On Thursday, the US Senate voted to confirm Kyle McCarter as Washington's new envoy to Kenya effectively concluding a long and difficult political process.
No roll-call vote was taken on Thursday, with senators approving Mr McCarter's nomination by a voice vote.
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee cleared the nomination by a 12-9 vote last month. All but one of the panel's Democrats opposed referring to the choice of Mr. McCarter to the full 100-member upper house of Congress.
Mr McCarter’s nomination wasn’t a walk in the park and he battled strong opposition before finally winning the Senate's approval.
Several Democratic members of the Republican-controlled Senate had expressed strong opposition to Mr. McCarter's conservative views on gay rights and his tweet on Election Night in 2016 suggesting that Hillary Clinton be sent to prison.
Mr. McCarter later offered an indirect apology for his remark, saying "It is one of those tweets you'd like to reel in but can't."
The 56-year-old is a founder of a Kenya-based charity and run for vice-president in 2016 on the Democratic ticket headed by Mrs Clinton.
He was nominated by President Donald Trump to succeed the outgoing Ambassador Robert Godec.
Mr. McCarter is said to be a fluent Swahili speaker and served for 10 years as a Republican member of the Illinois state legislature.
Mr. McCarter assured the senators that he would not let his own political views intrude on his duties as ambassador.
“I will use my experiences in business, public service and philanthropy to build on the already strong bilateral relationship between the United States and Kenya," he told the committee.
"I will continue to demonstrate the goodwill and generosity of the American people,” he added.
