U.S. State Department. United States Chiefs of Mission 1778-1973. By Richardson Dougall and Mary Patricia Chapman, Historical Office, Bureau of Public Affairs, Department of State, 1973. 229 pages.

Chiefs of Mission include U.S. Ambassadors (also known as Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary or AEPs), Ministers, Charges d'Affaires, and Diplomatic Agents who are appointed by the President to oversee U.S. interests in a foreign country. Ambassadors from the U.S. tend to be a mixture of career foreign service officers, patronage appointments, and those who have distinguished themselves mainly by giving large sums to the party in power. This volume was published as part of the State Department's contribution to the bicentennial observances.

The first 173 pages are organized by country, and within each country the Chiefs of Mission are listed chronologically. Of these, NameBase picked up the entries starting around 1946. In addition to the name and the dates when they were appointed, assumed office, and left office, their home state and official title are included. A 25-page appendix, which we skipped, lists alphabetically all the names in the prior section. This second list usually includes full middle names (instead of just an initial), as well as the year of birth and death. Additional information would also be available from appropriate editions of Who's Who in America, which makes a point of including ambassadors.

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