American diplomacy is as old as the country itself. In 1776, Benjamin Franklin traveled to Paris to serve as a commissioner on behalf of his newly proclaimed country and to win French support for the American Revolution. Today, the main function of the United States Ambassador is to act as a representative of the President of the United States and maintain good relations with the country in which he is located. Typically, ambassadors are appointed either as political favorites or as professional diplomats in the foreign service. Here are 25 facts about the embassy world, broken down by numbers.
- The title of “ambassador” was first awarded to the United States in 1893. Before that, the highest rank was “Minister”.
- US embassies around the world issue about 7 million visas each year.
- The United States has diplomatic relations with 180 countries.
- Current United States diplomatic missions: 265.
- The State Department created the Foreign Service in 1924.
- US Presidents have been Foreign Secretary:
John Adams (UK, Netherlands), William Henry Harrison (Columbia), James Monroe (France, UK), John Quincy Adams (UK, Netherlands, Russia, Germany), Thomas Jefferson (France) and Martin van Buuren (UK)
- US presidents who were ambassadors to another country: 0
- Five countries do not have exchanges of US ambassadors: Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and the Republic of China (Taiwan).
- In 1966, Hungary and Bulgaria became the last two countries to receive full-fledged American embassies.
- There are currently 27 vacant ambassadorial posts.
- There are 10 possible diplomatic ranks for each position according to bilateral diplomacy: Ambassador, Chargé d’Affaires, Minister, Minister Counselor, Counselor, First Secretary, Second Secretary, Third Secretary, Attaché, Assistant Attache.
- Only one person – the President – can appoint ambassadors …
- … but he cannot do it himself: to approve the appointment of an ambassador, one authority is needed – the Senate. (The president can make a snap appointment, but the Senate will still vote when they return to session and can reverse the appointment.)
- The 2012 Republican primary nominee served as ambassador for:
John Huntsman, Jr., who served as ambassador to Singapore and China. - Number of years of college education required to become a US Ambassador: 0
- US Department of State Salary for Executive Positions: $130,000-$160,000.
- Approximate percentage of “political” appointees versus career diplomats: 25% / 75%.
- The youngest American to head a diplomatic mission was 24-year-old Edward Ramsey Wing, who became ambassador to Ecuador in 1869.
- The shortest tenure of an American ambassador was approximately 16 days. In 1976, Ambassador Francis E. Meloy Jr. was assassinated on his way to present his credentials to the President of Lebanon.
- Former child actress Shirley Temple was the US ambassador to two countries: Ghana and Czechoslovakia.
Villa Petchek in Prague, Czech Republic, where Shirley Temple Black lived as an ambassador.
- Laws on diplomatic immunity were adopted in 1961 by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
- Traffic fines owed by Egyptian diplomats to New York in 2007: $1.9 million.
- Five US ambassadors were killed at work as a result of terrorist attacks.
- Two employees of the American embassy used diplomatic immunity to avoid possible murder charges. In 1977, an American diplomat was involved in a traffic accident in Canberra that killed an Australian construction worker. He was allowed to return home without trial or investigation.
In January 2011, Raymond Allen Davis was a CIA officer based in Lahore, Pakistan. Allegedly in self-defense, he shot and killed two young Pakistanis. To Pakistan’s outrage, the US State Department invoked diplomatic immunity because he was technically an employee of the embassy. Davis returned to the US in February of that year and was cleared of the charges.
- Number of Times U.S. Diplomats Have Claimed Immunity: Unknown – The State Department refuses to release this information.