James Richard Blankenship (born 1959) served as the United States Ambassador to the Bahamas from 2001 to 2003. He was nominated by President George W. Bush in the Spring of 2001.[1] Before becoming Ambassador, Richard Blankenship was a partner in the Capital Policy Group, an investment banking firm whose home office was in Jacksonville, Florida, and a close friend of Jeb Bush, former Governor of Florida. He is currently the managing Director of Global Policy Advisers, an international business consulting group. He also served as President and CFO of St. John's Capital, a regional firm with offices in the south-east. He was educated at Florida State University and the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.[2] Blankenship writes a syndicated column for newspapers in the Caribbea