List of ambassadors of the United States to Afghanistan facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Ambassador of the United States to Afghanistan |
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Seal of the United States Department of State
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 Karen B. Decker (chargé d'affaires) since August 1, 2022 |
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| United States Department of State Afghan Affairs Unit at U.S. Embassy Doha |
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| Reports to | United States Secretary of State |
| Seat | Doha, Qatar |
| Appointer | President of the United States
with advice and consent of the Senate
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| Term length | At the pleasure of the President |
| Inaugural holder | William H. Hornibrook (as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary) |
| Formation |
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The United States ambassador to Afghanistan is the official diplomatic representative of the United States to Afghanistan. In the wake of the 2021 fall of Kabul to the Taliban, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul transferred operations to Doha, Qatar. Since December 31, 2021, the U.S. Interests Section at the Embassy of Qatar in Kabul has served as the protecting power for the U.S. in Afghanistan.
The States recognized Afghanistan, then under the rule of King Amānullāh, on July 26, 1921. Diplomatic relations were established in 1935. The first ambassador appointed to Afghanistan was William H. Hornibrook, who was concurrently commissioned to Persia, as Iran was known then, and resided in Tehran. Until 1942, the U.S. Ambassador to Persia/Iran was also the Ambassador to Afghanistan. The U.S. Legation at Kabul was established on June 6, 1942, with Charles W. Thayer as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim. Cornelius Van Hemert Engert presented his credentials to the government of Afghanistan on July 2, 1942, as the first envoy solely accredited to Afghanistan.
Ambassador Adolph Dubs was assassinated in a botched kidnapping attempt in 1979. For the next ten years, no ambassador was appointed; only a series of chargés d’affaires represented the U.S. in Kabul. The embassy at Kabul was closed on January 30, 1989, due to concerns that the new regime would not be able to maintain security and protect diplomats following the final departure of Soviet forces from the country.
Following the overthrow of the Taliban government, the U.S. Liaison Office in Kabul opened on December 17, 2001, with Ambassador James Dobbins serving as Director. The United States recognized the Afghan Interim Administration on December 22, 2001, when it assumed the authority to represent Afghanistan in its external relations. The embassy reopened on January 17, 2002, with Ryan Crocker as Chargé d’Affaires a.i.
Ambassadors and chiefs of mission
| Name | Title | Appointed | Presented credentials | Terminated mission | Notes |
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| William H. Hornibrook – Political appointee | Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary | January 22, 1935 | May 4, 1935 | Left Tehran March 16, 1936 | The names of the chargés heading the Afghanistan mission between Hornibrook’s departure in 1936 and the arrival of Dreyfus in 1941 have not been recorded. |
| Louis G. Dreyfus, Jr. – Career FSO | Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary | February 16, 1940 | May 19, 1941 | Superseded by establishment of legation in Kabul, July 25, 1942 | Legation Kabul was opened June 6, 1942 with Charles W. Thayer as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim. |
| Cornelius Van Hemert Engert – Career FSO | Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary | May 2, 1942 | July 2, 1942 | Left post August 17, 1945 | |
| Ely Palmer – Career FSO | Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary | February 9, 1945 | December 6, 1945 | Promoted to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | During Palmer’s tenure as envoy, the Legation was elevated to Embassy status on June 5, 1948, when Palmer presented his credentials to the Afghan government. |
| Ely Palmer – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | May 6, 1948 | June 5, 1948 | Left post November 18, 1948 | |
| Louis G. Dreyfus, Jr. – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | April 21, 1949 | August 16, 1949 | Left post January 19, 1951 | |
| George Robert Merrell – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | April 19, 1951 | June 28, 1951 | Left post May 3, 1952 | |
| Angus I. Ward – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | June 27, 1952 | November 8, 1952 | Left post March 3, 1956 | |
| Sheldon T. Mills – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | March 28, 1956 | May 6, 1956 | Left post February 3, 1959 | |
| Henry A. Byroade – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | January 29, 1959 | March 21, 1959 | Left post January 19, 1962 | |
| John M. Steeves – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | February 7, 1962 | March 20, 1962 | Left post July 21, 1966 | |
| Robert G. Neumann – Political appointee | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | November 3, 1966 | February 19, 1967 | Left post September 10, 1973 | |
| Theodore L. Eliot, Jr. – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | September 20, 1973 | November 21, 1973 | Left post June 14, 1978 | |
| Adolph Dubs – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | June 27, 1978 | July 12, 1978 | Assassinated at post February 14, 1979 | |
| J. Bruce Amstutz – Career FSO | Chargé d’Affaires a.i. | February 14, 1979 | February 1980 | ||
| Hawthorne Q. Mills – Career FSO | Chargé d’Affaires a.i. | February 1980 | January 1982 | ||
| Charles Franklin Dunbar – Career FSO | Chargé d’Affaires a.i. | January 1982 | June 1983 | ||
| Edward Hurwitz – Career FSO | Chargé d’Affaires a.i. | June 1983 | March 1986 | ||
| James Maurice Ealum | Chargé d’Affaires a.i. | March 1986 | September 1987 | ||
| Jon D. Glassman | Chargé d’Affaires a.i. | September 1987 | January 30, 1989 | ||
| Peter Tomsen served as Special Envoy to Afghanistan (to the Northern Alliance) 1989–1992. The U.S. Embassy Kabul was closed in January 1989. The Embassy was reopened January 17, 2002. | |||||
| James F. Dobbins – Career FSO | Ambassador (in charge of reestablishing U.S. Embassy) | December 17, 2001 | January 2, 2002 | ||
| Ryan Crocker – Career FSO | Chargé d’Affaires a.i. | January 2, 2002 | Unknown | April 3, 2002 | |
| Robert Finn – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | March 21, 2002 | April 3, 2002 | Left post August 1, 2004 | |
| Zalmay Khalilzad – Political appointee | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | August 17, 2004 | September 28, 2004 | Left post June 20, 2005 | |
| Ronald E. Neumann – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | June 27, 2005 | August 1, 2005 | Left post April 10, 2007 | |
| William Braucher Wood – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | March 28, 2007 | April 16, 2007 | April 9, 2009 | |
| Karl Eikenberry – Political appointee | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | April 3, 2009 | May 21, 2009 | July 25, 2011 | |
| Ryan Crocker – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | July 7, 2011 | July 25, 2011 | July 13, 2012 | |
| James B. Cunningham - Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | August 2012, Sworn in as ambassador August 12, 2012. | August 13, 2012 | December 7, 2014 | |
| P. Michael McKinley - Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | December 2014 | January 6, 2015 | December 18, 2016 | |
| Hugo Llorens | Career Ambassador and Special Chargé d’Affaires | December 19, 2016 | November 17, 2017 | ||
| John R. Bass | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | September 28, 2017 | December 12, 2017 | January 6, 2020 | |
| Ross Wilson | Chargé d’Affaires | January 18, 2020 | August 31, 2021 | ||
| The U.S. Embassy in Kabul transferred operations to Doha, Qatar, on August 31, 2021, following the fall of Kabul to the Taliban. Since December 31, the U.S. Interests Section at the Embassy of Qatar in Kabul has served as the protecting power for the U.S. in Afghanistan. | |||||
| Ian McCary | Chargé d’Affaires | August 31, 2021 | July 31, 2022 | ||
| Karen B. Decker | Chargé d’Affaires | August 1, 2022 | Incumbent | ||
