Ambassador James Story

Ambassador (RET) James “Jimmy” Story

James “Jimmy” Story served as both Ambassador and Charge d’Affaires to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela from July 2018 until May 2023. In June 2024, Ambassador Story was nominated as Ambassador to Mozambique. While awaiting the nomination process, he taught as a Senior Fellow at Georgetown University and served as the Charge d’Affaires at the US Embassy to Angola and Sao Tome and Principe, as well as the Charge d’Affaires in Eswatini and to the Dutch Caribbean from Curacao. Ambassador Story retired in May 2025.

In retirement, Ambassador Story has remained active in diplomacy as life time member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the American Academy of Diplomacy, a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council, and an Advisory Board member at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University. After creating his own consulting firm, Palmetto International Consulting, he also helped found the strategic advisory company, Global Frontier Advisors. He is a Senior Advisor to Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel as well as to the strategic advisory firm Dinamica Americas. He sits on the Advisory Board of telecommunications company Africell, which is focused on improving connectivity in Africa, and on the Advisory Board of Project Beisbol, which uses baseball to teach life skills to disadvantaged youth in countries such as Brazil and Colombia. Finally, Ambassador Story is an on-air international affairs analyst for MS Now.

A career Senior Foreign Service Officer, Ambassador Story served as Consul General in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Director of the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) Office for the Western Hemisphere; Director of the INL Office in Bogota, Colombia; and Senior Civilian Representative in Southeastern Afghanistan.

Ambassador Story’s previous assignments include Sao Paulo, Brazil as the Deputy Principal Officer and Political-Economic Chief; Brasilia, Brazil as the Regional Environmental Affairs Director for South America; Washington, D.C. in the Office of Marine Conservation in the Oceans Environment and Scientific Bureau; Maputo, Mozambique as Economic-Political officer; Guadalajara, Mexico as a Consular Officer; and at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations as the Ambassador’s staff assistant.

He is the recipient of numerous State Department and interagency awards including the Superior and Meritorious Honor Awards, the Department of the Army Superior Civilian Service Award, the Warren Christopher Award for Outstanding Achievement in Global Affairs, the Distinguished Honor Award for the Western Hemisphere Bureau, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence Exceptional Service Award.

Ambassador Story grew up in the small town of Moncks Corner, South Carolina, and graduated with a B.A./B.Sc. in Interdisciplinary Studies from South Carolina College at the University of South Carolina. He also received an M.Sc. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University. He speaks Portuguese and Spanish. He is married to Susan West Story, and they have a son, James McKelvey “Mac” Story.