Jackson McDonald

Who is Jackson McDonald?

Jackson C. McDonald is a former United States diplomat and a career officer of the U.S. Foreign Service. He served as the Ambassador to Guinea 2004–2007. From 2001 to 2004, he served as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of the Gambia.

Ambassador McDonald studied at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, the Institut d'études politiques in Paris, and the École nationale d'administration in Paris. He began his career in the U.S. Foreign Service in 1980 as Third Secretary and Vice Consul at the American Embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh. From 1982 to 1984, he served as Country Officer for Bangladesh at the U.S. Department of State. In 1984, he volunteered for duty at the American Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, where he served as Second Secretary for Political Affairs for two years.

After a year of Russian-language training, Ambassador McDonald served as First Secretary for Political Affairs at the American Embassy in Moscow, the Soviet Union, from 1990 to 1991. In early 1992, he volunteered to open the American Embassy in Almaty, Kazakhstan, where he served first as Chargé d'Affaires then as Deputy Chief of Mission until 1994. From 1994 to 1997, Mr.