List of ambassadors of the United States to Albania

This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to Albania. The ambassador is the head of the Embassy of the United States in Tirana.

Ambassador of the United States to Albania
Ambasadori i Shteteve të Bashkuara në Shqipëri
Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent
David Wisner
Chargé d'Affaires ad interim[1]
since August 18, 2023
NominatorThe President of the United States
AppointerThe President
with Senate advice and consent
Inaugural holderUlysses Grant-Smith
as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
FormationSeptember 22, 1922
WebsiteAmbassador to Albania

U.S. diplomatic terms

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 to remain in office.

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.

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

History
See also: Albania–United States relations

Albania had been under the domination of the Ottoman Empire since the 14th century, but gained a shaky independence in 1912 after an uprising against the Turks. After suffering invasions and occupations during the First and Second Balkan Wars and the Great War, Albania achieved a relatively stable degree of statehood.

The United States established diplomatic relations with Albania in 1922. President Harding appointed the first U.S. Minister to Albania, Ulysses Grant-Smith, who arrived in Tirana in December 1922. The first envoys to Albania had the rank of Minister.

Albania–United States relations were broken in 1939 upon the Italian invasion of Albania just prior to the start of World War II. Relations were not restored until the downfall of Communism in Europe in 1991.

Ambassadors
Name Title Appointed Presented credentials Terminated mission
Ulysses Grant-Smith – Career FSO Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary September 22, 1922 December 4, 1922 Left post, February 8, 1925
Charles C. Hart[2] – Political appointee Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary May 27, 1925 August 1, 1925, and December 13, 1928[3] Left post, December 12, 1929
Herman Bernstein – Political appointee Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary February 17, 1930 April 28, 1930 Left post, September 24, 1933
Post Wheeler[4] – Career FSO Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary August 26, 1933 November 28, 1933 Left post, November 1, 1934
Hugh Gladney Grant – Political appointee Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary August 9, 1935 November 8, 1935 Left post, September 27, 1939
Italian forces occupied Tirana on April 8, 1939, which effectively brought an end to the U.S. mission to Albania. The U.S. legation was officially closed on September 16, 1939.

The United States resumed diplomatic relations with Albania on March 15, 1991. Embassy Tirana was opened October 1, 1991, with Christopher R. Hill as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim. The previous legation was raised to embassy status, and the envoys would henceforth have the rank of Ambassador.

William Edwin Ryerson – Career FSO Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary December 2, 1991 December 21, 1991 Left post, October 13, 1994
Joseph Edward Lake – Career FSO Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary July 5, 1994 October 17, 1994 Left post, March 15, 1996
Marisa R. Lino – Career FSO Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary July 2, 1996 September 4, 1996 May 20, 1999
Joseph Limprecht – Career FSO Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary July 7, 1999 September 8, 1999 Died in northern Albania, May 19, 2002[5][6]
James Franklin Jeffrey – Career FSO Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary October 3, 2002 October 22, 2002 May 2, 2004
Marcie B. Ries – Career FSO Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary October 18, 2004 October 30, 2004 June 16, 2007
John L. Withers, II – Career FSO Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary June 28, 2007 August 29, 2007 November 10, 2010
Alexander Arvizu – Career FSO Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary July 1, 2010 December 6, 2010 January 11, 2015
Donald Lu – Career FSO Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary December 16, 2014 January 13, 2015 September 19, 2018[7]
Leyla Moses-Ones[8] Chargé d'Affaires a.i. September 19, 2018 January 27, 2020
Yuri Kim - Career General[9] Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary November 21, 2019 January 27, 2020 June 25, 2023
Damian Smith - Career FSO Chargé d'Affaires a.i. June 26, 2023 August 1, 2023
H. Martin McDowell - Career FSO Chargé d'Affaires a.i. August 1, 2023 August 18, 2023
David Wisner - Career FSO Chargé d'Affaires a.i. August 18, 2023 Incumbent

Notes
  1. https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=691183993036761&set=a.225301982958300&type=3
  2. Hart was commissioned during a recess of the Senate and recommissioned after confirmation on December 17, 1925.
  3. Hart was reaccredited when Albania became a monarchy. He presented new credentials December 13, 1928
  4. Wheeler was commissioned during a recess of the Senate and recommissioned after confirmation on January 15, 1934.
  5. Obituary, The New York Times. May 21, 2002
  6. Obituary. Los Angeles Times. May 21, 2002
  7. Bewig, Matt (June 8, 2018). "Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan: Who Is Donald Lu?". www.allgov.com. AllGov.com. Archived from the original on December 9, 2018. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  8. "Chargé d'Affaires, a.i. Leyla Moses-Ones". September 2018. Archived from the original on September 28, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2018. NOTE: Nominee Kathleen Ann Kavalec is awaiting Senate confirmation as new Ambassador to Albania, www.state.gov/m/dghr/coc/284673.htm (Dec. 2018)
  9. "Ambassador Yuri Kim". U.S. Embassy in Albania. Archived from the original on November 7, 2021. Retrieved November 7, 2021.

See also

References
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