In 1831 the U.S. sent its first formally approved envoy to the Ottoman Empire, David Porter.[4] The empire and the U.S. at that point had their representatives at the "Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary" level.[2] Sinan Kuneralp, author of "Ottoman Diplomatic and Consular Personnel in the United States of America, 1867–1917," wrote that the empire initially apparently lacked "any sensible justification" to open a mission stateside due to the relative distance between the countries.[4] Wasti wrote that "there was no real rush on the Ottoman side to send diplomatic envoys to Washington, DC".[2]