About the Embassy
Afghanistan and United States of America share a common destiny
in fighting terror and tyranny and a deep rooted history of
friendship and partnership. The first contact between Afghanistan
and the United States of America ocured in the 1830's when a
Pennsylvania adventurer, Josiah Harlan, traveled throughout
the region, meeting Afghan both Shuja Shah and Dost Mahommed
Khan. Shortly after Afghanistan regained her independence from
Britain in 1919, King Amanullah, the reformist monarch of Afghanistan,
dispatched General Wali Khan as the first Afghan envoy to Washington.
Full diplomatic relations between the Afghanistan and the United
States began in 1934. Shortly after the end of World War II,
His Majesty King Zahir Shah dispatched Abdul Hussein Aziz as
the first Afghan Ambassador to the United States. Ambassador
Aziz leased a historic building from an outgoing Supreme
Court Chief Justice (The building was later purchased by Ambassador Abdullah Malikyar). That building continues to house the Embassy
more than half a century later. President Roosevelt appointed
William Hornibrook as the first U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan,
on November 14, 1935.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower made history when he became the
first U.S. President to visit Afghanistan on December 9, 1959.
It is reported that seeing Afghanistan had long been a dream
of President Eisenhower. Reflecting on his trip, President Eisenhower
noted that he found the Afghan people to be "the most determined
lot I have ever encountered.” The first U.S. visit by
an Afghan Head of State took place in September 1963, when His
Majesty King Zahir Shah on the invitation of President John
F. Kennedy. Throughout the successive decades, the U.S.-Afghanistan
partnership continued to grow, including the contribution of
a dedicated group of Peace Corps volunteers between 1962 and
1979.
Sadly, the Embassy was not immune from the conflict that raged
over the ocean within Afghanistan. After the Taliban seized
control of Kabul, representatives from competing factions feuded
over control of the Embassy building. Although the Taliban was
not recognized by the United States, their representative in
Washington occupied the Embassy building until the summer of
1997, whereupon the State Department officially closed the Embassy.
In January 2002, after the establishment of the
Interim Afghan Administration, bilateral relations were restored
between Afghanistan and the United States. In an emotional ceremony,
the Afghan flag was once again raised outside the Embassy in
the presence of then Chairman Hamid Karzai and U.S. officials.
The Embassy building, which had been neglected and lay in disrepair,
was renovated and reopened in June of 2002. The Embassy is now
under the leadership of Ambassador Said Tayeb Jawad and has
been lauded by numerous U.S. officials as being one of the most
hard-working missions in all of Washington, DC. Ambassador Jawad is also non-resident envoy to: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and Uruguay.

Afghan Representatives in Washington, D.C.
from 1943 to the Present
Abdul Hussain Aziz, Afghan Minister (1943-1948)
Mohammed Naim Khan, Charge d'Affaires (1948-1950)
Abdul Hamid Aziz, Charge d'Affaires (1950-1951)
Mohammed Kabir Ludin, Ambassador (1953-1956)
Dr. Najibullah Torwayana, Ambassador (1956-1958)
Mohammed Hashim Maiwandwal, Ambassador (1958-1963)
Dr. Abdul Majid, Ambassador (1963-1967)
Abdullah Malikyar, Ambassador (1967-1978)
Dr. Abdul Waheed Karim, Ambassador (1978-80)
Noor Ahmad Noor, Ambassador (1980-1981)
Dr. Mohed Salem Spartak, charge d'affaires (1982-1984)
Mohammad Haidar Rafiq, charge d'affaires (1984-1985)
Mohammad Ashraf Samimi, charge d'affaires (1985-1986)
Mr. Rouhullah Erfaqi (1986-1987)
Mia Gul, charge d'affaires (1988-1990)
Abdul Ghafoor Jawshan, charge d'affaires (1990-1992)
Abdul Rahim, charge d'affaires (1992-1994)
Yar Mohammad Mohabat, charge d'affaires (1994-1995)
Haroun Amin, charge d'affaires (2002)
Isaq Sharhyar, Ambassador (2002-2003)
Said T. Jawad, Ambassador (2003-Present)
American Ambassadors to Afghanistan from 1935 to the Present
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)
From 1979 – 2001, the United States did not have an Ambassador posted in Afghanistan, although U.S. interests in Afghanistan were represented by a number of charge d'affaires. From 1981 to 2002, there was no official U.S. embassy in Kabul
James F. Dobbins (2001) - Special US Ambassador to oversee reopening of embassy, not official ambassador
Ryan C. Crocker (2001-2002) - charge 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)