John Rodney Bass II (born 1964) is an American diplomat, who has served as the

Under Secretary of State for Management The Under Secretary of State for Management is a position within the United States Department of State that serves as principal adviser to the Secretary of State and Deputy Secretary of State on matters relating to the allocation and use of Depar ...

since December 2021. He was the

United States Ambassador to Afghanistan The United States ambassador to Afghanistan is the official diplomatic representative of the United States to Afghanistan. In the wake of the 2021 fall of Kabul to the Taliban, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul transferred operations to Doha, Qatar. S ...

from 2017 to 2020, the

United States Ambassador to Turkey The United States has maintained many high level contacts with Turkey since the 19th century. Ottoman Empire Chargé d'Affaires *George W. Erving (before 1831) * David Porter (September 13, 1831 – May 23, 1840) Minister Resident * David Port ...

from 2014 to 2017 and the

United States Ambassador to Georgia This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to Georgia. The United States recognized Georgia's independence on December 25, 1991, and established diplomatic relations March 29, 1993. The U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi was established April 23, 1 ...

from 2009 to 2012.

Career

Bass is from

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region consisting of the area of New York State that lies north and northwest of the New York City metropolitan area. Although the precise boundary is debated, Upstate New York excludes New York City and Long Is ...

. He graduated from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

in 1986 and was a newspaper editor and political campaign consultant before joining the Foreign Service in 1988. Shortly after, he was posted to Belgium, the Netherlands and Chad. In 1998, he worked for Deputy Secretary of State

Strobe Talbott Nelson Strobridge Talbott III (born April 25, 1946) is an American foreign policy analyst focused on Russia. He was associated with ''Time'' magazine, and a diplomat who served as the Deputy Secretary of State from 1994 to 2001. He was president ...

, first as a special assistant for Europe and Eurasia including as part of the peace negotiations in the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...

. He was later named as Talbott's chief of staff in 2000, coordinating policy on arms reduction with Russia. In 2005, Bass was named director of the State Department Operations Center. He was sent to Iraq in 2008 as the leader of a provincial reconstruction team. He speaks

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

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 ...

. In October 2012, he was appointed

Executive Secretary of the United States Department of State The Executive Secretary of the United States Department of State is the Director of the Executive Secretariat. The position holds a rank equivalent to an Assistant Secretary. Each Executive Secretary is appointed by the Secretary of State. Th ...

and served as the liaison between the State Department's many bureaus and the leadership offices of the

Secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

, the Deputy Secretaries, and the

Director of Policy Planning The Director of Policy Planning is the United States Department of State official in charge of the department's internal think tank, the Policy Planning Staff. In the department, the Director of Policy Planning has a rank equivalent to Assistant ...

. In October 2017, after the U.S. decided to suspend non-immigrant visa services within Turkey, Turkish President

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the List of presidents of Turkey, 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Lis ...

said the Turkish government would no longer recognize Bass's authority as a U.S. ambassador. The cancellation of visitor visas came after a Turkish court ordered the arrest of an employee of the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul. After the suspension of visa services in Turkey, Bass published a statement on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

named him as his choice to become the

on July 20, 2017. On September 28, 2017, his nomination was confirmed by the Senate. Bass left the position on January 6, 2020. On July 21, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated him to serve as

. On December 18, 2021, he was confirmed by the Senate.

References

External links

John R. Bass
at the

Office of the Historian The Office of the Historian is an office of the United States Department of State within the Foreign Service Institute. It is legally responsible for the preparation and publication of the official historical documentary record of U.S. foreign po ...

, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bass, John R 1964 births Ambassadors of the United States to Georgia (country) Ambassadors of the United States to Turkey Living people Syracuse University alumni Obama administration personnel Trump administration personnel Biden administration personnel Ambassadors of the United States to Afghanistan United States Under Secretaries of State United States Foreign Service personnel 21st-century American diplomats People from New York (state)

Career

See also

References

External links