- United States Ambassador to Rwanda
The part of
Africa that is nowRwanda was a feudalmonarchy headed by a "mwami" (king) and a feudal hierarchy ofTutsi nobles and gentry until 1899. In that year the "mwami" submitted to a German protectorate without resistance. In 1915 duringWorld War I , Belgian troops fromZaire chased the small number of Germans out of Rwanda and took control of the country.After WWI Germany lost its overseas possessions and the
League of Nations mandated Rwanda and its southern neighbor,Burundi , to Belgium as the territory ofRuanda-Urundi . FollowingWorld War II , Ruanda-Urundi became a United Nations Trust Territory with Belgium as the administrative authority.Following a period of strife between the
Hutu and Tutsi, the Tutsi monarchy was overthrown in 1959 and the Hutu Emancipation Movement "(Parmehuto)" assumed political control of the country. In 1961 a UN-supervised election was held and the "Parmehuto" won an overwhelming victory.In June 1962 the UN General Assembly terminated the Belgian trusteeship and granted full independence to Rwanda and Burundi. The United States immediately recognized the Rwandan government and moved to establish diplomatic relations. The U.S. Embassy in the capital
Kigali was established on July 1, 1962, with David J.S. Manbey as Chargé d’Affaires "ad interim ".Charles D. Withers was appointed as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Rwanda on March 9, 1963.Ambassadors
*
Charles D. Withers – Career FSO
**Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
**Appointed: March 9, 1963
**Presented credentials: April 19, 1963
**Terminated mission: Left post September 15, 1966
*Leo G. Cyr – Career FSO
**Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
**Appointed: September 19, 1966
**Presented credentials: November 4, 1966
**Terminated mission: Left post September 29, 1971
*Robert Foster Corrigan – Career FSO
**Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
**Appointed: December 9, 1971
**Presented credentials: March 24, 1972
**Terminated mission: Left post August 3, 1973
*Robert E. Fritts – Career FSO
**Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
**Appointed: February 28, 1974
**Presented credentials: April 18, 1974
**Terminated mission: Left post June 18, 1976
*T. Frank Crigler – Career FSO
**Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
**Appointed: September 16, 1976
**Presented credentials: October 29, 1976
**Terminated mission: Left post May 12, 1979
*Harry R. Melone, Jr. – Career FSO
**Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
**Appointed: November 6, 1979
**Presented credentials: December 28, 1979
**Terminated mission: Left post August 17, 1982
*John Blane – Career FSO
**Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
**Appointed: September 30, 1982
**Presented credentials: November 9, 1982
**Terminated mission: Left post July 16, 1985
*John Edwin Upston – Political appointee
**Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
**Appointed: December 17, 1985
**Presented credentials: February 13, 1986
**Terminated mission: Left post July 14, 1987
*Leonard H.O. Spearman – Political appointee
**Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
**Appointed: February 5, 1988
**Presented credentials: April 27, 1988
**Terminated mission: Left post November 10, 1990
*Robert A. Flaten – Career FSO
**Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
**Appointed: October 30, 1990
**Presented credentials: December 17, 1990
**Terminated mission: Left post November 23, 1993
*David P. Rawson – Career FSO
**Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
**Appointed: November 22, 1993
**Presented credentials: January 8, 1994
**Terminated mission: Left post January 6, 1996
*Robert E. Gribbin, 3rd – Career FSO
**Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
**Appointed: December 19, 1995
**Presented credentials: January 10, 1996
**Terminated mission: Left post January 5, 1999
*George McDade Staples – Career FSO
**Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
**Appointed: October 26, 1998
**Presented credentials: January 27, 1999
**Terminated mission: Left post September 22, 2001
*Margaret K. McMillion – Career FSO
**Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
**Appointed: November 5, 2001
**Presented credentials: December 13, 2001
**Terminated mission: Left post July 10, 2004
*Michael R. Arietti – Career FSO
**Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
**Appointed: November 2, 2005
**Presented credentials: December 5, 2005
**Terminated mission: "Incumbent"ee also
*
Ambassadors from the United States ources
* [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/po/com/11156.htm United States Department of State: Ambassadors to Rwanda]
* [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2861.htm United States Department of State: Background notes on Rwanda]
*StateDeptExternal links
* [http://kigali.usembassy.gov/ United States Embassy in Kigali]
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