| Post: | Ambassador |
| Body: | the United States to Syria |
| Native Name: | سفير الولايات المتحدة إلى سورية |
| Insignia: | US Department of State official seal.svg |
| Insigniasize: | 120px |
| Insigniacaption: | Seal of the United States Department of State |
| Incumbent: | Unknown |
| Nominator: | The President of the United States |
| Inaugural: | George Wadsworth as consul general |
| Formation: | 1942 |
| Website: | U.S. Embassy - Damascus |
The United States ambassador to Syria is the official representative of the president of the United States to the president of Syria.
From the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire in 1922 until 1944, had been under the control of France as a part of the League of Nations Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon. The United States appointed George Wadsworth as agent and consul general to Syria and Lebanon on October 9, 1942, to provide a quasi-diplomatic presence in Damascus until the United States determined that Syria achieved effective independence in 1944. The United States recognized Syria as an independent state on September 8, 1944, when the Syrian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jamil Mardam Bey, informed the United States that Syria fully recognized and would protect existing rights of the United States and its nationals. This Syrian assurance was in response to a letter sent on September 7, 1944, by the U.S. diplomatic agent and consul general in Syria that offered "full and unconditional recognition" upon receipt of such written assurances. The United States established diplomatic relations with Syria when George Wadsworth presented his credentials as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary on November 17, 1944. Wadsworth was concurrently the envoy to Syria and Lebanon while resident in Beirut.[1]
Egypt and Syria united to form a new state, the United Arab Republic (UAR) on February 22, 1958 with its capital in Cairo. The U. S. recognized the UAR and the embassy in Damascus was reclassified as a consulate general. Syria seceded from the Union in 1961 and U. S.–Syria diplomatic relations were reestablished on October 10, 1961. The consulate general was once again elevated to embassy status.
Syria severed diplomatic relations with the U.S. on June 6, 1967 in the wake of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. In the interim a U.S. Interests Section in Syria was established on February 8, 1974, in the Italian Embassy with Thomas J. Scotes as Principal Officer. Normal relations were resumed in 1974.
The U. S. recalled its ambassador to Syria in 2005 after the assassination of Rafic Hariri. A series of chargés d’affaires represented the U.S. until the appointment of Robert Stephen Ford in January 2011.[2]
| George Wadsworth – Career FSO[3] | Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary | September 21, 1944 | November 17, 1944 | February 8, 1947 | Served as Diplomatic Agent/Consul General from October 1942 to November 1944 |
| James Hugh Keeley, Jr. – Career FSO | October 8, 1947 | August 2, 1948 | July 22, 1950 | ||
| Cavendish W. Cannon – Career FSO | September 20, 1950 | October 30, 1950 | May 8, 1952 | ||
| James S. Moose, Jr. – Career FSO[4] | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | June 25, 1952 | August 14, 1952 | June 30, 1957 | On September 30, 1952, the U.S. delegation in Damascus was upgraded to embassy status. This required a promotion and new commission for the envoy.[5] |
| Charles Yost – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | December 24, 1957 | January 16, 1958 | Embassy downgraded to consulate status, February 22, 1958 | Syria joined Egypt to form the United Arab Republic on February 22, 1958. The U.S. embassy in Damascus was downgraded to consulate status. After Syria seceded from the UAR, the consulate was reestablished as an embassy on October 10, 1961. |
| Ridgway B. Knight – Career FSO | Chargé d'Affaires ad interim | October 10, 1961 | — | Promoted to Ambassador January 11, 1962 | |
| Ridgway B. Knight – Career FSO[6] | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | December 7, 1961 | January 11, 1962 | May 27, 1965 | |
| Hugh H. Smythe – Political appointee | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | July 22, 1965 | October 28, 1965 | Jun 8, 1967 | Syria severed diplomatic relations with the U.S. on June 6, 1967. Ambassador Smythe departed Syria two days later. The U.S. established an Interests Section on February 8, 1974 in the Italian embassy with Thomas J. Scotes as principal officer. The embassy in Damascus was reestablished on June 16, 1974, with Scotes as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim. |
| Thomas J. Scotes – Career FSO | Chargé d'Affaires ad interim | June 16, 1974 | — | Superseded by Ambassador Murphy, September 9, 1974 | |
| Richard W. Murphy – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | August 9, 1974 | September 9, 1974 | April 23, 1978 | |
| Talcott W. Seelye – Career FSO | July 31, 1978 | September 17, 1978 | August 31, 1981 | ||
| Robert P. Paganelli – Career FSO | September 28, 1981 | November 12, 1981 | June 13, 1984 | ||
| William L. Eagleton, Jr. – Career FSO | October 4, 1984 | December 6, 1984 | August 31, 1988 | ||
| Edward Peter Djerejian – Career FSO | August 12, 1988 | October 2, 1988 | July 25, 1991 | ||
| Christopher W.S. Ross – Career FSO | August 2, 1991 | September 25, 1991 | March 22, 1998 | ||
| Ryan Crocker – Career FSO | June 29, 1998 | June 6, 1999 | June 30, 2001 | ||
| Theodore H. Kattouf – Career FSO | August 7, 2001 | January 12, 2002 | August 23, 2003 | ||
| Margaret Scobey – Career FSO | December 12, 2003 | January 10, 2004 | February 16, 2005 | Ambassador Scobey was recalled "for urgent consultations" on February 15, 2005, after the assassination of Rafic Hariri. Several chargés represented the U.S. until January 2011. | |
| Stephen A. Seche | Chargé d'Affaires a.i | 2005 | N/A | 2006 | |
| Michael H. Corbin | 2006 | N/A | 2008 | ||
| Maura Connelly | 2008 | N/A | 2009 | ||
| Charles F. (Chuck) Hunter | 2009 | N/A | 2011 | ||
| Robert Stephen Ford – Career FSO[7] [8] | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | December 29, 2010 | January 27, 2011 | February 28, 2014 | Syria severed diplomatic relations with United States in 2012 in response to its support of the Syrian rebels during the Syrian Civil War. The U.S. established an Interests Section on February 6, 2012 in the Polish Embassy in Damascus, until the Polish Embassy closed. Since March 1, 2013, a new Interests Section operates via the Government of the Czech Republic through its embassy in Damascus. Only emergency services for U.S. citizens are available. Neither U.S. passports nor visas to the United States can be issued in Damascus. |
| Daniel Rubinstein | Special Envoy | March 7, 2014 | N/A | July 27, 2015 | |
| Michael Ratney | July 27, 2015 | N/A | January 20, 2017 | ||
| Joel Rayburn | July 23, 2018 | N/A | January 19, 2021 |