Diplomatic relations between the
United States and
Somalia started in 1960, when the Somali Republic gained independence. The U.S. immediately
recognized the Somali government and moved to establish diplomatic relations. The American
embassy in Somalia's capital
Mogadishu was established on July 1, 1960, with Andrew G. Lynch as
Chargé d'Affaires ad interim. He was promoted to
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary four days later on July 5, 1960. After the collapse of the
Siad Barre regime and the start of the
civil war in the early 1990s, the U.S. embassy
closed down. However, the American government never formally severed
diplomatic ties with Somalia. The United States maintained a regular dialogue with the reconstituted Somali central government through a special
envoy based in the
Kenyan capital,
Nairobi, before reopening its Mission to Somalia in 2013. In January 2013, the U.S. announced that it was set to exchange diplomatic notes with the new
Federal Government of Somalia, re-establishing official ties with the country for the first time in 20 years. According to the
Department of State, the decision was made in recognition of the significant progress that the Somali authorities had achieved on both the political and war fronts. A senior American government official also indicated after the announcement that the United States could eventually reopen its embassy in Mogadishu. the United States has continued to be represented in Somalia by a special envoy based in Nairobi and titled a
Special Representative. On August 26, 2013, the US appointed
James P. McAnulty as its Special Representative to Somalia. In 2014,
U.S. President Barack Obama nominated
Katherine Dhanani to become the first U.S. Ambassador to Somalia since the U.S. closed its embassy there in 1991, but she later withdrew from the nomination process for personal reasons. In June 2016,
Stephen Schwartz was sworn in as the first U.S. ambassador to Somalia in a quarter century. Schwartz's appointment came a year after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry made an unannounced visit to Mogadishu. Schwartz resigned on September 29, 2017. President
Donald Trump nominated
Donald Yamamoto as the United States Ambassador to Somalia. Mr. Yamamoto was appointed on October 19, 2018. On April 15, 2021, President
Joe Biden nominated
Larry André Jr. to be the next United States Ambassador to Somalia. On December 18, 2021, the United States Senate confirmed his nomination by voice vote and he presented his credentials on February 7, 2022. ==Ambassadors==