When Bill Clinton was on the campaign trail as the Democratic candidate for president in 1992, he suggested both orally and in a letter to Congressman Bruce Morrison that he would favor the appointment of a Special Envoy for Northern Ireland.

On February 23, 1993, shortly after Clinton assumed office as president, Representative Joseph P. Kennedy, together with 16 co-sponsors, sponsored a Congressional Resolution calling for the appointment of a Special Envoy.

[6] When the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) declared a ceasefire in 1994, Sinn Féin party leader, Gerry Adams urged Washington to play a "nudging role" as it did in South Africa and the Middle East.

James (Jim) Lyons succeeded Sen George Mitchell as Special Advisor to the President and Secretary of State for Economic Initiatives in Northern Ireland and the Border Counties of the Republic in 1996.

In 2001, within a week of the September 11 attacks, Haass warned Irish Republicans that the suspected links between the IRA and Colombian terrorist groups could have "potentially serious consequences for the role of the United States in the peace process".

[8] Later, Haass attacked then Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble for setting a deadline for pulling out of power-sharing, accusing him of adding to a sense of crisis.

[18] This drew a robust response from the Republican Party candidate, Senator John McCain, who strongly backed retaining a U.S. Special Envoy for Northern Ireland.

The Senator criticized Senator Obama's position as demonstrating a willingness:[19] to toss aside one of the signature diplomatic accomplishments of the Clinton administration and put the progress in Northern Ireland at risk is only further evidence that he is simply not ready to lead.The position became vacant on January 7, 2021, following the resignation of special ambassador, Mick Mulvaney, who resigned in response to President Donald Trump's role in the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol.