Nomination of John Thomas McCarthy To Be United States Ambassador to Tunisia

The President today announced his intention to nominate John Thomas McCarthy, of New York, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Tunisia. He would succeed Robert H. Pelletreau.

Ambassador McCarthy currently serves as a diplomat-in-residence at Howard University and the University of the District of Columbia. From 1988 to 1990 Ambassador McCarthy served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Lebanon, Beirut, and Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, 1985 - 1988. Prior to this Ambassador McCarthy served at the Department of State as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Public Affairs, 1983 - 1985, and Director of the Office of Investment for the Economic Bureau, 1980 - 1983. He served at the U.S. Mission to the European Community in Brussels, Belgium, as economic counselor, 1978 - 1980, and as a trade officer, 1976 - 1978. Ambassador McCarthy served at the European Community desk in the European Bureau of the Department of State, 1973 - 1976; trained in Atlantic affairs at Harvard University, 1972 - 1973; as a political officer for the Bureau of International Organizations at the Department of State, 1971 - 1972; and as vice consul at the American consulate in Chiang Mai, Thailand, 1969 - 1971. He also trained at the Foreign Service Institute in the Thai language, 1968; served at the operations center at the Department of State, 1967 - 1968; as second secretary at the U.S. Embassy in Brussels, Belgium, 1965 - 1967; and as third secretary at the U.S. Embassy in Bangui, Central African Republic, 1962 - 1964. He entered the Foreign Service in 1962.

Ambassador McCarthy graduated from Manhattan College (B.A., 1961) and Harvard University (M.P.A., 1973). He was born December 27, 1939, in New York, NY. Ambassador McCarthy is married, has three children, and resides in Washington, DC.