James Richard Cheek

{{short description|American diplomat (1936–2011)}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = James Richard Cheek | image = James Cheek (cropped).jpg | image_size = | country1 = Argentina | ambassador_from1 = United States | predecessor1 = [[Terence A. Todman]] | successor1 = [[James Donald Walsh]] | president1 = [[Bill Clinton]] | term_start1 = May 28, 1993 | term_end1 = December 18, 1996 | country3 = Sudan | ambassador_from3 = United States | term_start3 = October 10, 1989 | term_end3 = August 8, 1992 | predecessor3 = [[G. Norman Anderson]] | successor3 = [[Donald K. Petterson]] | president3 = [[George H. W. Bush]] | birth_date = {{birth date|1936|04|27}} | birth_place = [[Decatur, Georgia]] | death_date = {{death date and age|2011|05|16|1936|04|27}} | death_place = [[Little Rock, Arkansas]] | party = | spouse = | relations = | children = | alma_mater = | occupation = | profession = Diplomat | footnotes = | awards = [[Distinguished Honor Award]] | order1 = 45th }}

'''James Richard Cheek''' (April 27, 1936 – May 16, 2011) was an American diplomat.

==Life== Born in [[Decatur, Georgia]], Cheek served as [[United States Ambassador to Sudan]] in 1989, succeeding [[G. Norman Anderson]] and later was the [[United States Ambassador to Argentina]] from 1993–1996. He lived in [[Little Rock, Arkansas]].<ref>[http://www.rollerfuneralhomes.com/services.asp?page=odetail&id=24002&locid=6 Obituary]</ref>

==Foreign service career== Cheek served as a career member of the Foreign Service beginning in 1962. Over the years he served in many notable positions with the [[Department of State|State Department]] including chief of the political section from 1971–1974, congressional fellow for the United States Senate and House of Representatives, 1974 – 1975; Deputy Director for Regional Affairs in the Bureau of Near East and South Asian Affairs, 1975 – 1977; and deputy chief of mission in Montevideo, 1977 – 1979. He has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs, 1979 – 1981.

Cheek was a foreign affairs fellow at Howard University and Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, 1981 – 1982; deputy chief of mission in Kathmandu, 1982 – 1985; and chief of mission and Chargé d'Affaires in Addis Ababa, 1985 – 1988.

From 1988 he was diplomat-in-residence at Howard University.<ref>[http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=17381 Nomination of James Richard Cheek To Be United States Ambassador to Sudan]</ref>

==Notes== {{reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{s-dip}} {{succession box | title=[[United States Ambassador to Sudan]] | before=[[G. Norman Anderson]] | after=[[Donald K. Petterson]] | years=1989–1992 }} {{succession box | title=[[United States Ambassador to Argentina]] | before=[[Terence A. Todman]] | after=[[Ronald D. Godard]] | years=1993–1996 }} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheek, James Richard}} [[Category:1936 births]] [[Category:2011 deaths]] [[Category:People from Little Rock, Arkansas]] [[Category:People from Decatur, Georgia]] [[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Argentina]] [[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Sudan]] [[Category:United States Foreign Service personnel]] [[Category:20th-century American diplomats]]