United States Ambassador to Dahomey

Ambassador of the United States to Benin Ambassadeur des Etats-Unis au Bénin
Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent Lucy Tamlyn since October 2015
Nominator	The President of the United States
Inaugural holder	R. Borden Reams as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Formation	October 14, 1960
Website	U.S. Embassy - Cotonou

The Kingdom of Dahomey was an overseas possession of France—part of French West Africa—until 1958. In that year Dahomey became an autonomous republic, and gained full independence in 1960. The United States immediately recognized Dahomey and began the process of initiating diplomatic relations. A U.S. Embassy at Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire (then named Ivory Coast) was established with Donald L. Norland as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim. The embassy was also accredited also to Dahomey, Niger, and Upper Volta (now named Burkina Faso) while resident at Abidjan. On July 31, 1960, Chargé Norland presented his credentials to the government of Dahomey, to take effect on August 1, 1960. On October 14, 1960, R. Borden Reams was appointed as the ambassador and presented his credentials on November 26, 1960.

On February 15, 1961, the Embassy in Cotonou, Dahomey, was established with Converse Hettinger as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim. Ambassador Reams remained resident in Abidjan.

In 1961 Robinson McIlvaine was appointed as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary with a separate commission solely to Dahomey. He presented his credentials to the government of Dahomey on June 22, 1961.

The Republic of Dahomey changed its name to Republic of Benin in 1975.

In June 2009, President Barack Obama nominated James Knight to succeed Brown as U.S. Ambassador to Benin.

U.S. diplomatic terms

 This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Department of State website http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/index.htm (Background Notes).