Born at the turn of the century, Clifton R. Wharton, Sr. served the United States as a Foreign Service Officer through the 20th century's most tumultuous period. Wharton passed the Foreign Service exam in 1925, which made him the first African-American Foreign Service Officer. Under Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy, Wharton became the first African-American to lead a delegation to a European country and the first African-American to come from within the Foreign Service ranks to become an ambassador.
