Ted Osius Explained

Ted Osius
Office:President & CEO of US-ASEAN Business Council
Term Start:August 23, 2021[1]
Predecessor:Alexander C. Feldman
Office1:United States Ambassador to Vietnam
President1:Barack Obama
Donald Trump
Deputy1:Susan B. Sutton
Term Start1:December 16, 2014
Term End1:November 4, 2017[2]
Predecessor1:David B. Shear
Successor1:Daniel Kritenbrink
Office2:Deputy chief of mission at the Embassy of the United States, Jakarta
President2:Barack Obama
Term Start2:2009
Term End2:2012
Successor2:Heather Variava
Office3:Political Minister-Counselor at the Embassy of the United States, New Delhi
President3:George W. Bush
Barack Obama
Term Start3:2006
Term End3:2009
Office4:Deputy director of the Office of Korean Affairs in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
President4:George W. Bush
Term Start4:2004
Term End4:2006
Office5:Regional Environment Officer at the Embassy of the United States, Bangkok
President5:George W. Bush
Term Start5:2001
Term End5:2004
Office6:Senior Advisor on International Affairs at the Office of the Vice President
President6:Bill Clinton
Vice President6:Al Gore
Term Start6:1998
Term End6:2001
Office7:Political Officer at the Embassy of the United States, Hanoi
President7:Bill Clinton
Term Start7:1996
Term End7:1998
Birth Name:Theodore George Osius III[3]
Birth Date:[4]
Birth Place:San Francisco, California, United States[5]
Alma Mater:Harvard University (AB)
Johns Hopkins University (MA)
Children:2

Theodore George Osius III (born 1961) is an American diplomat and the former United States Ambassador to Vietnam.[6]

Early life and education

Osius grew up in Annapolis, Maryland.[5] He attended The Putney School in Vermont, graduating in 1979.

Osius attended Harvard University, where he wrote for The Harvard Crimson and attained a Bachelor of Arts in social studies. After graduating in 1984, he interned at the American University in Cairo for a year. He then worked as a legislative correspondent for Senator Al Gore from 1985 to 1987. Osius later attended the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, graduating with a Master of Arts in international economics and U.S. foreign policy in 1989.

In addition to English, Osius speaks Vietnamese, French and Italian, as well as a bit of Arabic, Hindi, Thai, Japanese, and Indonesian.[7]

Career

Osius joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1989.[7] Osius' first assignment was in Manila, from 1989 to 1991. Other early assignments included Vatican City and the United Nations.

In 1996, Osius was among the first U.S. diplomats to work in Vietnam since the end of the Vietnam War. In 1997, he helped with the establishment of the U.S. consulate in Ho Chi Minh City.[7] In 1998 Osius returned to advise Vice President Al Gore on Asian affairs. In 2001, Osius became regional environmental affairs officer at the U.S. embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. In 2004, he returned to Washington, D.C. to work as the deputy director of the Office of Korean Affairs in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. In 2008, Osius was assigned to New Delhi, India as political minister-counselor.[6]

In 2009, Osius became the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia.[6]

Osius returned again to Washington in 2012 to work as a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. In 2013, he became an associate professor at National Defense University.[7]

In May 2014, Osius was nominated by President Barack Obama to be U.S. ambassador to Vietnam.[8] Osius was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in November 2014.[9] As ambassador, Osius presented his credentials on December 16, 2014.[6]

Personal life

Osius is openly gay.[10] In 2004, Osius met his future husband, Clayton Bond, then a watch officer in the State Department's operations center, at a meeting of Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies. They were married in 2006 in Vancouver, Canada. He and Bond have two children, a son and a daughter.[7] [11]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Former U.S. Ambassador Ted Osius Named New President & CEO of US-ASEAN Business Council. US-Asean Business Council. 22 August 2021 . August 22, 2021.
  2. Web site: PM praises US Ambassador for successful term. Vietnam News. November 9, 2017.
  3. Web site: Ambassadorial Nomination: Certificate of Demonstrated Competence -- Foreign Service Act, Section 304(a)(4). 2014. April 7, 2018.
  4. Web site: US President Trump intends to nominate new ambassador to Vietnam. Voice of Vietnam. July 28, 2017. April 7, 2018.
  5. News: Ted Osius says Vietnam ambassadorship 'dream come true' . . November 20, 2014. March 11, 2016.
  6. Web site: Ted Osius, U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam. U.S. Department of State. 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20161224041144/http://state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/235132.htm. December 24, 2016. live. April 7, 2018.
  7. Web site: U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam: Who Is Ted Osius?. AllGov. August 10, 2014. March 11, 2016.
  8. Web site: Ted Osius Becomes 7th Openly LGBT Person Nominated to Serve as Ambassador by Obama Administration. https://web.archive.org/web/20160311180636/http://www.hrc.org/blog/ted-osius-becomes-seventh-openly-lgbt-ambassador. dead. March 11, 2016. Human Rights Campaign. May 19, 2014. March 11, 2016.
  9. News: Gay diplomat confirmed as U.S. ambassador to Vietnam . Washington Blade. November 18, 2014 . March 11, 2016.
  10. News: The six openly gay U.S. ambassadors were together in one room. Washington Post. March 25, 2015. March 11, 2016.
  11. Web site: Meet Vietnam's Gay Power Couple: U.S. Ambassador and His Husband . Bloomberg News. August 2, 2015. March 11, 2016.