Kelly Craft
Kelly Dawn Craft is an American businesswoman, politician, and former diplomat who served as the 30th United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2019 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. She was confirmed as the US ambassador to the United Nations by the US Senate by a vote of 56–34, and was officially sworn in September 2019.
She previously served as the 31st United States Ambassador to Canada from 2017 to 2019, the first woman to hold the office. Craft earlier was appointed by President George W. Bush as a U.S. alternate delegate to the United Nations in 2007, where her focus included U.S. engagement in Africa.
Craft heads Kelly G. Knight LLC, a business advisory firm based in Lexington, Kentucky, and serves on the advisory board of the Canadian American Business Council. She ran in the Republican primary for the 2023 Kentucky gubernatorial election, but lost to Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron.
Early life and education
Craft was born in Lexington, Kentucky, a daughter of the late Bobby Guilfoil and Sherry Dale Guilfoil, who both died in 2011. She grew up just outside Glasgow, a small town in rural central Kentucky.Her father was the town veterinarian in Glasgow, and he farmed and raised cows and horses. He was active in the Democratic Party, and in his later years served as chairman of the Barren County, Kentucky Democratic Party. He was also a deacon of the First Christian Church in Glasgow, and served on the local board of health. Her mother was a home economics teacher at Glasgow High School, a public high school. Her mother sewed the family's clothing, and the house's draperies. She has a younger sister, Micah Guilfoil Payne, and a younger brother, Marc Guilfoil.
She grew up in a middle-class family. Craft played clarinet in the high school band at Glasgow High School, and graduated in 1980.
Craft then created her own interdisciplinary major, with an emphasis on international law, at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. She graduated with a B.A. in 1984.
Consulting firm
In 2004, Craft started a marketing, strategic management, leadership advice, and business consulting firm, Kelly G. Knight, LLC. Its principal office is in Lexington. She also serves on the advisory board of the Canadian American Business Council.Political involvement and donations; philanthropy
Craft was initially active in local politics and civic causes, such as helping the poor, and raising funds for the arts. She has been a generous donor to and supporter of primarily Republican political candidates. In 2004, Craft was a prominent supporter of President George W. Bush's reelection campaign, and co-chaired the Republican National Finance Committee. In 2012 she was the Kentucky finance committee chairwoman for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign. She also raised money for then-governor Ernie Fletcher, and congressmen Hal Rogers and Ron Lewis.She is also an influencer in Kentuckian affairs. The Crafts supported then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Craft has also supported both Democratic Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, and former Kentucky Governor, Republican Matt Bevin.
She was a delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention from Kentucky. That year, Craft and her husband Joe Craft donated millions of dollars to candidates for the 2016 Republican nomination for president. The couple initially supported Marco Rubio, but in June 2016 moved their support to Donald Trump and contributed more than $2 million to his campaign, in part because he agreed with them in private that he would not replace House Speaker Paul Ryan or Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, whom they supported. Political commentator Scott Jennings said that their support gave Trump instant credibility.
Separate from politics, Craft has been a philanthropist, and the couple has donated to philanthropic causes. In 2015 they co-founded the Craft Academy for Excellence in Science and Mathematics at Kentucky's Morehead State University, a special program for academically exceptional high school students. By 2019 they had committed over $10 million to the academy. They have also donated substantial sums to the University of Kentucky.
Craft served on the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees for a term beginning in August 2016, but resigned to accept the US ambassadorship to Canada a year later. She has also served on the boards of directors of the Salvation Army, the Lexington Philharmonic, the United Way of the Bluegrass, the YMCA of Central Kentucky, the Kentucky Arts Council, and the Center for Rural Development.
US Alternate Delegate to the United Nations
President George W. Bush appointed Craft an alternate delegate to the United Nations in 2007, for the 62nd Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. On October 24, 2007, Senator Joe Biden reported favorably on her nomination on behalf of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. On October 26, she was confirmed by the United States Senate by voice vote.As part of the US delegation, her responsibilities included advising the US Ambassador to the UN on US engagement in Africa. She also gave a speech to the UN General Assembly on the investment the US and other nations were making to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa and malaria in Africa, and promote development there. She later said: "President Bush’s example and his initiative to cure AIDS on the African continent instilled in me the value of using diplomatic positions to help the less fortunate. And that’s what I am going to do."
US Ambassador to Canada
On June 15, 2017, Craft was nominated by President Donald Trump to become the US ambassador to Canada, with the support of Senator Mitch McConnell. She was confirmed by the United States Senate by unanimous voice vote on August 3, and assumed office on October 23.Craft became the 31st United States Ambassador to Canada. She also became the first woman to hold the job. In her first week as ambassador to Canada, Craft said in an interview with CBC News that when it came to climate change she appreciated all of the scientific evidence, and thought that "both sides have their own results, from their studies, and I appreciate and I respect both sides of the science". She played a leadership role in trade negotiations between the US and Canada, resulting in the signing of a major new free trade agreement between the US, Canada, and Mexico, which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement. Her work in hammering out the tri-lateral agreement raised her stock with the Trump administration. In addition during her tenure the relationship between the countries was the subject of controversial steel tariffs, and critical comments by Trump about the Canadian prime minister. In June 2018, as US-Canadian relations grew testy, an envelope was mailed to her containing a suspicious white powder and a death threat. Canadian columnist L. Ian MacDonald wrote: " has been diligent and warm in her representational role. She's perhaps one of a few members of Trump's team who is genuinely blameless in this mess."
According to a June 2019 report in Politico, Craft was frequently away from her Ottawa post during her tenure as ambassador, though the report acknowledged that US State Department officials said that many of her trips were related to the new North American trade agreement. During a 15-month period, she took 128 flights between Ottawa and the United States, equal to a round trip per week. Seventy had Lexington as the origin or destination, which raised questions to some as to whether the trips were for personal reasons. A State Department spokesperson explained, however, that all of Craft's personal and official travel "to and from the United States, including numerous trips associated with USMCA negotiations, were pre-approved by the State Department and complied with all Department travel guidelines," that the number of her personal absences did not exceed State Department limits, and in addition that Craft chose to cover all her travel expenses from her personal funds, "saving the U.S. government substantial money". Separately, a US official said that Craft was often in Washington for trade negotiations in which she was directly involved, that she would also fly to other places in the United States to promote the trade deal which was one of the president's top priorities, and also explained that Craft would during the course of these travels sometimes spend the weekend at her Kentucky home rather than return to Ottawa, which did not count toward the "26 days" away from her post limitation. Per State Department rules, an ambassador may only spend 26 "work days" away from a post without first obtaining special State Department approval, and she testified that each of her trips was in fact made with State Department approval. The State Department and Craft do not provide records of Craft's schedule and the number of days she was in Ottawa, but the newspaper said she spent 300 days away from her Ottawa post. Craft herself likewise insisted that all of her trips were taken in accordance with US State Department regulations, and with State Department approval, with much of the time spent negotiating the trade deal with Canada and Mexico in Washington, D.C. She also pledged to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to deliver to it all of her travel records for her time as U.S. ambassador to Canada. Senator Marco Rubio commented: "I have a sneaking suspicion that having you here or having you attend a cocktail party at some embassy, we would prefer you would prioritize the trade deal."
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau thanked Craft for what he said was her "dedication to building on the strong relationship between our two countries," and her help in "securing a new North American trade deal that increases the prosperity of both Canada and the United States". Former Canadian Ambassador to the United States Frank McKenna said that Craft brought "charm and grace and listening skills" to the ambassadorship, and did "the job very well when at the top, the relationship is as bad as it’s ever been". Ontario Premier Doug Ford gave her tenure a positive review, saying "Every premier I know thinks the world of her. She really proved herself over some tough times."