James B. Foley was born in Buffalo, New York. He received his B.A. in 1979 from the State University of New York at Fredonia and M.A.L.D. (Masters of Arts in Law and Diplomacy) in 1984 from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. He joined the Foreign Service in 1983 and served as vice consul and political officer in Manila, Philippines, and as political officer in Algiers, Algeria. He was a speechwriter and advisor to former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger from 1989 to 1993 and Deputy Director of the Private Office of the NATO Secretary General in Brussels, Belgium, from 1993 to 1996. From 1997 to 2000 he was special assistant to the late Senator Paul Coverdell and served as State Department Deputy Spokesman. He served as Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva from 2000 to 2003 and he was United States Ambassador to Haiti from 2003 to 2005. His previous post from 2007 to 2009 was as Senior Coordinator for Iraqi Refugee Issues. He has held his current post as Ambassador to Croatia since September 15, 2009.