This is a list of United States ambassadors to Afghanistan. Prior to 1948, Afghanistan was not considered important enough to have a full ambassador, so a Minister Plenipotentiary was sent instead. From 1979 to 1989, Afghanistan did not have an official ambassador and was instead served by a lower-ranking chargé d’affaires. From 1981 to 2002, there was no official embassy in Kabul due to internal security problems eventually including the Taliban government.
- William H. Hornibrook (1935–1936) - Minister Plenipotentiary
- Louis G. Dreyfus, Jr. (1940–1942) - Minister Plenipotentiary
- Cornelius Van Hemert Engert (1942–1945) - Minister Plenipotentiary
- Ely E. Palmer (1945–1948) - Minister Plenipotentiary
- Louis G. Dreyfus, Jr. (1949–1951) - First formal ambassador
- George Robert Merrell (1951–1952)
- Angus I. Ward (1952–1956)
- Sheldon T. Mills (1956–1959)
- Henry A. Byroade (1959–1962)
- John M. Steeves (1962–1966)
- Robert G. Neumann (1966–1973)
- Theodore L. Eliot, Jr. (1973–1978)
- Adolph Dubs (1978–1979) - Killed while in office.
Following the death of Mr. Dubs, there were no formal Ambassadors from the United States until after the War in Afghanistan.
- J. Bruce Amstutz (1979–1980) - US Deputy Chief of Mission, then chargé d'affaires
- Hawthorne Q. Mills (1980–1982) - chargé d'affaires
- Archer K. Blood - appointed in 1982, but rejected by Afghanistan government
- Charles F. Dunbar - (1982–1983) - chargé d'affaires
- Edward Hurwitz (1983–1986) - chargé d'affaires
- James Maurice Ealum (1986–1987) - chargé d'affaires
- Jon D. Glassman (1987–1989) chargé d'affaires" - embassy closed after Soviet Union troop withdrawal
The US government also had a chargé d'affaires to the Afghan Northern Alliance government, beginning in 1989.
- Peter Tomsen (1989–1992) - chargé d'affaires to Northern Alliance, new post
Post-war ambassadors:
- James F. Dobbins (2001) - Special US Ambassador to oversee reopening of embassy, not official ambassador
- Ryan C. Crocker (2001-2002) - chargé d'affaires before official ambassador could be chosen
- Robert Finn (2002–2003)
- Zalmay Khalilzad (2003–2005)
- Ronald E. Neumann (2005–2007)
- William B. Wood (2007-2009)
- Karl Eikenberry (2009 - present)
See also
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