John Francis Maisto (born August 28, 1938,

Braddock, Pennsylvania Braddock is a Borough (Pennsylvania), borough located in the eastern suburbs of Pittsburgh in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, upstream from the mouth of the Monongahela River. The population was 1,721 as of the 2020 United States ...

) is a retired U.S. career

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

, who rose from

Foreign Service Officer A Foreign Service officer (FSO) is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. FSOs formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. They spend most of their careers overseas as members of U.S. embassies, cons ...

to eventually serve as a U.S. Ambassador in a number of postings.

Early life and career progress

Maisto earned his BS from the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

, then earned his MA at the

University of San Carlos The University of San Carlos (USC or colloquially San Carlos) is a private, Catholic, research, coeducational basic and higher education institution administered by the Philippine Southern Province of the Society of the Divine Word missionarie ...

, Guatemala. After graduation, Maisto joined the

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

as a

in 1968. Early postings included working with the State Department's Information Agency in Argentina and Bolivia. He was later posted to positions at the US Embassies in the Philippines, Bolivia and Costa Rica. Maisto then served in postings as Director of the State Department’s Office of Philippine Affairs (within the

Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs The Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs (EAP), formerly the Office of Chinese Affairs, is part of the United States Department of State and is charged with advising the secretary of state and under secretary of state for political affairs ...

), and then the Deputy Chief of Mission in Panama. In 1989, Maisto served as the Deputy U.S. Representative to the

Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...

, then became the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Central American Affairs (reporting to the

Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs The Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs is the head of the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs within the United States Department of State, the foreign affairs department of the United States federal government. The As ...

) in 1992.

United States Ambassador

In 1993, Maisto was nominated by

President Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the attor ...

to be the

United States Ambassador to Nicaragua The following is a list of United States ambassadors, or other chiefs of mission, to Nicaragua. The title given by the United States State Department to this position is currently ''Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.'' Ambassadors ...

, serving in that position until November 1996. In March 1997, Maisto became the Ambassador to Venezuela, serving in that position until August 2000. Maisto returned to the United States, and served as a Foreign Policy Advisor for the

United States Southern Command The United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), located in Doral, Florida, Doral in Greater Miami, Greater Miami, Florida, is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for providi ...

for the next few months. In January 2001, with the inauguration of President George W. Bush, Maisto was brought in as a Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Western Hemisphere Affairs to National Secretary Advisor

Condoleezza Rice Condoleezza "Condi" Rice ( ; born November 14, 1954) is an American diplomat and political scientist serving since 2020 as the 8th director of Stanford University's Hoover Institution. A member of the Republican Party, she previously served ...

. In 2003, President Bush nominated Maisto to be the Ambassador to the Organization of American States, serving until March 2007.

References

Sources

United States Department of State: Biography of John F. Maisto
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maisto, John 1938 births Living people Ambassadors of the United States to Nicaragua Walsh School of Foreign Service alumni Permanent representatives of the United States to the Organization of American States Ambassadors of the United States to Venezuela United States Foreign Service personnel