Jay Pierrepont "Peter" Moffat Jr. (January 17, 1932 – October 23, 2020) was an American diplomat. He served as the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Ambassador to

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

from 1983 to 1985. He was the first ambassador to the newly reopened U.S. Embassy in

N'Djamena N'Djamena ( ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Chad, largest city of Chad. It is also a Provinces of Chad, special statute region, divided into 10 districts or ''arrondissements'', similar to the city of Paris. Originally calle ...

. He was a member of the

Butler-Belmont family The Butler-Belmont family is a family of politicians from the United States. * William Butler 1759–1821, South Carolina State Representative 1787–1795, U.S. Representative from South Carolina 1801–1813. ** William Butler 1790–1850, U.S. Re ...

Biography

Jay (also known as Peter) Moffat was born in 1932. His father was the

United States Ambassador to Canada This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to Canada.U.S. ...

Jay Pierrepont Moffat Jay Pierrepont Moffat (January 7, 1896 – January 25, 1943) was an American diplomat, historian and statesman who, between 1917 and 1943, served the State Department in a variety of posts, including that of United States Ambassador to Canada ...

and his grandfather was the

United States Ambassador to Japan The is the Ambassadors of the United States, ambassador from the United States of America to Japan. History Beginning in 1854 with the Convention of Kanagawa, use of gunboat diplomacy by Commodore (United States), Commodore Matthew C. Perry, ...

, Joseph Clark Grew who tried hard to avert the pacific stage of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was also the grandnephew of Seth Low Pierrepont (member of

Connecticut House of Representatives The Connecticut House of Representatives is the lower house in the Connecticut General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The house is composed of 151 members representing an equal number of districts, with each ...

, 1921 to 1927) and nephew of

Abbot Low Moffat Abbot Low Moffat (May 12, 1901 – April 17, 1996) was an American lawyer, politician and diplomat from New York. Life and career Moffat was born on May 12, 1901, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. He graduated from Harvard University in 1923, ...

(member of

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

from the New York County 15th District, 1929 to 1943). On December 28, 1953, Moffat married Pamela Mary Dawson. He graduated from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

with an A.B. in 1953. Moffat served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

from 1953 to 1956. In 1956 he entered the U.S Foreign Service as intelligence research officer in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. He was consular officer in

Kobe Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

and

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, from 1958 to 1960, and political officer in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, from 1961 to 1965. In the State Department, he served as officer in charge of Benelux affairs at the Bureau of European Affairs from 1965 to 1968, and staff assistant to the Secretary of State from 1968 to 1969. He was a political officer in

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, from 1969 to 1970, and Deputy Chief of Mission in

Port of Spain Port of Spain ( ; Trinidadian and Tobagonian English, Trinidadian English: ''Port ah Spain'' ) is the capital and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago. With a municipal population of 49,867 (2017), an urban population of 81,142 and a transient dail ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

from 1971 to 1974. In 1974, he attended the

NATO Defense College NATO Defense College (NDC) is the international military college for NATO, North Atlantic Treaty Organization countries. It is located in Rome, Italy. History The idea of a NATO Defense College originated with General Dwight D. Eisenhower, t ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

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. From 1974 to 1976 he was Deputy Executive Secretary in the State Department. He was Deputy Chief of Mission in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

, from 1976 to 1980 and attended the Executive Seminar in National and International Affairs at the Foreign Service Institute from 1980 to 1981. He was chargé d'affaires in

N'Djamena, Chad N'Djamena ( ) is the capital and largest city of Chad. It is also a special statute region, divided into 10 districts or ''arrondissements'', similar to the city of Paris. Originally called Fort-Lamy, it was founded in 1900 by the French during ...

, beginning in March 1982, taking over duties from John Blane, who had reopened the embassy that January. On April 28, 1983, he was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to be the United States Ambassador to Chad. He was promoted from chargé and confirmed on May 27, 1983. He left that post on July 23, 1985. He was, in turn, succeeded as Ambassador by his predecessor as chargé, John Blane. He was a lineal descendant of

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

and

John Jay John Jay (, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, diplomat, signatory of the Treaty of Paris (1783), Treaty of Paris, and a Founding Father of the United States. He served from 1789 to 1795 as the first chief justice of the United ...

, first US Chief Justice and negotiator of the Treaty of Paris, which formally ended the Revolutionary War and recognized the United States as a sovereign nation. Moffat's foreign languages were

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, and

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

References

External links

United States Department of State: Chiefs of Mission for Chad

United States Department of State: Chad

United States Embassy in N'Djamena
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moffat, Jay Pierrepont Jr. 1932 births 2020 deaths Ambassadors of the United States to Chad Harvard University alumni United States Army officers United States Foreign Service personnel Diplomats from New York City

Biography

See also

References

External links