Wilson is a former career diplomat, serving from 1976 to 1998. He had diplomatic posts throughout Africa and was ambassador to Gabon. Wilson was the acting ambassador to Baghdad when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. President George W. Bush, in his 2003 State of the Union address, stated that "Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." But in February 2002 Wilson investigated reports of Iraq's attempt to buy uranium from Niger, and found no evidence of such an attempt.