Jump to content

Daniel Kritenbrink

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by ZarathustraShah (talk | contribs) at 07:02, 18 September 2021 (Reference fix (small)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Daniel Kritenbrink
Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Nominee
Assuming office
TBD
PresidentJoe Biden
SucceedingSung Kim (acting)
United States Ambassador to Vietnam
In office
November 6, 2017[1] – April 16, 2021
PresidentDonald Trump
Joe Biden
Preceded byTed Osius
Succeeded byChristopher Klein (Chargé d'Affaires)
Personal details
EducationUniversity of Nebraska at Kearney (BA)
University of Virginia (MA)

Daniel Joseph Kritenbrink[2] is an American diplomat who has served as the United States Ambassador to Vietnam since 2017.

Education

Kritenbrink earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Nebraska at Kearney and a Master of Arts from the University of Virginia.

Career

Kritenbrink has been a member of the United States Foreign Service since 1994. He is a former deputy chief of mission in the Embassy of the United States, Beijing and has held senior leadership positions at the Department of State and United States National Security Council.[3]

United States Ambassador to Vietnam

Daniel Kritenbrink speaks to journalists at the American Center in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam on 22 June 2020.

A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, he was nominated by President Donald Trump to become the U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam on July 27, 2017. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on October 26, 2017.[4] Prior to his nomination, Kritenbrink served as senior advisor for North Korea policy at the United States Department of State.[5] Kritenbrink told Vietnamese media shortly after taking office that representing the U.S. in an "important country" like Vietnam was "a dream come true".[6]

Kritenbrink's ambassadorship is marked by warming relations between the United States and Vietnam, with him being regarded by Vietnamese state media as "the ambassador of the firsts" for his work to advance reconciliation between the former foes.[7]

During his tenure, two U.S. aircraft carriers visited Vietnam. The USS Carl Vinson made a port call off Đà Nẵng on 5 March 2018, becoming the first U.S. aircraft carrier to dock in the country since the Vietnam War ended in 1975.[8][9] Two years later, the USS Theodore Roosevelt and its escorts completed a five-day visit to Đà Nẵng on 9 March 2020.[10]

On 27 August 2019, Kritenbrink became the first U.S. ambassador to visit a cemetery of North Vietnamese soldiers killed in the war when he visited the Trường Sơn Cemetery in Đông Hà, Quảng Trị where more than 10,000 fallen PAVN soldiers are laid to rest.[11]

In February 2021, Kritenbrink made global headlines for an original rap and music video he recorded ahead of Tết celebrations in Vietnam.[12][13]

Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs

On March 26, 2021, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Kritenbrink as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.[14]

Personal life

He speaks Chinese and Japanese.[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Ambassador Dan Kritenbrink". U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on March 3, 2020. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  2. ^ "PN1085 — Foreign Service". Congress.gov. February 11, 2016. Archived from the original on July 3, 2018. Retrieved 3 July 2018.
  3. ^ "The Leaderboard: Daniel J. Kritenbrink". Center for Strategic & International Studies. June 8, 2015. Archived from the original on April 27, 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  4. ^ "PN832 — Daniel J. Kritenbrink — Department of State". Congress.gov. Archived from the original on February 13, 2019. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
  5. ^ a b "President Donald J. Trump Announces Intent to Nominate Personnel to Key Administration Posts". The White House. July 26, 2017. Archived from the original on December 10, 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  6. ^ "Exclusive interview: US ambassador on cooperation, trade, aircraft carrier visit to Vietnam". Tuoi Tre News. 2017-11-20. Retrieved 2021-07-30.
  7. ^ "Vietnam, US share aligned interests, vision: Ambassador Kritenbrink". Tuoi Tre News. 2021-01-21. Retrieved 2021-07-30.
  8. ^ "A U.S. Aircraft Carrier Anchors Off Vietnam For The First Time Since The War". NPR. 2018-03-05. Retrieved 2021-07-30.
  9. ^ "Aircraft Carrier USS Carl Vinson Makes Vietnam Port Call". U.S. Department of Defense. 2018-03-05. Retrieved 2021-07-30.
  10. ^ "U.S. says completes second aircraft carrier visit to Vietnam". Reuters. 2020-03-11. Retrieved 2021-07-30.
  11. ^ "US ambassador pays historic visit to cemetery of Vietnam soldiers killed in war". Tuoi Tre News. 2019-08-27. Retrieved 2021-07-30.
  12. ^ "'Boy from Hanoi': US ambassador to Vietnam releases his own lunar new year rap". The Guardian. 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2021-02-11.
  13. ^ US Ambassador to Vietnam releases a rap video - CNN Video, retrieved 2021-02-11
  14. ^ "President Biden Announces his Intent to Nominate Key Members for the Department of State", White House, March 26, 2021
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Daniel J. Kritenbrink.
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by United States Ambassador to Vietnam
2017–present 		Incumbent
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Daniel_Kritenbrink&oldid=1045000451"