This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to Lesotho

Lesotho

Lesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The name...

.

Prior to 1965, the area of southern Africa that is now Lesotho was a British protectorate by the name of Basutoland

Basutoland

Basutoland or officially the Territory of Basutoland, was a British Crown colony established in 1884 after the Cape Colony's inability to control the territory...

. Along with most of the Empire’s other colonies and protectorates, Basutoland gained full independence from Britain in the 1960s. The nation was granted full autonomy on April 30, 1965. On October 4, 1966, Basutoland was granted independence, governed by a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral parliament. At the same time the name of the country was changed to The Kingdom of Lesotho.

The United States immediately recognized

Diplomatic recognition

Diplomatic recognition in international law is a unilateral political act with domestic and international legal consequences, whereby a state acknowledges an act or status of another state or government in control of a state...

 Lesotho after the nation gained its independence. An embassy in Maseru

Maseru

Maseru is the capital of Lesotho. It is also the capital of the Maseru District. Located on the Caledon River, bordering South Africa, Maseru is Lesotho's only sizable city, with a population of approximately 227,880 . The city was established as a police camp and assigned as the capital after the...

 was established on October 4, 1966, Lesotho’s independence day. Richard St. F. Post was appointed as chargé d'affaires

Chargé d'affaires

In diplomacy, chargé d’affaires , often shortened to simply chargé, is the title of two classes of diplomatic agents who head a diplomatic mission, either on a temporary basis or when no more senior diplomat has been accredited.-Chargés d’affaires:Chargés d’affaires , who were...

 ad interim

Ad interim

The Latin phrase ad interim literally means "in the time between" denotes the meaning of "in the meantime", "for an intervening time" or "temporarily" in the English language...

pending the arrival of an ambassador. The first ambassador, Charles J. Nelson was appointed on June 9, 1971.

Ambassadors

• Note: Pending appointment of the first ambassador, the following officers served as chargé d'affaires ad interim: Richard St. F. Post (October 1966–July 1968), Norman E. Barth (July 1968–August 1969), and Stephen G. Gebelt (October 1969–December 1970).
• Note: Until 1979 one ambassador was accredited to Lesotho, Swaziland
  Swaziland
  Swaziland, officially the Kingdom of Swaziland , and sometimes called Ngwane or Swatini, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique...
  
  , and Botswana
  Botswana
  Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
  
  . The ambassador was resident in Gaborone
  Gaborone
  ' is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 191,776 based on a 2006 survey, about 10% of the total population of Botswana....
  
  , Botswana.
• Charles J. Nelson – Career FSO
  • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
  • Appointed: June 9, 1971
  • Presented credentials: September 23, 1971
  • Terminated mission: Left Gaborone, March 2, 1974
• David B. Bolen – Career FSO
  • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
  • Appointed: February 28, 1974
  • Presented credentials: April 25, 1974
  • Terminated mission: Left Gaborone, August 11, 1976
• Donald R. Norland – Career FSO
  • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
  • Appointed: November 17, 1976
  • Presented credentials: January 6, 1977
  • Terminated mission: Left Gaborone, October 6, 1979
• Note: Beginning in 1979, the ambassador was accredited solely to Lesotho and resident in Maseru.
• John R. Clingerman – Career FSO
  • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
  • Appointed: September 28, 1979
  • Presented credentials: November 1, 1979
  • Terminated mission: Left post, November 15, 1981
• Keith Lapham Brown – Political appointee
  • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
  • Appointed: March 9, 1982
  • Presented credentials: March 25, 1982
  • Terminated mission: Left post, December 1, 1983
• S.L. Abbott – Political appointee
  • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
  • Appointed: May 11, 1984
  • Presented credentials: July 3, 1984
  • Terminated mission: Left post, July 7, 1989
• Robert M. Smalley – Political appointee
  • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
  • Appointed: June 15, 1987
  • Presented credentials: July 2, 1987
  • Terminated mission: Left post, July 7, 1989
• Jerry Alexander Moore, Jr. – Political appointee
  • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
  • Appointed:
  • Presented credentials:
  • Terminated mission:
• Note: Howard F. Jeter served as chargé d'affaires ad interim July 1989–January 1991.
• Leonard H. O. Spearman – Political appointee
  • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
  • Appointed: October 22, 1990
  • Presented credentials: January 24, 1991
  • Terminated mission: Left post, April 25, 1993
• Note: Karl Hoffmann served as chargé d'affaires ad interim, April 1993–April 1995.
• Bismarck Myrick
  Bismarck Myrick
  Bismarck Myrick is a former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Liberia and Lesotho . He is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and a decorated Vietnam War hero....
  
   – Career FSO
  • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
  • Appointed: March 4, 1995
  • Presented credentials: April 27, 1995
  • Terminated mission: Left post June 10, 1998
• Katherine Hubay Peterson – Career FSO
  • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
  • Appointed: June 29, 1998
  • Presented credentials: September 18, 1998
  • Terminated mission: Left post June 1, 2001
• Robert Geers Loftis
  Robert Geers Loftis
  Robert Geers Loftis is a career member of the United States Foreign Service, former United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Lesotho, and current Acting Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization at the United States Department of State. He took up his current post in September 2010,...
  
   – Career FSO
  • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
  • Appointed: August 6, 2001
  • Presented credentials: October 11, 2001
  • Terminated mission: Left post June 18, 2004
• June Carter Perry – Career FSO
  • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
  • Appointed: July 2, 2004
  • Presented credentials: September 23, 2004
  • Terminated mission: Unknown
• Robert B. Nolan – Career FSO
  • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
  • Appointed: September 26, 2007
  • Presented credentials: October 10, 2007
  • Terminated mission: Unknown
• Michele T. Bond – Career FSO
  • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
  • Appointed: September 14, 2010
  • Presented credentials: October 28, 2010
  • Terminated mission: Incumbent

See also

• Lesotho – United States relations
• Foreign relations of Lesotho
  Foreign relations of Lesotho
  Lesotho's geographic location makes it extremely vulnerable to political and economic developments in South Africa. It is a member of many regional economic organizations including the Southern African Development Community and the Southern African Customs Union...
  
  
• Ambassadors of the United States

External links

• United States Department of State: Chiefs of Mission for Lesotho
• United States Department of State: Lesotho
• United States Embassy in Maseru