Saudi Arabia
- Chiefs of Mission - People - Department History
Chiefs of Mission for Saudi Arabia
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
- Bert Fish (1875–1943)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, February 4, 1940–February 28, 1941
- Alexander Comstock Kirk (1888–1979)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, May 11, 1942–July 18, 1943
- James Sayle Moose Jr. (1903–1989)
- Minister Resident/Foreign Service officer, July 18, 1943–August 18, 1944
- William Alfred Eddy (1896–1962)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, September 23, 1944–May 28, 1946
- James Rives Childs (1893–1987)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, June 29, 1946–March 18, 1949
- James Rives Childs (1893–1987)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, March 18, 1949–July 21, 1950
- Raymond Arthur Hare (1901–1994)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, October 24, 1950–July 8, 1953
- George Wadsworth II (1893–1958)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, January 9, 1954–January 1, 1958
- Donald Read Heath (1894–1981)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, January 9, 1958–April 18, 1961
- Parker Thompson Hart (1910–1997)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, July 22, 1961–May 29, 1965
- Hermann Frederick Eilts (1922–2006)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, January 15, 1966–July 23, 1970
- Nicholas Gilman Thacher (1919–2002)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, September 22, 1970–September 19, 1973
- James Elmer Akins (1926–2010)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, November 7, 1973–February 10, 1975
- William James Porter (1914–1988)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, February 21, 1976–May 27, 1977
- John Carl West (1922–2004)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, June 29, 1977–March 21, 1981
- Robert Gerhard Neumann (1916–1999)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, June 22, 1981–July 16, 1981
- Richard William Murphy (1929–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, August 29, 1981–August 21, 1983
- Walter Leon Cutler (1931–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, March 31, 1984–June 22, 1987
- Hume Alexander Horan (1934–2004)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, September 22, 1987–April 22, 1988
- Walter Leon Cutler (1931–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, August 17, 1988–April 30, 1989
- Charles W. Freeman Jr. (1943–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, January 14, 1990–August 13, 1992
- C. David Welch (1953–)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, August 1992–August 1994
- Raymond Edwin Mabus (1948–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, August 1, 1994–April 25, 1996
- Wyche Fowler Jr. (1940–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, September 14, 1996–March 1, 2001
- Robert W. Jordan (1945–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, June 30, 2002–October 13, 2003
- James Curtis Oberwetter (1944–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, October 10, 2004–March 31, 2007
- Ford M. Fraker (1948–2017)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, September 2, 2007–February 8, 2009
- James B. Smith (1952–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, October 31, 2009–September 27, 2013
- Joseph William Westphal (1948–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, March 28, 2014–January 8, 2017
- Christopher Henzel (1962–)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, January 8, 2017–April 17, 2019
- John P. Abizaid (?–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, May 8, 2019–
Other Nominees
- William James Porter (1914–1988)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary: Not commissioned; nomination withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.
- John Frank Bookout (1922–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary: Nomination of June 3, 1992, not acted upon by the Senate.