University of Georgia football legend and NFL star Herschel Walker has been confirmed as the first U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas in nearly 15 years.
Mr. Walker, a 2022 Republican candidate for U.S. Senate endorsed by President Donald Trump, was among the first nominees for foreign diplomatic postings announced after Mr. Trump won re-election last November.
Mr. Walker lost in a run-off to current U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, who joined his Democratic colleague Sen. Jon Ossoff in voting against Mr. Walker and other Republican nominees.
Mr. Walker’s nomination was one of 107 confirmed in a 51-47 vote on Oct. 7 after Republicans changed Senate rules this summer to allow them to vote on ambassadorial nominees as a group.
Diplomatic appointments, particularly those seen to be politically driven, are regularly bogged down in partisan posturing. Former President Joe Biden’s nominee, former state Rep. Calvin Smyre of Columbus, Ga., was nominated twice — first to the Dominican Republic and later to the Bahamas — but his nomination was returned by the Senate both times.
The embassy in Nassau has been run by a series of chargés d’affaires since 2011.
Mr. Walker joins a handful of diplomats with Georgia connections to be tapped for influential postings. Former U.S. Sen. David Perdue, a Republican from Georgia, was confirmed in April as ambassador to China, while Buckhead cityhood movement leader Bill White gained a yes vote as ambassador to Belgium in the same batch as Mr. Walker.
When he arrives in the Bahamas, by one measure, Mr. Walker may already feel at home: The U.S. ambassador’s residence is located on Sanford Drive, the same street name as Sanford Stadium in Athens, where the multi-sport athlete became Bulldog royalty during his time at UGA.
On Dec. 12, 2024, just before his ambassadorial appointment was announced, Mr. Walker received his bachelor’s degree, 40 years after he left the university to pursue a professional football career.
Gain perspective on U.S.-Bahamas relations and how they affect the Southeast U.S. during Global Atlanta’s Dec. 10 Consular Conversations luncheon with Bahamas Consul General Anthony Moss, who covers 10 states from his office in Atlanta:
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