Ryan C. Crocker
Career Ambassador who led six U.S. embassies across the Near East and South Asia, from Beirut to Kabul, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Service Record
| Born | June 19, 1949, Spokane, Washington |
|---|---|
| Education | University College Dublin; B.A., English, Whitman College, 1971 |
| Entered Foreign Service | 1971 |
| Early posts | Khorramshahr, Iran, 1972; Doha, Qatar, 1974; Baghdad, 1978; chief of political section, Beirut, 1981 – 1984 |
| Mid-career | Princeton fellow in Near Eastern studies, 1984 – 1985; deputy director, Office of Israel and Arab-Israeli Affairs; political counselor, Cairo, 1987 – 1990; director, Iraq-Kuwait Task Force, 1990 |
| Ambassador to Lebanon | 1990 – 1993 |
| Ambassador to Kuwait | 1994 – 1997 |
| Ambassador to Syria | 1998 – 2001 |
| Chargé d'affaires, Afghanistan | January – April 2002 |
| Ambassador to Pakistan | 2004 – 2007 |
| Ambassador to Iraq | 2007 – 2009 |
| Ambassador to Afghanistan | 2011 – 2012 |
| Career Ambassador | 2004 |
| Honors | Presidential Medal of Freedom; Department of State Award for Valor; Secretary's Distinguished Service Award, 2008 and 2012; AFSA Rivkin Award; Sylvanus Thayer Award, 2020; honorary Marine |
Overview
Ryan Crocker spent four decades where American diplomacy was hardest. He led six embassies, nearly all of them in wartime or crisis, and became the standard against which Near East hands measure themselves.
Early Life and Education
Born in Spokane, Washington, he grew up partly abroad, living in Morocco, Canada, and Turkey. He studied at University College Dublin and graduated from Whitman College in 1971, joining the Foreign Service the same year.
Learning the Region
After Persian language training he was posted to Khorramshahr, Iran, in 1972, then to the newly opened embassy in Doha, Qatar. After Arabic training he went to Baghdad in 1978 and to Beirut in 1981 as chief of the political section. He reported on the Sabra and Shatila massacre in 1982 and survived the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut.
Ambassador
He was ambassador to Lebanon from 1990 to 1993, Kuwait from 1994 to 1997, and Syria from 1998 to 2001, where a mob ransacked his residence. After the September 11 attacks he reopened the U.S. Embassy in Kabul as chargé d'affaires. He went on to lead the embassies in Pakistan from 2004 and in Iraq from 2007, where he testified before Congress alongside General David Petraeus, and returned to Kabul as ambassador from 2011 to 2012.
Honors and Legacy
He was named a Career Ambassador in 2004 and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Department's Award for Valor, and the Sylvanus Thayer Award from West Point. The Marine Corps made him an honorary Marine in 2012. He later served as dean of the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University.
Recognition
Envoys of Record recognizes Ryan C. Crocker as a Distinguished Ambassador, whose career set the standard for American diplomacy in its era.