Diplomat Assistant Secretary of State
Jacobson completed her undergraduate education at Brown University, then spent 1982 through 1984 at the United Nations Center for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs. She then attended The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, receiving a master"s degree in Law & Diplomacy in 1986.
In 1988, she worked at the United States National Security Council. The next year, she joined the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs in the United States Department of State as Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, becoming Executive Assistant to the Assistant Secretary in 1992. She also served as Coordinator for Cuban Affairs.
From 1996 to 2000, she was director of the Office of Policy Planning and Coordination in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, covering issues such as civil-military relations, human rights, foreign assistance, and counternarcotics throughout the hemisphere.
From 2000 to 2002, she was posted in Lima, as Deputy Chief of Mission in the United Embassy in Peru. The State Department subsequently found that Jacobson"s appointment to this position had violated both State Department regulations and the State Department"s agreement with the American Foreign Service Association.
Upon her return from Lima, Jacobson was Director of the State Department" General’ s Office of Mexican Affairs from December 2002 to June 2007. At that point, she became Deputy Assistant Secretary for Canada, Mexico and North American Free Trade Agreement issues in the Bureau.
She was next Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs from December 2010 until July 2011, with responsibility for regional political and economic issues, management and personnel, and regional security issues.
When Arturo Valenzuela left the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, she became Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs. United States. President Barack Obama subsequently named her the new Assistant Secretary of State and she was sworn into office on March 30, 2012. Jacobson was tasked with leading a United States. delegation to Havana for historic talks with the Cuban government in January 2015.
According to advance media reports, she was expected to press Cuba to drop travel restrictions on American diplomats and propose that Cuba and the United States establish embassies in Washington and Havana respectively.
On November 10, 2015, her nomination as the Obama Administration"s candidate to be the next American ambassador to Mexico was approved by a vote of 12-7 in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Opposition to her appointment came primarily from the Republican bench in committee, notably, presidential candidate, Senator Marco Rubio.
He and six other Republican senators, along with Democratic Senator Robert Menendez, raised concerns about her position on normalisation of relations between Cuba and the United States., as well as human rights issues, and the failed extradition of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, who escaped Mexico"s highest security prison in July 2015. Her nomination must be approved on the floor of the Senate in full to allow her to take office in Mexico City.
This appointment caused considerable controversy as Jacobson was not a member of the career diplomatic corps and had no prior experience with managing an embassy.
