James R. Bullington

James Richard Bullington (born October 27, 1940) is an American retired diplomat who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Burundi.

Early life Bullington was born on October 27, 1940, and is a native of Tennessee. He received his bachelor's degree from Auburn University in 1962 where he was a member of Sigma Pi fraternity and editor of the student newspaper, The Plainsman.

As editor of The Plainsman, Bullington wrote an editorial in 1961 condemning attacks in Alabama on the "Freedom Riders" and calling for desegregation at Auburn University. The editorial provoked a Ku Klux Klan cross-burning at his fraternity house as well as criticism from the Governor of Alabama, John Patterson, who threatened to cut Auburn's appropriations if Bullington were not removed as editor. The editorial and cross-burning were widely covered in the regional and national press. The American Association of University Professors stepped in to intervene on Bullington's behalf, and he continued as editor for his full one-year term.

Vietnam Bullington's early career focused on the war in Vietnam. From 1965 to 1966 he was the Vice Consul at the consulate in Huế.

After the events in Hue he became the aide to U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam, Henry Cabot Lodge Jr, at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. He next served as country director for Peace Corps in Niger, 2000–2006. He came out of retirement in 2012–2014 to lead a State Department "expeditionary diplomacy" effort to help resolve the long-running Casamance conflict in Senegal. He published an autobiographical memoir in 2017: Global Adventures on Less-Traveled Roads: A Foreign Service Memoir. His other books are: Adventures in Service with Peace Corps in Niger, 2007, and Expeditionary Diplomacy in Action: Supporting the Casamance Peace Initiative, 2015. Ambassador Bullington received a Lifetime Achievement Award from his alma mater, Auburn University, in February 2022.