September 6, 1996 August 13, 1999
Barbro Owens-Kirkpatrick - Career FSO August 9, 1999 October 11, 1999 July 12, 2002
Gail Dennise Thomas Mathieu - Career FSO October 3, 2002 December 4, 2002 September 30, 2005
Bernadette M. Allen - Career FSO February 21, 2006 April 19, 2006 January 15, 2010
Bisa Williams - Career FSO August 9, 2010 October 29, 2010 September 13, 2013
Eunice S. Reddick - Career FSO June 30, 2014 July 21, 2014 January 25, 2018
Eric P. Whitaker - Career FSO November 2, 2017 January 26, 2018 December 1, 2021
Susan N’Garnim - Career FSO Chargé d'Affaires ad interim December 1, 2021 N/A August 19, 2023
Kathleen A. FitzGibbon[1] - Career FSO Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary August 19, 2023 N/A[lower-alpha 4] Incumbent

Notes
  1. Norland presented credentials as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim, August 2, 1960, to take effect from August 3, 1960.
  2. Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on February 6, 1961. Also accredited to Dahomey, Ivory Coast, and Upper Volta; resident at Abidjan.
  3. During Reams' tenure as non-resident Ambassador, the Embassy in Niamey was established February 3, 1961, with Joseph W. Schutz as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim.
  4. FitzGibbon will not formally present her credentials due to the 2023 Nigerien crisis.[2]

See also

References
  • United States Department of State: Background notes on Niger
  • Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets. United States Department of State.
  1. Hansler, Jennifer (2023-08-19). "US Ambassador Kathleen FitzGibbon arrives in Niger | CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved 2023-08-19.
  2. "Arrival of Ambassador Kathleen FitzGibbon to Niger". United States Department of State. 2023-08-19. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
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