William Hagerty Named U.S. Envoy to Japan

WASHINGTON — President Trump on March 23 announced his intention to appoint William Francis Hagerty IV of Tennessee to be U.S. ambassador to Japan.

William Hagerty

Hagerty, 57, began his career with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in 1984 as an international management consultant and spent three years in Japan managing BCG’s business with Western clients throughout Japan and Asia.

In 1991, during the administration of President George H.W. Bush, Hagerty moved to Washington, D.C. to work as a White House fellow reporting to the vice president and focusing on international trade, commerce, treasury, defense, and telecom. He returned to the private sector in 1993 and served as CEO and board member of companies with extensive operations in Asia and Europe.

From 2011 to 2015, Hagerty served in the Tennessee Governor’s Cabinet as secretary for trade and commerce. According to the White House, during his tenure, Tennessee was the top state for jobs and economic growth from 2013 to 2015 and led the nation in foreign direct investment, 60 percent of which came from Japanese companies such as Nissan Motor Co. and Bridgestone Corp.

Hagerty also worked for the 2012 presidential campaign of Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

Hagerty has BS and JD degrees from Vanderbilt University. He and his wife, Chrissy, live in Nashville with their four children.

He succeeds Obama appointee Caroline Kennedy, who left Tokyo in January.

In Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshide Suga said, “We look forward to Mr. Hagerty arriving in Japan after his confirmation and working on further strengthening the Japan-U.S. alliance.”