Howard Franklin Jeter (born March 6, 1947) is an American retired diplomat. From 2001 to 2003, Jeter served as U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria. Prior to this, Jeter represented the United States in a diplomatic capacity in Botswana,

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...

, and Namibia.

Early life and education

Jeter was born on March 6, 1947 in Maple Ridge, Union County, South Carolina. He had a brother, James Randolph Jeter, and a sister, Jacquelyn Jeter. He graduated from Sims High School in 1964 as the class valedictorian. He went on to earn a B.A. in Political Science from

Morehouse College , mottoeng = And there was light (literal translation of Latin itself translated from Hebrew: "And light was made") , type = Private historically black men's liberal arts college , academic_affiliations ...

. Jeter later received an M.A. in International Relations and Comparative Politics from Columbia University and an M.A. in African Area Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles. Jeter was a legislative intern in the Georgia House of Representatives. From 1967 to 1968, Jeter studied abroad in Nantes, France, where his host family nicknamed him "Franc", supposedly because they found "Howard" to be too difficult to pronounce.

Career

Jeter served as U.S. Ambassador to Botswana from 1993 to 1996. In July 1996, he was appointed Special Presidential Envoy for

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

. He later served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs from June 1999 to July 2000. During his career, Franklin also served as Charge d’Affaires, a.i. in

and Namibia. Jeter served as U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria from January 18, 2001 to July 30, 2003. After retiring from a 24 year career at the Foreign Service in 2003, Jeter became the Principal at Four Ways Enterprise, LLC.

Personal life

In addition to English, Jeter speaks Portuguese,

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language official in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa * Swahili culture Swahili culture is the culture of ...

, and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

. Jeter is married and has two children. ChiefDiepreyeAlamieyeseigha

References

External links

Howard Jeter oral history interview, 2009 October 11
Smithsonian Institution {{DEFAULTSORT:Jeter, Howard Franklin 1947 births Living people Ambassadors of the United States to Nigeria Ambassadors of the United States to Botswana Morehouse College alumni Columbia University alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni Ambassadors of the United States to Lesotho African-American diplomats