He previously served as the third Secretary and Vice Consul at the American Embassy in Lagos, Nigeria from 1982 to 1984, Administrative Officer at the American Consulate General in Lahore, Pakistan from 1984 to 1986, Second Secretary and Supervisory General Services Officer at the American Embassy in The Hague, The Netherlands from 1986 to 1989, Administrative Officer at the American Consulate General in Bombay, India from 1989 to 1991, U.S. Department of State's Special Assistant in the Bureau of Finance and Management Policy from 1991 to 1992, Administrative Counselor in Bridgetown, Barbados from 1992 to 1995, Administrative Counselor at the American Embassy in Kingston, Jamaica from 1995 to 1998, Administrative Counselor in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire from 1998 to 2001, and ambassador to Swaziland from 2002 to 2004. McGee became the U.S. ambassador to Madagascar on October 24, 2004, and took on the additional role of ambassador to the Comoros on March 5, 2006.[3][4] McGee was confirmed by the Senate in October 2007 and succeeded Christopher Dell as U.S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe, serving in that position from 2007 to 2009.
James McGee was threatened with expulsion from Zimbabwe by the president, Robert Mugabe, after McGee had told the press of politically inspired attacks by Mugabe's government against political activists in anticipation of the run-off election between Mugabe and his rival, Morgan Tsvangirai.[5]
