List of ambassadors of the United States to Myanmar

This is a list of Ambassadors of the United States to Burma. In 1989 the military government of Burma changed the name of the nation to Myanmar, but the United States government—and all other Western governments—do not accept the name and still refer to the country as Burma in official usage.[1]

Ambassador of the United States to Burma
Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent Thomas Vajda since December 16, 2020
Style	Ambassador
Residence	Rangoon, Burma
Nominator	The President of the United States
Appointer	The President with Senate advice and consent
Inaugural holder	J. Klahr Huddle as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Formation	October 17, 1947
Website	mm.usembassy.gov

Burma became a province of India in 1886 under the British Raj. The country was occupied by Japan during World War II but after the war, again came under control of Britain. In 1946 Britain began negotiations with the Burmese to establish independence for the nation, and reached a final agreement on January 27, 1947. A transitional government was established and Burma became fully independent on January 4, 1948.

The United States recognized Burma and established the Embassy of the United States, Rangoon on September 19, 1947, with Earl L. Packer as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim.

After 1990 the United States appointed no ambassador to Burma in protest against the policies of the military regime. A chargé d'affaires became the head of mission until 2012.

On January 13, 2012, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced that "at the direction of President Obama, we will start the process of exchanging ambassadors with Burma. We will identify a candidate to serve as U.S. Ambassador to represent the United States Government and our broader efforts to strengthen and deepen our ties with both the people and the government."[2] On June 29, 2012, the U.S. Senate confirmed Derek Mitchell as the new U.S. Ambassador to Burma.[3]