David Maclain Hale (born 1961) is an American diplomat and

career ambassador Career ambassador is a personal rank of Foreign Service Officers within the United States Department of State Senior Foreign Service. The rank of career ambassador is awarded by nomination of the President and confirmation by the United States Se ...

, who previously served as the United States Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs. He is currently a Distinguished Diplomatic Fellow at the

Wilson Center The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (or Wilson Center) is a quasi-government entity and think tank which conducts research to inform public policy. Located in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Wash ...

, on detail from the Department of State.

Early life

David Hale was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1961 and lives in New Jersey. He graduated from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

School of Foreign Service The Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service (SFS) is the school of international relations at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. It is considered to be one of the world's leading international affairs schools, granting degrees at bot ...

in 1983.

Career

Hale joined the Foreign Service in 1985. He served at the United States missions to

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, and the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

. In Washington, Hale was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

and the Levant and Director for Israel-Palestinian Affairs. He held several staff posts, including Executive Assistant to Secretary of State Albright. Hale was United States Ambassador to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan between 2005 and 2008. He was Deputy Envoy from 2009 to 2012, and Special Envoy for Middle East Peace between 2011 and 2013. He served as the

United States Ambassador to Lebanon This is a list of ambassadors of the United States and other Heads of Mission to Lebanon. * George Wadsworth (1942–1947) – Consul General, later promoted to Envoy. Also was head of mission to Syria but resident in Beirut. * Lowell C. Pink ...

from 2013 to 2015. Hale was the United States Ambassador to Pakistan from August 5, 2015 to August 30, 2018. In May 2017, he dedicated a new Counter-Terrorism Department building in Karachi. The building, which had been bombed in 2010, was rebuilt at a cost of 24 million Pakistani rupees contributed from the United States Department of State's

Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) is an agency that reports to the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights within the Department of State. Under the umbrella of its general mis ...

. Hale is the recipient of several Department Superior and Meritorious Honor awards, including the

Secretary's Distinguished Service Award The Secretary's Distinguished Service Award is an award of the United States Department of State. It is presented at the discretion of the Secretary of State in recognition of exceptionally outstanding leadership, professional competence, and sig ...

in 2013. In July 2018, 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 P ...

announced his intention to nominate Hale as the next

Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs The Under Secretary for Political Affairs is currently the fourth-ranking position in the United States Department of State, after the secretary, the deputy secretary, and the deputy secretary of state for management and resources. The current un ...

. During the Legislative day of August 28, 2018, he was confirmed by a voice vote. On September 13, 2018, Hale was promoted to the rank of

Career Ambassador Career ambassador is a personal rank of Foreign Service Officers within the United States Department of State Senior Foreign Service. The rank of career ambassador is awarded by nomination of the President and confirmation by the United States Se ...

– the highest rank in the foreign service. He was formerly the highest-ranked serving United States Foreign Service Officer.

Service as Under Secretary

In early 2020, Under Secretary Hale visited West Africa to advance US diplomatic interests in the Sahel. In September 2020, Hale testified that a potential sale of

F-35 The Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II is an American family of single-seat, single-engine, all-weather stealth multirole combat aircraft that is intended to perform both air superiority and strike missions. It is also able to provide elect ...

fighter aircraft to the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at t ...

would be discussed with

in light of US policy goals to maintain an advantage for Israel in the area. In 2021, Victoria Nuland was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as Under Secretary for Political Affairs in the new administration. Hale consequently stepped down from the position and was detailed to the Wilson Center, a policy think-tank based in Washington D.C, as a Distinguished Diplomatic Fellow. He remains an active-duty U.S. Foreign Service Officer. Upon his resignation as Under Secretary, he ceded his status as the highest-ranking U.S. Foreign Service Officer, a position held by the officer serving in the highest political appointment in the Department (usually Deputy Secretary or Under Secretary for Political Affairs) irrespective of years of service.

Testifying in impeachment inquiry

Hale appeared before House investigators on November 6, 2019 with regard to the impeachment inquiry. Hale came to the attention of the impeachment inquiry when

Philip Reeker Philip Thomas Reeker (born January 19, 1965) is an American diplomat and career foreign service officer with the United States Department of State, Department of State who currently serves as the senior advisor for Caucasus negotiations. He was p ...

testified about support for Ambassador

Marie Yovanovitch Marie Louise "Masha" Yovanovitch (born November 11, 1958) is a Canadian-American former diplomat and retired senior member of the United States Foreign Service. She served in multiple State Department posts, including Senior Advisor to the Unde ...

being suppressed after President

had her removed as ambassador to Ukraine. Mr. Reeker's deputy, George P. Kent, voiced misgivings about Rudy Giuliani’s role in Ukraine matters to Reeker and Hale, according to documents from the State Department's inspector general. On November 20, 2019, Hale testified that an

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). OMB's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, but it also examines agency programs, pol ...

(OMB) official informed him that Trump ordered aid to be withheld from Ukraine.

References

External links

Deposition Nov. 6, 2019
* * * , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hale, David 1962 births Living people Ambassadors of the United States to Jordan Ambassadors of the United States to Lebanon Ambassadors of the United States to Pakistan People from New Jersey Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni United States Career Ambassadors United States Foreign Service personnel People from Ann Arbor, Michigan 20th-century American diplomats 21st-century American diplomats