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Samantha Power

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Samantha Power
Prior offices:
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations
Years in office: 2013 - 2017

Senior Director on the National Security Council
Education
Bachelor's
Yale University
Law
Harvard University Law School
Personal
Profession
Journalist

Samantha Power was the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development from 2021 to 2025. The Senate confirmed her on April 28, 2021, by a vote of 68-26.[1]

Power was the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under the Obama administration. She was confirmed by the Senate on August 1, 2013, by a vote of 87-10.[2]

Power was previously the senior director of multilateral affairs and human rights for the National Security Council and served as a special assistant to President Barack Obama.[3]

Biography

Power was born in Dublin, Ireland, and came to the United States in 1979 with her family. She graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in history in 1992. She became a foreign correspondent for several media outlets covering Bosnia, East Timor, Kosovo, Rwanda, Sudan, and Zimbabwe. She then earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1999. She became a professor of global leadership and public policy at Harvard Kennedy School in 2006.[4][5]

Power served on the National Security Council as a special assistant to the president during the Obama administration from 2009 to 2013. She also served as the senior director for multilateral affairs and human rights. From 2013 to 2017, she was the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.[5]

She received a Pulitzer Prize in 2003 for her book, A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide.[5]

Nomination for USAID administrator

See also: Joe Biden presidential transition

Biden announced on January 13, 2021, that Power was his nominee for administrator of the United States Agency for International Development. The Wall Street Journal reported, "If confirmed by the Senate, Ms. Power will take the helm of a $20 billion agency with offices in more than 100 countries. Among other roles, the agency responds to natural and man-made disasters, promotes development and funds humanitarian relief programs in furtherance of U.S. geopolitical interests."[6]

The Senate confirmed her on April 28, 2021, by a vote of 68-26.[1]

Nomination for ambassador to the United Nations

Power was confirmed as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations by the Senate with a vote of 87-10 on August 1, 2013.[7]

Samantha Power confirmation vote, August 1, 2013
Party Votes for Approveda Votes against Defeatedd Total votes
Democratic Party Democrats 51 0 51
Republican Party Republicans 34 10 44
Grey.png Independents 2 0 2
Total Votes 87 10 97


Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Power is married to Cass Sunstein, with whom she has two children.[8]

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term Samantha + Power + U.N. + Ambassador

External links

Footnotes