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John Bass
John R. Bass official photo.jpg
Under Secretary of State for Management
Assumed office
December 29, 2021
President Joe Biden
Preceded by Brian Bulatao
United States Ambassador to Afghanistan
In office
December 12, 2017 – January 6, 2020
President Donald Trump
Preceded by Hugo Llorens
Succeeded by Ross Wilson (chargé d'affaires)
United States Ambassador to Turkey
In office
October 20, 2014 – October 15, 2017
President Barack Obama
Donald Trump
Deputy Philip Kosnett
Preceded by Francis J. Ricciardone Jr.
Succeeded by David M. Satterfield
Executive Secretary of the Department of State
In office
October 8, 2012 – July 18, 2014
President Barack Obama
Preceded by Stephen Mull
Succeeded by Joseph Macmanus
United States Ambassador to Georgia
In office
October 16, 2009 – July 17, 2012
President Barack Obama
Preceded by John F. Tefft
Succeeded by Richard Norland
Personal details
Born 1964 (age 59–60)
New York, U.S.
Spouse Holly Holzer
Education Syracuse University (BA)

John Rodney Bass II (born 1964) is an American diplomat, who has served as the under secretary of state for management since December 2021. He was the United States ambassador to Afghanistan from 2017 to 2020, the United States ambassador to Turkey from 2014 to 2017 and the United States ambassador to Georgia from 2009 to 2012.

Career

Bass is from upstate New York. He graduated from Syracuse University in 1986 and was a newspaper editor and political campaign consultant before joining the Foreign Service in 1988. Shortly after, he was posted to Belgium, the Netherlands, and Chad.

In 1998, he worked for deputy secretary of state Strobe Talbott, first as a special assistant for Europe and Eurasia including as part of the peace negotiations in the Kosovo War. He was later named as Talbott's chief of staff in 2000, coordinating policy on arms reduction with Russia.

In 2005, Bass was named director of the State Department Operations Center. He was sent to Iraq in 2008 as the leader of a provincial reconstruction team. He speaks Italian and French.

Secretary Pompeo Meets With Civil Society Women and Students (48127920617)
Bass participates with U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo in a meeting with civil society women and students at the Kabul Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan on June 25, 2019.

In October 2012, he was appointed Executive Secretary of the United States Department of State and served as the liaison between the State Department's many bureaus and the leadership offices of the Secretary, the Deputy Secretaries, and the Director of Policy Planning.

In October 2017, after the U.S. decided to suspend non-immigrant visa services within Turkey, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the Turkish government would no longer recognize Bass's authority as a U.S. ambassador. The cancellation of visitor visas came after a Turkish court ordered the arrest of an employee of the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul.

After the suspension of visa services in Turkey, Bass published a statement on YouTube.

President Donald Trump named him as his choice to become the United States Ambassador to Afghanistan on July 20, 2017. On September 28, 2017, his nomination was confirmed by the Senate. Bass left the position on January 6, 2020.

On July 21, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated him to serve as Under Secretary of State for Management. On December 18, 2021, he was confirmed by the Senate.

See also

  • Turkey–United States relations
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