United States Embassy (Lebanon)

<p>Organization Name:</p>
<p>Department of State. U.S. Embassy, Lebanon. 8/27/1952-</p>
<p>Variant Name(s):</p>
<p>Embassy Beirut</p>
<p>Program Area:</p>
<p>Consular services</p>
<p>Foreign relations</p>
<p>Foreign service posts</p>
<p>Jurisdiction(s):</p>
<p>Lebanon</p>
<p>Beirut (Lebanon)</p>
<p>Administrative History Note:</p>
<p>The United States opened diplomatic relations with Lebanon in 1942 and opened its Legation in Beirut on November 19, 1942, when George Wadsworth presented his credentials as Diplomatic Agent and Consul General. In 1944 Wadsworth was promoted to Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary and he presented his new credentials on November 16, 1944. He was also accredited to Syria.</p>

<p>Wadsworth was succeeded as Envoy by Lowell C. Pinkerton, March 6, 1947, and Harold B. Minor, October 18, 1951. The Legation was raised to Embassy status on August 27, 1952, and Minor was promoted to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary. He presented his new credentials on October 15, 1952.</p>

<p>Ambassador Minor was succeeded by Raymond A. Hare, September 29, 1953; Donald R. Heath, March 9, 1955; Robert McClintock, January 15, 1958; Armin H. Meyer, January 12, 1952; Dwight J. Porter, June 22, 1965; William B. Buffum, October 13, 1970; and G. McMurtrie Godley, March 15, 1974.</p>

<p>Francis E. Meloy, Jr., was appointed Ambassador on May 1, 1976, and proceeded to his post. On June 16, 1976, Meloy and Economic Counselor Robert O. Waring were kidnapped in Beirut while on their way to meet with President-elect Sarkis. Meloy, Waring, and their Lebanese chauffeur were found dead near a beach several hours later. No demands were made and the assassins were never identified. Richard B. Parker was appointed to succeed him and he presented his credentials as Ambassador on February 15, 1977. He was succeeded by John Gunther Dean, October 10, 1978; Robert Sherwood Dillon, June 26, 1981; Reginald Bartholomew, October 27, 1983; and John Hubert Kelly, August 27, 1986.</p>

<p>John Thomas McCarthy was appointed Ambassador on August 12, 1988. He arrived at Beirut on September 24, 1988, but did not immediately present his credentials. After the withdrawal of all U.S. personnel from Beirut on September 6, 1989, McCarthy resided in Washington, D.C. He visited Lebanon November 18-19, 1989, when he presented his credentials to President Rene Moawad.</p>

<p>The next Ambassador, Ryan Clark Crocker, returned to Beirut in November 1990, and presented his credentials on November 29. The Embassy reopened in March 1991. Ambassador Crocker was succeeded by Mark Gregory Hambley, December 23, 1993; he departed Beirut on September 14, 1994. Vincent Martin Battle served as Charge d'Affaires ad interim from September through October 1994, followed by Ronald L. Schlicher, October 1994 - February 1996.</p>

<p>Richard Henry Jones presented his credentials as Ambassador on February 2, 1996. He was succeeded by David Michael Satterfield, September 23, 1998; and Vincent Martin Battle, September 12, 2001.</p>

<p>The United States first established a diplomatic presence in Beirut in 1833 with the appointment of a consular agent. Throughout the nineteenth century, American activity in Lebanon was focused on religious, educational and literary pursuits, with the founding of what became Lebanese American University in 1835 and American University of Beirut in 1866. American officials were evacuated from Lebanon in 1917 when U.S. relations with the Ottoman Empire were severed. The Consulate General was re-established after World War I.</p>

<p>In 1944, the U.S. diplomatic agent and Consul General for Lebanon and Syria, George Wadsworth, was upgraded to the rank of minister, following official recognition of the Republic of Lebanon’s independence. He was put in charge of two legations for Syria and Lebanon, but was headquartered in Beirut with a staff of six diplomats. The legation was given Embassy status in 1952, and Minister Harold Minor became the first U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon. This step reflected burgeoning U.S. commercial and strategic interests in Lebanon. By the late 1960s, Embassy Beirut was one of the largest in the Middle East, serving as a regional headquarters for a range of U.S. agencies, including the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), AID, and DEA. The U.S. Information Service maintained the John F. Kennedy Cultural Center and Library, which had branches in Zahleh and Tripoli, as well as extensive English teaching and Arabic publications programs.</p>

<p>Deteriorating security conditions during Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war resulted in a gradual reduction of Embassy functions and the departure of dependents and many staff. Ambassador Meloy was assassinated in 1976.</p>

<p>In the early hours of October 23, 1983, a suicide bomber attacked members of the Multinational Force, peacekeepers at the U.S. Marine barracks and the French paratrooper barracks. 241 American marines, sailors and soldiers died, and 128 were wounded.</p>

<p>Following an April 1983 suicide bomb attack on the Embassy in Beirut, in which 49 Embassy staff were killed and 34 were injured, the Embassy relocated to Awkar, north of the capital. A second bombing there, in September 1984, killed 11 and injured 58. In September 1989, the Embassy closed and all American staff were evacuated, due to security threats. The Embassy re-opened in November 1990.</p>

<p>Like the rest of Lebanon, in the past decades the Embassy has undergone an incremental process of reestablishing normal functions, a process which accelerated in 1997 when the Secretary of State removed restrictions on the use of American passports for travel to Lebanon. USAID assigned an American officer to Lebanon that year, and a Public Affairs officer returned to Lebanon in 1999 after a 14-year absence. The U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service established a position in the Embassy in 1999. The consular section has been gradually expanding services to U.S. citizens and to Lebanese visa applicants, including its coordination of the evacuation of American citizens due to the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hizballah. In light of expanded bilateral military cooperation, the size and scope of the Defense Attaché office and the Office of Defense Cooperation has also increased steadily over recent years.</p>

<p>American Legation in Beirut Raised to Embassy, 1952.
<p>The American Legation in Beirut was raised to embassy status on October 3, 1952, when Harold B. Minor was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.</p>

<p>American Embassy Staff Withdrawn, 1989.</p>
<p>The United States withdrew all personnel including Ambassador John Thomas McCarthy from the American Embassy in Beirut on September 6, 1989. In a statement to the press, the Department of State explained that the step was taken after supporters of a faction in the civil war had surrounded the embassy, endangering the safety of embassy personnel and preventing the embassy from functioning effectively.</p>

<p>American Embassy Reopened, 1990.</p>
<p>The American Embassy in Beirut was reopened on November 29, 1990, when new Ambassador Ryan Crocker presented his credentials.</p>