The President today announced that he will nominate John R. Clingerman, of Lansing, Mich., to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to the Kingdom of Lesotho. He would replace Donald R. Norland, who is being appointed to another post. Clingerman is Deputy Chief of Mission in Lusaka, Zainbia.
He was born May 9, 1931, in Doniphan County, Kans. He received a B.A. (1953) and M.A. (1957) from Michigan State University. He served in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1955.
Clingerman joined the Foreign Service in 1957 and was posted in Katmandu, Leopoldville, and Kisangani. In 1965-66 he took African studies at the University of Paris, and from 1966 to 1969, he was Deputy Chief of Mission in Cotonou.
From 1969 to 1972, Clingerman was political officer in Brussels. From 1972 to 1975, he was at the State Department as an educational and cultural officer, then a personnel officer. He attended the National War College in 1975-76 and since 1976 has been Deputy Chief of Mission in Lusaka.
Jimmy Carter, United States Ambassador to Lesotho Nomination of John R. Clingerman. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/250312