Afghanistan
- Chiefs of Mission - People - Department History
Chiefs of Mission for Afghanistan
NOTE TO READERS
Updates to the Principal Officers and Chiefs of Mission database are currently suspended. For information about the Department’s current and recent leadership, we recommend visiting the Department of State homepage’s Biographies of Senior Officials and List of U.S. Ambassadors.
Notice posted on January 12, 2024.
Last
updated March 14, 2024.
Chiefs of Mission
- William Harrison Hornibrook (1884–1946)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, May 4, 1935–March 16, 1936
- Louis Goethe Dreyfus Jr. (1889–1973)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, May 19, 1941–July 25, 1942
- During Dreyfus’ tenure as non-resident Minister, and in the interval between Engert’s appointment and his arrival at his post, Legation Kabul was opened on June 6, 1942.
- Charles Wheeler Thayer (1910–1969)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, June 6, 1942–July 2, 1942
- Cornelius Van Hemert Engert (1887–1985)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, July 2, 1942–August 17, 1945
- Ely Eliot Palmer (1887–1977)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, December 6, 1945–June 5, 1948
- Ely Eliot Palmer (1887–1977)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, June 5, 1948–November 18, 1948
- Louis Goethe Dreyfus Jr. (1889–1973)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, August 16, 1949–January 19, 1951
- George Robert Merrell (1898–1962)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, June 28, 1951–May 3, 1952
- Angus Ivan Ward (1893–1969)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, November 8, 1952–March 3, 1956
- Sheldon Tibbetts Mills (1904–1988)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, May 6, 1956–February 3, 1959
- Henry Alfred Byroade (1913–1993)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, March 21, 1959–January 19, 1962
- John Milton Steeves (1905–1998)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, March 20, 1962–July 21, 1966
- Robert Gerhard Neumann (1916–1999)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, February 19, 1967–September 10, 1973
- Theodore Lyman Eliot Jr. (1928–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, November 21, 1973–June 14, 1978
- Adolph Dubs (1920–1979)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, July 12, 1978–February 14, 1979
- J. Bruce Amstutz (1928–)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, February 1979–February 1980
- Hawthorne Quinn Mills (1928–)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, February 1980–January 1982
- Charles Franklin Dunbar (1937–)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, January 1982–May 1983
- Edward Hurwitz (1931–)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, June 1983–March 1986
- James Maurice Ealum (1930–)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, March 1986–September 1987
- Beginning January 9, 1987, Chiefs of Mission were designated Chargés d’Affaires.
- Jon David Glassman (1944–)
- Chargé d’Affaires, September 1987–January 1989
- Embassy Kabul closed on January 30, 1989. The Liasion Office in Kabul opened on December 17, 2001. Embassy Kabul re-opened on January 17, 2002.
- Ryan Clark Crocker (1949–)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, January 2, 2002–April 3, 2002
- Robert Patrick John Finn (1945–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, April 3, 2002–August 1, 2003
- Zalmay Khalilzad (1951–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, November 28, 2003–June 20, 2005
- Ronald E. Neumann (1944–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, August 1, 2005–April 10, 2007
- William Braucher Wood (1950–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, April 16, 2007–April 3, 2009
- Karl Winfrid Eikenberry (1951–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, May 21, 2009–July 19, 2011
- Ryan Clark Crocker (1949–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, July 25, 2011–July 23, 2012
- James B. Cunningham (1952–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, August 13, 2012–December 7, 2014
- Peter Michael McKinley (1954–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, January 6, 2015–December 18, 2016
- John R. Bass (1964–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, December 12, 2017–January 6, 2020
Other Nominees
None