Appointments and Resignations
Ambassador to Kuwait: Who Is Deborah Jones?
Deborah K. Jones assumed the post of U.S. Ambassador to Kuwait on April 19, 2008.
Raised in New Mexico, she earned a B.A. in History from Brigham Young University, and an M.S. in National Security Strategy from the National War College of the... read more
President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate: Who Is Daniel Inouye?
Since the death of Senator Robert W. Byrd (D-West Virginia) on June 28, 2010, a bona fide war hero, Senator Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), has served as President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate. The President pro tempore (aka President pro tem, Latin... read more
Ambassador to Singapore: Who is David Adelman?
An early political supporter of President Barack Obama during the 2008 campaign, David I. Adelman became U.S. ambassador to Singapore on April 29, 2010.
Born in New York City, Adelman grew up in Atlanta. The son of a hardware salesman and a ... read more
Ambassador to Pakistan: Who is Cameron Munter?
With the war in Afghanistan spilling over into Pakistan, where the CIA has launched numerous drone attacks on insurgents, the Obama administration selected Cameron Munter, a veteran diplomat with experience in Iraq, to run the U.S. embassy in Is... read more
Ambassador to Moldova: Who Is Asif Chaudhry?
Asif Chaudhry has been the U.S. ambassador to Moldova, a small country in southeast Europe sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine, since July 11, 2008. Moldova, which declared its independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991, has seen a suc... read more
U.S. Park Police Chief, Fired for Telling Press about Staff Shortages, Reinstated after 7 Years
Having moved on from being fired during President George W. Bush’s first term in office, Teresa Chambers was pleasantly surprised to learn she can have her old job back as chief of the United States Park Police.
Chambers, the first woman and... read more
Postmaster General of the U.S. Postal Service: Who Is Patrick Donahoe?
Patrick Donahoe assumed the office of Postmaster General of the United States Postal Service (USPS) on December 3, 2010. He oversees an agency that has about 580,000 employees in more than 33,000 facilities, delivering nearly half the world’s ma... read more
Ambassador to Niger: Who is Bisa Williams?
President Barack Obama nominated career diplomat Bisa Williams to be U.S. ambassador to the African nation of Niger on November 30, 2009, but she was not confirmed by the Senate until August 6, 2010.
Williams was born in Trenton, New Jersey.... read more
Speaker of the House: Who is John Boehner?
John Boehner (pronounced “BAY-ner”), a staunchly pro-business conservative, has spent 20 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, rising to the top of the Republican Party leadership by making himself useful to those above him in the hierarch... read more
Ambassador to Estonia: Who is Michael Polt?
Michael C. Polt was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to Estonia on November 30, 2009.
Born in Austria, Polt immigrated to the United States when he was 15 years old and settled with his family in Tennessee. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Am... read more
Ambassador to Lesotho: Who is Michele Bond?
A member of the Senior Foreign Service, Michele Thoren Bond has served as ambassador to the small southern African nation of Lesotho since September 14, 2010.
A graduate of Wellesley College, Bond has a master’s degree in foreign service fr... read more
Ambassador to Laos: Who is Karen Stewart?
After 33 years in the Foreign Service, Karen B. Stewart received her second appointment to be an ambassador when President Barack Obama selected her for the top U.S. diplomatic post in Laos. She was sworn in on October 25, 2010. She previously s... read more
Ambassador to Chad: Who is Mark Boulware?
Mark M. Boulware was confirmed as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Chad on September 29, 2010.
Boulware was born in 1948 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In 1956, he and his family, parents Everett and Alice, and three siblings, moved to Iowa P... read more
Ambassador to Czech Republic: Who is Norman Eisen?
President Barack Obama selected White House ethics lawyer Norman Eisen to be ambassador to the Czech Republic in June 2010, and his Senate confirmation hearing was held on August 5. However, Republican objections, led by Sen. Chuck Grassley of I... read more
Ambassador to Ghana: Who is Donald Teitelbaum?
Having served at embassies throughout Africa, Donald G. Teitelbaum finally was given his first ambassadorship by President George W. Bush, who nominated the career diplomat in 2008 to lead the U.S. mission in Ghana. His term began on July 16, 20... read more
Ambassador to Georgia: Who is John Bass?
A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, John R. Bass has served as U.S. ambassador to Georgia since October 1, 2009.
Bass was born and raised in upstate New York, and is a graduate of Syracuse University.
He worked as a newspaper ed... read more