John Christopher Stevens was born in April 1960 and raised in Northern California. He was an American diplomat and lawyer who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Libya from June 2012 to September 2012. Stevens joined the United States Foreign Service in 1991. Prior to joining the United States Foreign Service, he was an international trade lawyer.

On 11 September 2012 Egypt and Libya, U.S. diplomatic missions were attacked, causing the deaths of four people in Libya, including Christopher Stevens. Some of the attackers were enraged over the film "Innocence of Muslims", which insulted the Islamic Prophet Muhammad.