Ambassador of the United States to Togo | |
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![]() Seal of the United States Department of State | |
since May 31, 2024 | |
Nominator | Joe Biden [2] |
Inaugural holder | Leland Barrows as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary |
Formation | June 23, 1960 |
Website | U.S. Embassy - Lomé |
This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to Togo.
Until 1955 French Togoland was a United Nations Trust Territory mandated by the U.N. to France. In 1955, French Togoland became the administrative Republic of Togo within the French Community (Communauté française), although it retained its UN trusteeship status. In 1960 Togo severed its constitutional ties with France, shed its UN trusteeship status, and became fully independent as the Togolese Republic.
The United States immediately recognized Togo and moved to establish diplomatic relations. The State Department established an embassy in Yaoundé in nearby Cameroon on January 1, 1960, with Bolard More as Chargé d'affaires ad interim. The Yaoundé embassy was simultaneously accredited to Togo. The embassy in Lomé was established on April 27, 1960, with Jesse M. MacKnight as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim. On June 23, 1960, Leland Barrows was appointed as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Cameroon with separate accreditation to Togo while remaining resident in Yaoundé. In 1961 a separate ambassador was appointed solely for Togo and resident at Lomé. The United States has maintained diplomatic relations with Togo since that date.
The United States Embassy in Togo is located in Lomé. The current Togolese ambassador to the United States is Limbiye Edawe Kadangha Bariki. [3]
U.S. diplomatic terms |
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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 |
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Leland Barrows [4] [5] – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | June 23, 1960 | August 22, 1960 | June 27, 1961 | |
Leon B. Poullada – Career FSO | April 18, 1961 | July 27, 1961 | February 24, 1964 | ||
William Witman II – Career FSO | June 8, 1964 | July 10, 1964 | May 8, 1967 | ||
Albert W. Sherer, Jr. [6] [7] [8] – Career FSO | September 13, 1967 | October 13, 1967 | March 5, 1970 | ||
Dwight Dickinson – Career FSO | September 8, 1970 | October 8, 1970 | April 3, 1974 | ||
Nancy V. Rawls – Career FSO | February 11, 1974 | June 7, 1974 | August 8, 1976 | ||
Ronald D. Palmer – Career FSO | September 16, 1976 | October 28, 1976 | July 15, 1978 | ||
Marilyn P. Johnson – Career FSO | September 23, 1978 | November 3, 1978 | July 29, 1981 | ||
Howard Kent Walker – Career FSO | March 9, 1982 | April 19, 1982 | June 9, 1984 | ||
Owen W. Roberts – Career FSO | June 28, 1984 | July 31, 1984 | July 5, 1986 | ||
David A. Korn – Career FSO | October 16, 1986 | November 4, 1986 | April 4, 1988 | ||
Rush Walker Taylor, Jr. – Career FSO | April 28, 1988 | June 20, 1988 | September 4, 1990 | ||
Harmon Elwood Kirby – Career FSO | October 22, 1990 | December 3, 1990 | July 16, 1994 | ||
Johnny Young – Career FSO | May 9, 1994 | October 7, 1994 | November 21, 1997 | ||
Brenda Schoonover – Career FSO | November 11, 1997 | January 7, 1998 | July 30, 2000 | ||
Karl William Hofmann – Career FSO | September 15, 2000 | October 17, 2000 | December 14, 2002 | ||
Gregory W. Engle – Career FSO | April 16, 2003 | May 22, 2003 | April 1, 2005 | ||
David B. Dunn – Career FSO | November 2, 2005 | February 2, 2006 | June 6, 2008 | ||
Patricia McMahon Hawkins [9] - Career FSO | June 6, 2008 | September 12, 2008 | July 29, 2011 | ||
Robert E. Whitehead [10] - Career FSO | April 2, 2012 | May 7, 2012 | September 26, 2015 | ||
David R. Gilmour [11] - Career FSO | October 16, 2015 | November 7, 2015 | March 9, 2019 | ||
Eric W. Stromayer - Career FSO | January 7, 2019 | April 11, 2019 [12] | March 9, 2022 | ||
Elizabeth Fitzsimmons - Career FSO | December 18, 2021 | April 26, 2022 | May 30, 2024 | ||
Ronald E. Hawkins Jr - Career FSO | Chargé d'affaires ad interim | May 31, 2024 | Incumbent |
The history of Togo can be traced to archaeological finds which indicate that ancient local tribes were able to produce pottery and process tin. During the period from the 11th century to the 16th century, the Ewé, the Mina, the Gun, and various other tribes entered the region. Most of them settled in coastal areas. The Portuguese arrived in the late 15th century, followed by other European powers. Until the 19th century, the coastal region was a major slave trade centre, earning Togo and the surrounding region the name "The Slave Coast".
Sylvanus Épiphanio Olympio was a Togolese politician who served as prime minister, and then president, of Togo from 1958 until his assassination in 1963. He came from the important Olympio family, which included his uncle Octaviano Olympio, one of the richest people in Togo in the early 1900s.
Togoland was a German Empire protectorate in West Africa from 1884 to 1914, encompassing what is now the nation of Togo and most of what is now the Volta Region of Ghana, approximately 90,400 km2 in size. During the period known as the "Scramble for Africa", the colony was established in 1884 and was gradually extended inland.
A chargé d'affaires, plural chargés d'affaires, often shortened to chargé (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to charge-D, is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is French for "charged with business", meaning they are responsible for the duties of an ambassador. Chargé is masculine in gender; the feminine form is chargée d'affaires.
French Togoland was a French colonial League of Nations mandate from 1916 to 1946, and a UN trust territory from 1946 to 1960 in French West Africa. In 1960 it became the independent Togolese Republic.
The strains in Ghana–Togo relations stretch back to pre-independence days.
Equatorial Guinea – United States relations are bilateral relations between Equatorial Guinea and the United States.
Togo–United States relations are bilateral relations between Togo and the United States.
This is a summary history of diplomatic relations of the United States listed by country. The history of diplomatic relations of the United States began with the appointment of Benjamin Franklin as U.S. Minister to France in 1778, even before the U.S. had won its independence from Great Britain in 1783.
John Propst Blane was an American diplomat. He was the Principal Officer and Chargé d'Affaires ad interim to the Republic of Chad at the U.S. Embassy in N'Djamena in 1982, following the Embassy's closing in 1980. He was the United States Ambassador to Rwanda from 1982 to 1985 and Chad from September 1985 to October 1988.
France–Togo relations are the diplomatic relations between the French Republic and the Togolese Republic. Both nations are members of the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie and the United Nations.