Tag Archives: Earl Anthony Wayne

Trump Nominates Texas Judge Edward C. Prado to be U.S. Ambassador to Argentina

February 12, 2018 By in Nominations, Officially In, Political Appointees, Trump Tags: , , , ,

Posted: 2:18 am ET

 

On January 17, the WH announced the President’s intent to nominate Texas judge Edward C. Prado to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Argentina. The WG released the following brief bio:

Edward C. Prado of Texas, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Argentine Republic.Judge Edward Charles Prado is a distinguished Federal jurist having served as a United States judge for almost 35 years.  The first 19 years, he served as a district judge for the Western District of Texas, and for the past 14 years, he served as an appellate judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.  Judge Prado was appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court to serve as chair of the Criminal Justice Active Review Committee, the board of Federal Judicial Center, and on the Defender Services Committee and Judicial Branch Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States.  Prior to becoming a judge he served as the United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas.  During his term as United States Attorney, he was appointed to serve on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee.  Judge Prado also served as a state district judge, an assistant Federal public defender, and an assistant State district attorney.  He served in the United States Army Reserves (1972-1987), retiring as a captain.  Judge Prado received his B.A. and J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin.  He speaks fluent Spanish.

Judge Prado’s nomination is currently pending in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee with no announced schedule for his confirmation hearing.

If confirmed, Judge Prado would succeed another political appointee Noah Bryson Mamet (1969–) who served as Ambassador from 2015-2017. The last career diplomat appointed to Argentina was Ambassador Earl Anthony Wayne (1950–) who served from January 2007–April 2009.

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Obama Officially Nominates WHA’s Roberta Jacobson as Next Ambassador to Mexico

June 3, 2015 By in Career Employees, Functional Bureaus, Nominations, Obama, Officially In, State Department, U.S. Missions Tags: , , , , , 1 Comment

Posted: 1:41 am EDT
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The WH has now officially announced President Obama’s intent to nominate Roberta S. Jacobson as the next Ambassador to the United Mexican States. The WH released the following brief bio:

Roberta S. Jacobson, a career member of the Senior Executive Service, is the Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs at the Department of State, a position she has held since 2012.  From 2010 to 2012, she was the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs.  Previously, Ms. Jacobson served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Canada, Mexico, and NAFTA issues from 2007 to 2010 and as Director of the Office of Mexican Affairs from 2003 to 2007.  She was Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Lima, Peru from 2000 to 2002.  From 1989 to 2000, Ms. Jacobson held several roles in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, including Director of the Office of Policy Planning and Coordination from 1996 to 2000.  She began her career at the Department of State as a Presidential Management Intern.

Ms. Jacobson received a B.A. from Brown University and an M.A. from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

If confirmed, Ms. Jacobson would succeed career diplomat Tony Wayne who was appointed Ambassador to Mexico by President Obama in 2011. President Obama had previously nominated Maria Echaveste for the Mexican post in the fall of 2014. She withdrew her nomination after waiting four months for her confirmation. Her supporters blamed it on a “failed, politicized nomination process” according to NBCNews.

The Mexico Mission is one of our largest posts. We hope Ms. Jacobson gets a speedy confirmation but the SFRC is a perplexing place these days. We want to add that we’ve watched Ms. Jacobson stay cool and collected under congressional grilling over the Administration’s Cuba policy. She is probably one of the State Department’s better congressional witnesses — straight-forward, not antagonistic or evasive, and was engaging. She did not get flustered even when senators were in their scolding best for the cameras. She obviously knows her stuff, and she looks them in the eye when she talks. We’d like to suggest that the State Department clone her for its congressional witnesses prep.

Hey, did you know that Andrew Jackson was the first nominee for ambassador to Mexico? According to history.state.gov, he was appointed on January 27, 1823 but he declined the appointment. It looks like the second appointee in 1824 did not proceed to post either.  Joel Roberts Poinsett (1779-1851) was then appointed in 1825 and he did present his credentials three months after his appointment.   If confirmed, Ms. Jacobson would be the first female American ambassador appointed to Mexico. Ever.  Can we get a yay! for that?

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