Colombia - Chiefs of Mission - People - Department
History
Chiefs of Mission for Colombia
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
- Richard Clough Anderson (1788–1826)
- Minister Plenipotentiary, December 16, 1823–July 24, 1826
- Beaufort T. Watts (1798–1869)
- Chargé d’Affaires, March 3, 1827–November 21, 1827
- William Henry Harrison (1773–1841)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, February 13, 1829–September 26, 1829
- Thomas Patrick Moore (1797–1853)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, September 26, 1829–April 16, 1833
- Robert Breckinridge McAfee (1784–1849)
- Chargé d’Affaires, July 1, 1833–June 20, 1837
- James Semple (1798–1866)
- Chargé d’Affaires, April 21, 1838–March 4, 1842
- William Matthews Blackford (1801–1864)
- Chargé d’Affaires, September 17, 1842–December 24, 1844
- Benjamin A. Bidlack (1804–1849)
- Chargé d’Affaires, December 5, 1845–February 6, 1849
- Thomas Moses Foote (1808–1858)
- Chargé d’Affaires, January 5, 1850–October 15, 1850
- Yelverton P. King (1794–1868)
- Chargé d’Affaires, August 25, 1851–April 5, 1853
- James Stephen Green (1817–1870)
- Chargé d’Affaires, December 19, 1853–August 13, 1854
- James Butler Bowlin (1804–1874)
- Minister Resident, April 10, 1855–May 20, 1857
- George Wallace Jones (1804–1896)
- Minister Resident, August 29, 1859–November 4, 1861
- Allan A. Burton (1820–1878)
- Minister Resident, March 9, 1864–December 10, 1866
- Peter John Sullivan (1821–1883)
- Minister Resident, July 25, 1867–June 26, 1869
- Stephen Augustus Hurlbut (1815–1882)
- Minister Resident, November 13, 1869–April 3, 1872
- William Lindsay Scruggs (1836–1912)
- Minister Resident, July 24, 1873–October 26, 1876
- Ernest (Ernst Dichmann) Dichman (?–1885)
- Minister Resident, October 4, 1878–September 21, 1881
- George Earl Maney (1826–1901)
- Minister Resident, September 21, 1881–July 19, 1882
- William Lindsay Scruggs (1836–1912)
- Minister Resident, July 19, 1882–December 4, 1884
- William Lindsay Scruggs (1836–1912)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, December 4, 1884–December 15, 1885
- Charles Donald Jacob (1838–1898)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, January 26, 1886–May 29, 1886
- Dabney Herndon Maury (1822–1900)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, January 20, 1887–June 22, 1889
- John True Abbott (1850–1914)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, June 22, 1889–July 17, 1893
- Luther Franklin McKinney (1841–1922)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, July 17, 1893–December 6, 1896
- Charles Burdett Hart (1851–1930)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, July 19, 1897–March 19, 1903
- Arthur Matthias Beaupre (1853–1919)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, April 13, 1903–December 19, 1903
- William Worthington Russell (1859–1944)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, December 9, 1904–May 24, 1905
- John Barrett (1866–1938)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, November 27, 1905–September 24, 1906
- Thomas Cleland Dawson (1865–1912)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, October 16, 1907–April 25, 1909
- Elliott Northcott (1869–1946)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, August 13, 1909–September 16, 1910
- James Taylor DuBois (1851–1920)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, November 18, 1911–March 1, 1913
- Thaddeus Austin Thomson (1853–1927)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, August 30, 1913–June 26, 1916
- Hoffman Philip (1872–1951)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, February 22, 1919–May 29, 1922
- Samuel Henry Piles (1858–1940)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, May 29, 1922–September 17, 1928
- Jefferson Caffery (1886–1974)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, November 28, 1928–May 20, 1933
- Sheldon Whitehouse (1883–1965)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, December 6, 1933–December 8, 1934
- William Dawson Jr. (1885–1972)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, May 6, 1935–November 16, 1937
- Spruille Braden (1894–1978)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, February 15, 1939–March 12, 1942
- Arthur Bliss Lane (1894–1956)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, April 30, 1942–October 18, 1944
- John Cooper Wiley (1893–1967)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, December 16, 1944–May 3, 1947
- Willard Leon Beaulac (1899–1990)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, September 30, 1947–June 29, 1951
- Capus Miller Waynick (1889–1986)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, August 23, 1951–September 21, 1953
- Rudolf Emil Schoenfeld (1895–1981)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, January 28, 1954–January 26, 1955
- Philip Wilson Bonsal (1903–1995)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, April 1, 1955–April 24, 1957
- John Moors Cabot (1901–1981)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, July 12, 1957–July 15, 1959
- Dempster McIntosh (1896–1984)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, July 30, 1959–January 6, 1961
- Fulton Freeman (1915–1974)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, June 15, 1961–March 14, 1964
- Covey Thomas Oliver (1913–2007)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, August 13, 1964–August 29, 1966
- Reynold Erland Carlson (1912–1993)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, October 6, 1966–June 2, 1969
- Jack Hood Vaughn (1920–2012)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, June 9, 1969–June 25, 1970
- Leonard John Saccio (1911–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, February 24, 1971–July 12, 1973
- Viron Peter Vaky (1925–2012)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, April 5, 1974–June 23, 1976
- Phillip Victor Sanchez (1929–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, September 2, 1976–April 5, 1977
- Diego Cortes Asencio (1931–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, December 6, 1977–June 22, 1980
- Thomas David Boyatt (1933–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, December 3, 1980–April 14, 1983
- Lewis Arthur Tambs (1927–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, May 2, 1983–February 15, 1985
- Charles A. Gillespie Jr. (1935–2008)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, August 28, 1985–September 19, 1988
- Thomas Edmund McNamara (1940–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, October 4, 1988–August 14, 1991
- Morris Dempson Busby (1938–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, September 18, 1991–July 5, 1994
- Myles Robert Rene Frechette (1936–2017)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, July 25, 1994–November 8, 1997
- Curtis W. Kamman (1939–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, March 19, 1998–August 15, 2000
- Anne Woods Patterson (1949–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, August 24, 2000–June 11, 2003
- William Braucher Wood (1950–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, August 13, 2003–March 18, 2007
- William R. Brownfield (1952–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, September 12, 2007–August 10, 2010
- Peter Michael McKinley (1954–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, September 14, 2010–September 1, 2013
- Kevin M. Whitaker (1957–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, May 20, 2014–August 17, 2019
- Philip S. Goldberg (1956–)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, September 19, 2019–
Other Nominees
- John Bozman Kerr (1809–1878)
- Chargé d’Affaires: Not commissioned; nomination withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.
- James Stephen Green (1817–1870)
- Minister Resident: Commissioned to New Granada. Did not serve in this capacity.
- James Butler Bowlin (1804–1874)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary: Nomination of February 25, 1856, withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.
- Allan A. Burton (1820–1878)
- Minister Resident: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate, but seems not to have served under this appointment.
- James Johnson (1810–1891)
- Minister Resident: Not commissioned; nomination not confirmed by the Senate.
- James Hepburn Campbell (1820–1895)
- Minister Resident: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; declined appointment.
- Spruille Braden (1894–1978)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary: Did not serve in this capacity.
- Joseph E. Macmanus (1953–)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary: Nominated onNovember 29, 2017; nomination returned by the Senate on January 4, 2019.