Brownback, Samuel Dale (1956-…), served as United States ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom from 2018 to 2021 under President Donald J. Trump. Brownback, a Republican, had previously served as a U.S. senator from 1996 to 2011 and as governor of Kansas from 2011 to 2018.
Brownback was born on Sept. 12, 1956, in Garnett, Kansas. He received a bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University in 1978 and a law degree from the University of Kansas in 1982. He has worked as a lawyer, a farm broadcaster, and a teacher of agricultural law.
From 1986 to 1993, Brownback served as Kansas secretary of agriculture. In 1994, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Brownback did not run for reelection to the House in 1996. Instead, he was elected to the U.S. Senate to finish the term of Senator Robert Dole, who had resigned. Dole’s term ended in January 1999. In 1998, Brownback won election to his first six-year Senate term. He was reelected in 2004.
Brownback did not seek reelection to the Senate seat in 2010, choosing instead to run for Kansas governor. He won the election in 2010 and was reelected in 2014. As governor, Brownback cut tax rates for high earners and made the owners of many businesses exempt—that is, freed of the obligation—from paying income taxes. The state soon experienced deep budget shortfalls, however. By 2017, the state legislature voted to raise taxes to make up for the lost revenue.
In 2017, President Trump nominated Brownback as ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, a position in the U.S. Department of State. The U.S. Senate voted to confirm Brownback’s nomination in 2018, and Lieutenant Governor Jeff Colyer succeeded Brownback as Kansas governor. Brownback’s tenure as ambassador ended in 2021.
