page_title: Terry Branstad
section_title: U.S. Ambassador to China
hierarchical_section_title: Terry Branstad / U.S. Ambassador to China
caption_attribution_description: Ambassador Branstad Meets with Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau
context_page_description: Terry Edward Branstad is an American politician, university administrator, and diplomat serving as the United States Ambassador to China since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as governor of Iowa. Branstad also served three terms in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1973 to 1979.
  Branstad served as the 39th governor of Iowa from 1983 to 1999. After retiring from politics, he served as President of Des Moines University from 2003 to 2009. In 2010 he ran for governor again and defeated incumbent Chet Culver to become the state's 42nd governor. He was reelected to a sixth term in 2014. In December 2015 he surpassed New York's George Clinton as the longest-tenured governor in American history.
  In December 2016 Branstad accepted President Donald Trump's nomination as United States Ambassador to China. He was confirmed and sworn in in May 2017. Upon resigning as governor, Branstad was succeeded by Lieutenant Governor Kim Reynolds, who became Iowa's first female governor and went on to win election to the office in 2018.
  Branstad is the longest-serving governor in U.S. history, with 8,169 days in office.
context_section_description: In December 2016 President-elect Donald Trump chose Branstad to serve as US Ambassador to China, succeeding Max Baucus. Branstad accepted the offer within one day after meeting with Trump in New York. Trump cited Branstad's decades of experience with China while governor of Iowa. Xi Jinping, China's paramount leader, considers Branstad an "old friend". Branstad's relationship with Xi dates to 1985, when Xi, then a young official from Hebei Province, headed a five-man agricultural delegation to Iowa. Branstad's hearing before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee was held on May 2, 2017.
  Branstad was confirmed by the Senate on May 22, 2017, in an 82 to 13 vote. He resigned as governor on May 24, 2017, in a ceremony at the Iowa State House, and was immediately sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to China. His appointment marked the third time in a decade that a politician resigned a statewide office to become the Ambassador to China; Jon Huntsman Jr. resigned as governor of Utah in 2009, and Max Baucus resigned as U.S. Senator from Montana in 2014.
  In May 2019 Branstad traveled to Tibet Autonomous Region amid heightening trade tensions between the United States and China. This diplomatic journey was designed to give the United States a better perception of Tibet and its people, cultural practices and life. This move was also strongly supported by both Tibetan independence and autonomy advocates, as part of the global Free Tibet movement.
caption: Terry Branstad with Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, 2017
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