Costa Rica
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Chiefs of Mission for Costa Rica
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
- Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar (1798–1859)
- Minister Resident, September 14, 1858–May 20, 1859
- Alexander Dimitry (1805–1883)
- Minister Resident, September 29, 1859–April 27, 1861
- Charles N. Riotte (1814–1887)
- Minister Resident, August 29, 1861–January 18, 1867
- Albert Gallatin Lawrence (1836–1887)
- Minister Resident, January 18, 1867–June 24, 1868
- Jacob Beeson Blair (1821–1901)
- Minister Resident, October 6, 1868–June 30, 1873
- George McWillie Williamson (1829–1882)
- Minister Resident, August 13, 1873–January 31, 1879
- Cornelius Ambrose Logan (1832–1899)
- Minister Resident, December 25, 1879–April 17, 1882
- Henry Cook Hall (1820–1901)
- Minister Resident, November 22, 1882
- Henry Cook Hall (1820–1901)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, November 22, 1882–May 16, 1889
- Lansing Bond Mizner (1825–1893)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, August 30, 1889–December 31, 1890
- Romualdo Pacheco (1831–1899)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, May 7, 1891–October 31, 1891
- Richard Cutts Shannon (1839–1920)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, October 31, 1891–April 30, 1893
- Lewis Baker (1832–1899)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, May 20, 1893–December 9, 1897
- William Lawrence Merry (1835–1911)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, January 15, 1898–December 12, 1907
- William Lawrence Merry (1835–1911)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, December 12, 1907–July 1, 1908
- William Lawrence Merry (1835–1911)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, July 1, 1908–March 4, 1911
- Lewis David Einstein (1877–1967)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, November 3, 1911–December 29, 1911
- Edward Joseph Hale (1839–1922)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, August 29, 1913–January 27, 1917
- Stewart Johnson (1880–1926)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, –December 5, 1918
- John Funk Martin Jr. (1889–1971)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, October 15, 1920–
- Walter Clarence Thurston (1894–1974)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, January 1921–March 1922
- Roy Tasco Davis (1889–1975)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, March 14, 1922–January 4, 1930
- Charles Christopher Eberhardt (1871–1965)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, March 14, 1930–September 24, 1933
- Leo R. Sack (1889–1956)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, October 16, 1933–January 10, 1937
- William Harrison Hornibrook (1884–1946)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, September 2, 1937–September 1, 1941
- Arthur Bliss Lane (1894–1956)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, October 27, 1941–March 17, 1942
- Robert McGregor Scotten (1891–1968)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, March 31, 1942–April 20, 1943
- Fay Allen Des Portes (1890–1944)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, May 20, 1943–September 11, 1944
- Hallett Johnson (1888–1968)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, February 14, 1945–May 16, 1947
- Walter Joseph Donnelly (1896–1970)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, June 27, 1947–October 15, 1947
- Nathaniel Penistone Davis (1895–1973)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, January 31, 1948–June 8, 1949
- Joseph Flack (1894–1955)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, August 13, 1949–September 21, 1950
- Philip Bracken Fleming (1887–1955)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, November 20, 1951–August 7, 1953
- Robert Charles Hill (1917–1978)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, November 4, 1953–September 10, 1954
- Robert Forbes Woodward (1908–2001)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, December 3, 1954–March 15, 1958
- Whiting Willauer (1906–1962)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, May 5, 1958–April 17, 1961
- Raymond L. Telles Jr. (1915–2013)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, May 22, 1961–February 19, 1967
- Clarence A. Boonstra (1914–2006)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, March 8, 1967–August 11, 1969
- Walter Christian Ploeser (1907–1993)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, April 27, 1970–April 13, 1972
- Viron Peter Vaky (1925–2012)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, October 17, 1972–February 9, 1974
- Terence Alphonso Todman (1926–2014)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, March 17, 1975–January 24, 1977
- Marvin Weissman (1927–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, June 28, 1977–March 22, 1980
- Francis J. McNeil (1932–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, July 8, 1980–June 27, 1983
- Curtin Winsor Jr. (1939–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, July 14, 1983–February 18, 1985
- Lewis Arthur Tambs (1927–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, August 1, 1985–January 1, 1987
- Deane Roesch Hinton (1923–2017)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, November 17, 1987–January 4, 1990
- Luis Guinot Jr. (1935–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, August 27, 1991–March 1, 1993
- Joseph Beceila (?–)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, August 1993–October 1994
- Peter John De Vos (1938–2008)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, October 21, 1994–October 14, 1997
- Thomas J. Dodd (1935–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, November 26, 1997–March 1, 2001
- John J. Danilovich (1950–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, October 10, 2001–June 1, 2004
- Douglas M. Barnes (1955–)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, June 2004–July 2005
- Mark Langdale (1954–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, November 8, 2005–January 22, 2008
- Peter E. Cianchette (1961–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, June 12, 2008–June 22, 2009
- Anne Slaughter Andrews (1955–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, January 12, 2010–June 13, 2013
- Gonzalo Rolando Gallegos (1963–)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, June 2013–February 2015
- Stafford Fitzgerald Haney (1969–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, July 8, 2015–July 15, 2017
- Sharon Day (?–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, October 3, 2017–
Other Nominees
- John Slidell (1793–1871)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate. Commissioned to Central America; declined appointment.
- Solon Borland (1808–1864)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned on February 9, 1854, after confirmation. Commissioned to Central America. Did not present credentials in Costa Rica.
- Thaddeus Phelps Mott (1831–1894)
- Minister Resident: Not commissioned; nomination withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.
- Charles N. Riotte (1814–1887)
- Minister Resident: Not commissioned; nomination tabled by the Senate.
- Hans Frederick Arthur Schoenfeld (1889–1952)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary: Did not serve under this appointment.
- Edward Albright (1873–1937)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary: Took oath of office, but died in the United States before proceeding to post.
- Stanton Dean Anderson (1940–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary: Not commissioned; nomination of April 29, 1974, was not acted upon by the Senate.