United States Ambassador to Laos

Ambassador of the United States to Laos
Seal of the United States Department of State
File:Ambassador Daniel Clune.jpg Incumbent Daniel A. Clune since September 16, 2013
Nominator	Barack Obama
Inaugural holder	Paul L. Guest as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim
Formation	August 1950
Website	U.S. Embassy - Vientiane

This is a list of United States Ambassadors to Laos. The United States established full diplomatic relations with Laos in 1955, following its full independence from France in 1954.

On 29 December 1961, during the Laotian Civil War, President John F. Kennedy made the Ambassador to Laos the de facto commander of U.S. military and paramilitary operations within the Kingdom of Laos for the length of the war.

Accounting for American personnel missing in Laos and clearing unexploded ordnance (UXO) from the wars in Indochina were the initial focuses of the post-1975 bilateral relationship. Since that time the relationship has broadened to include cooperation on a range of issues including counter-narcotics, health, child nutrition, environmental sustainability, trade liberalization, and English language training. This expansion in cooperation has accelerated since 2009, with the launch of the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI), which serves as a platform to address complex, transnational development and policy changes in the Lower Mekong sub-region. The United States and Laos share a commitment to ensuring a prosperous and sustainable future for the Mekong sub-region. In July 2012, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Laos, marking the first visit by a Secretary of State since 1955.

A large part of U.S. bilateral assistance to Laos is devoted to improving health and child nutrition. The United States also helps improve trade policy in Laos, promotes sustainable development and biodiversity conservation, and works to strengthen the criminal justice system and law enforcement. The United States has provided significant support for clearance of UXO from the war, particularly cluster munitions, as well as for risk education and victims’ assistance.

Ambassadors

U.S. diplomatic terms

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Career FSO
After 1915, The United States Department of State began classifying ambassadors as career Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) for those who have served in the Foreign Service for a specified amount of time.

Political appointee
A person who is not a career foreign service officer, but is appointed by the president (often as a reward to political friends).

Appointed
The date that the ambassador took the oath of office; also known as “commissioning”. It follows confirmation of a presidential appointment by the Senate, or a Congressional-recess appointment by the president. In the case of a recess appointment, the ambassador requires subsequent confirmation by the Senate.

Presented credentials
The date that the ambassador presented his letter of credence to the head of state or appropriate authority of the receiving nation. At this time the ambassador officially becomes the representative of his country. This would normally occur a short time after the ambassador’s arrival on station. The host nation may reject the ambassador by not receiving the ambassador’s letter, but this occurs only rarely.

Terminated mission
Usually the date that the ambassador left the country. In some cases a letter of recall is presented, ending the ambassador’s commission, either as a means of diplomatic protest or because the diplomat is being reassigned elsewhere and replaced by another envoy.

Chargé d'affaires
The person in charge of the business of the embassy when there is no ambassador commissioned to the host country. See chargé d'affaires.

Ad interim
Latin phrase meaning "for the time being", "in the meantime". See ad interim.

Name	Career Status	Presentation of Credentials	Termination of Mission	Comment
Paul L. Guest		Aug-1950	Dec-1950	ad interim
Donald R. Heath		29-Dec-1950	01-Nov-1954	Resident at Saigon
Charles W. Yost		01-Nov-1954	27-Apr-1956
J. Graham Parsons		12-Oct-1956	08-Feb-1958
Horace H. Smith		09-Apr-1958	21-Jun-1960
Winthrop G. Brown		25-Jul-1960	28-Jun-1962
Leonard S. Unger		25-Jul-1962	01-Dec-1964
William H. Sullivan		23-Dec-1964	18-Mar-1969
G. McMurtrie Godley		24-Jul-1969	23-Apr-1973
Charles S. Whitehouse		20-Sep-1973	12-Apr-1975
Thomas J. Corcoran		Aug-1975	Mar-1978	ad interim
George B. Roberts, Jr.		Mar-1978	Sep-1979	ad interim
Leo J. Moser		Sep-1979	Oct-1981	ad interim
William W. Thomas, Jr.		Nov-1981	Nov-1983	ad interim
Theresa A. Tull		Nov-1983	Aug-1986	ad interim
Harriet W. Isom		Aug-1986	Aug-1989	ad interim
Charles B. Salmon, Jr.		Aug-1989	26-Jul-1993	ad interim Aug-1989 Aug-1992, Ambassador 06-Aug-1992 26-Jul-1993
Victor L. Tomseth		08-Jan-1994	20-Aug-1996
Wendy Chamberlin		05-Sep-1996	14-Jun-1999
Douglas A. Hartwick		18-Sep-2001	21-Apr-2004
Patricia M. Haslach		04-Sep-2004	c. 2007
Ravic R. Huso		22-Jun-2007	22-Aug-2010
Karen B. Stewart		16-Nov-2010	August 2013
Daniel A. Clune		September 16, 2013	Incumbent

See also

• Laos – United States relations
• Foreign relations of Laos
• Ambassadors of the United States

Reference

• Castle, Timothy N. (1993). At War in the Shadow of Vietnam: U.S. Military Aid to the Royal Lao Government 1955–1975. ISBN 0-231-07977-X.

Exterior links

• United States Department of State: Background notes on Laos
•  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Department of State (Background Notes).
• United States Department of State: Chiefs of Mission for Laos
• United States Department of State: Laos
• United States Embassy in Vientiane