James Richard Cheek (April 27, 1936 – May 16, 2011) was an American diplomat.

Life

Born in

Decatur, Georgia Decatur is a city in, and the county seat of, DeKalb County, Georgia, which is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. With a population of 24,928 in the 2020 census, the municipality is sometimes assumed to be larger since multiple ZIP Codes in ...

, Cheek served as

United States Ambassador to Sudan The following is a list of United States ambassadors to Sudan. The first chief of mission sent by the United States was Arthur E. Beach, who presented his credentials in March 1956. From 1967 to 1972 the embassy was closed, and a U.S. Interest ...

in 1989, succeeding G. Norman Anderson and later was the

United States Ambassador to Argentina The United States ambassador to Argentina is the official representative of the president of the United States to the head of state of Argentina. Argentina had declared its independence from Spain in 1816 and there followed a series of revolution ...

from 1993–1996. He lived in

Little Rock, Arkansas (The Little Rock, The "Little Rock") , government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager , leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_ ...

Foreign service career

Cheek served as a career member of the Foreign Service beginning in 1962. Over the years he served in many notable positions with the

State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

including chief of the political section from 1971–1974, congressional fellow for the United States Senate and House of Representatives, 1974 – 1975; Deputy Director for Regional Affairs in the Bureau of Near East and South Asian Affairs, 1975 – 1977; and deputy chief of mission in Montevideo, 1977 – 1979. He has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, 1979 – 1981. Cheek was a foreign affairs fellow at Howard University and Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, 1981 – 1982; deputy chief of mission in Kathmandu, 1982 – 1985; and chief of mission and Chargé d'Affaires in Addis Ababa, 1985 – 1988. From 1988 he was diplomat-in-residence at Howard University.Nomination of James Richard Cheek To Be United States Ambassador to Sudan
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Notes

1936 births 2011 deaths People from Little Rock, Arkansas People from Decatur, Georgia Ambassadors of the United States to Argentina Ambassadors of the United States to Sudan United States Foreign Service personnel 20th-century American diplomats {{US-diplomat-stub