United_States_Ambassador_to_France
List of ambassadors of the United States to France
Representatives of Washington's diplomatic mission in Paris
The United States ambassador to France is the official representative of the president of the United States to the president of France. The United States has maintained diplomatic relations with France since the American Revolution. Relations were upgraded to the higher rank of Ambassador in 1893. The diplomatic relationship has continued through France's two empires, three monarchies, and five republics. Since 2006 the ambassador to France has also served as the ambassador to Monaco.
| Ambassador of the United States of America to France Ambassadeur des États-Unis en France | |
|---|---|
Seal of the United States Department of State | |
| Residence | Hôtel de Pontalba |
| Nominator | The President of the United States |
| Appointer | The President with Senate advice and consent |
| Inaugural holder | Benjamin Franklin as Envoy |
| Formation | 1778 |
| Website | U.S. Embassy – Paris |
Ministers to the Court of Versailles (1778–1792)
Relations between the United States and the French Court of Versailles were established in 1778 with the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce. As a republic, the United States was not entitled to send an ambassador. Instead, relations were maintained at the lower diplomatic rank of Minister. The position was formally known as the Minister Plenipotentiary from the United States of America at the Court of Versailles.
| Name | Appointment | Presentation | Termination | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Benjamin Franklin | September 14, 1778 | March 23, 1779 | May 17, 1785 | Franklin had represented the United States unofficially since December 1776, prior to France recognizing American Independence. |
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Thomas Jefferson | March 10, 1785 | May 17, 1785 | September 26, 1789 | |
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William Short | April 20, 1790 | June 14, 1790 | May 15, 1792 | |
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Gouverneur Morris | January 12, 1792 | June 3, 1792 | April 9, 1794 | Remained as Minister after the First Republic was proclaimed. Mission terminated when the French government requested his recall. |
Ministers to the First Republic (1792–1804)
| Name | Appointment | Presentation | Termination | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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James Monroe | May 28, 1794 | August 15, 1794 | December 9, 1796 | |
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Charles C. Pinckney | September 9, 1796 | Not presented | February 5, 1797 | |
Diplomatic relations were broken in 1796 due to French anger at U.S. neutrality in the War of the First Coalition. After the Directory refused to accept Charles Cotesworth Pinckney's credentials, a commission was appointed to negotiate with the French Republic. The members of the commission — Pinckney, John Marshall, and Elbridge Gerry — were all accredited with the rank of Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.[1] French officials demanded a bribe before they would commence negotiations, scuttling the mission in the XYZ Affair. Hostilities culminated in the outbreak of the Quasi-War between the U.S. and France. Diplomatic relations were restored with the Convention of 1800.
| Name | Appointment | Presentation | Termination | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Robert R. Livingston | October 2, 1801 | December 6, 1801 | November 18, 1804 | Remained as Minister after Napoleon Bonaparte was proclaimed emperor. |
James Monroe was accredited Minister Plenipotentiary to the French Republic in 1803 to negotiate the Louisiana Purchase.[2] However, Robert Livingston remained chief of mission.
Ministers to the Court of the Tuilleries (1804–1848)
Since Versailles had been stripped of its furnishings during the French Revolution, Napoleon I returned the French court to its pre-1682 home at the Tuilleries. U.S. ministers to all future French monarchs would be accredited to the Tuilleries. After the Congress of Vienna standardized the system of diplomatic ranks, the United States continued to send a Minister, who was officially credentialed as an Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
| Name | Appointment | Presentation | Termination | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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John Armstrong | June 30, 1804 | November 18, 1804 | September 14, 1810 | |
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Joel Barlow | February 27, 1811 | November 17, 1811 | December 26, 1812 | Died in Żarnowiec during the French retreat from Moscow. |
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William H. Crawford | April 9, 1813 | December 14, 1813 August 16, 1814 |
April 26, 1815 to April 30, 1815 | |
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Albert Gallatin | February 28, 1815 | July 16, 1816 | May 16, 1823 | |
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James Brown | December 9, 1823 | April 13, 1824 | June 28, 1829 | |
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William Cabell Rives | April 18, 1829 | October 25, 1829 January 14, 1831 |
September 27, 1832 | |
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Edward Livingston | May 29, 1833 | September 30, 1833 | April 29, 1835 | |
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Lewis Cass | October 4, 1836 | December 1, 1836 | November 12, 1842 | |
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William R. King | April 9, 1844 | July 1, 1844 | September 15, 1846 | |
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Richard Rush | March 3, 1847 | July 31, 1847 April 26, 1848 |
October 8, 1849 | Reaccredited to the Second Republic. |
Ministers to the Second Republic (1848–1852)
| Name | Appointment | Presentation | Termination | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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William Cabell Rives | July 20, 1849 | November 8, 1849 January 10, 1853 |
May 12, 1853 | Reaccredited to the Second Empire. |
Ministers to the Court of the Tuilleries (1852–1870)
| Name | Appointment | Presentation | Termination | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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John Y. Mason | October 10, 1853 | January 22, 1854 | October 3, 1859 | Died at post. |
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Charles J. Faulkner | January 16, 1860 | March 4, 1860 | May 12, 1861 | Sided with the Confederacy during the American Civil War. |
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William L. Dayton | March 18, 1861 | May 19, 1861 | December 1, 1864 | Died at post. |
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John Bigelow | March 15, 1865 | April 23, 1865 | December 23, 1866 | |
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John Adams Dix | September 24, 1866 | December 23, 1866 | May 23, 1869 | |
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Elihu B. Washburne | March 17, 1869 | March 23, 1869 May 8, 1871 |
September 5, 1877 | Reaccredited to the Third Republic. |
Ministers to the Third Republic (1870–1893)
| Name | Appointment | Presentation | Termination | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Edward F. Noyes | July 1, 1877 | September 5, 1877 | August 5, 1881 | |
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Levi P. Morton | March 21, 1881 | August 5, 1881 | May 14, 1885 | |
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Robert M. McLane | March 23, 1885 | May 14, 1885 | May 20, 1889 | |
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Whitelaw Reid | March 23, 1889 | May 21, 1889 | March 25, 1892 | |
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T. Jefferson Coolidge | May 12, 1892 | June 10, 1892 | May 4, 1893 | |
Ambassadors to the Third Republic (1893–1942)
After it became a republic, France continued to exchange ambassadors with other Great Powers. This put an end to the longstanding rule that only Great Power monarchies could exchange ambassadors with each other. As the United States grew in population and economic strength, it followed the French example. In 1893, the United States upgraded its diplomatic relations with the other Great Powers to the ambassadorial level.
| Name | Appointment | Presentation | Termination | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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James B. Eustis | April 8, 1893 | May 6, 1893 | May 24, 1897 | |
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Horace Porter | March 19, 1897 | May 26, 1897 | May 2, 1905 | |
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Robert S. McCormick | March 8, 1905 | May 2, 1905 | March 2, 1907 | |
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Henry White | December 19, 1906 | March 23, 1907 | November 3, 1909 | |
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Robert Bacon | December 21, 1909 | December 31, 1909 | April 19, 1912 | |
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Myron T. Herrick | February 15, 1912 | April 29, 1912 | November 28, 1914 | |
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William Graves Sharp | June 19, 1914 | December 4, 1914 | April 14, 1919 | |
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Hugh Campbell Wallace | February 27, 1919 | April 22, 1919 | July 5, 1921 | |
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Myron T. Herrick | April 16, 1921 | July 15, 1921 | March 31, 1929 | Died at post. |
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Walter Evans Edge | November 21, 1929 | December 18, 1929 | April 13, 1933 | |
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Jesse I. Straus | March 17, 1933 | June 8, 1933 | August 5, 1936 | |
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William C. Bullitt Jr. | August 25, 1936 | October 13, 1936 | July 11, 1940 | |
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William D. Leahy | November 29, 1940 | January 8, 1941 | May 1, 1942 | Departed Vichy France; S. Pinkney Tuck served as interim chargé d'affaires until France severed diplomatic relations with the U.S. on November 8, 1942. |
Ambassadors to the Fourth Republic (1944–1961)
| Name | Appointment | Presentation | Termination | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Jefferson Caffery | November 25, 1944 | December 30, 1944 | May 13, 1949 | The Embassy in Paris had been opened to the public December 1, 1944, with Ambassador Caffery in charge pending presentation of his letter of credence. |
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David K. E. Bruce | May 9, 1949 | May 17, 1949 | March 10, 1952 | |
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James Clement Dunn | March 13, 1952 | March 27, 1952 | March 2, 1953 | |
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C. Douglas Dillon | February 27, 1953 | March 13, 1953 | January 28, 1957 | |
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Amory Houghton | March 14, 1957 | April 17, 1957 | January 19, 1961 | |
Ambassadors to the Fifth Republic (1961–present)
| Name | Appointment | Presentation | Termination | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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James M. Gavin | February 22, 1961 | March 21, 1961 | September 26, 1962 | |
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Charles E. Bohlen | September 4, 1962 | October 27, 1962 | February 9, 1968 | |
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Sargent Shriver | April 22, 1968 | May 25, 1968 | March 25, 1970 | |
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Arthur K. Watson | April 8, 1970 | May 6, 1970 | October 30, 1972 | |
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John N. Irwin II | February 2, 1973 | March 23, 1973 | October 20, 1974 | |
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Kenneth Rush | September 19, 1974 | November 21, 1974 | March 14, 1977 | |
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Arthur A. Hartman | June 8, 1977 | July 7, 1977 | October 14, 1981 | |
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Evan G. Galbraith | November 6, 1981 | December 2, 1981 | July 15, 1985 | |
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Joe M. Rodgers | July 19, 1985 | September 20, 1985 | January 8, 1989 | |
| Walter Curley | May 12, 1989 | July 6, 1989 | February 11, 1993 | ||
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Pamela Harriman | May 8, 1993 | June 30, 1993 | February 5, 1997 | Died at post. |
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Felix Rohatyn | August 1, 1997 | September 11, 1997 | December 7, 2000 | |
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Howard H. Leach | July 12, 2001 | September 4, 2001 | April 16, 2005 | |
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Craig Roberts Stapleton | June 21, 2005 | July 25, 2005 | January 29, 2009 | Also accredited to Monaco. |
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Charles Rivkin | June 1, 2009 | October 2, 2009 | November 20, 2013 | Also accredited to Monaco. |
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Jane D. Hartley | September 26, 2014 | October 31, 2014 | January 29, 2017 | Also accredited to Monaco. |
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Jamie McCourt | November 20, 2017 | December 18, 2017 | January 20, 2021 | Also accredited to Monaco. |
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Denise Bauer | December 18, 2021 | February 5, 2022 | Incumbent | Also accredited to Monaco. |
- Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth; Gerry, Elbridge; Marshall, John (1798). Authentic Copies of the Correspondence of Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, John Marshall, and Elbridge Gerry, Esqrs. Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary to the Republic of France: As Presented to Both Houses of Congress, April 3, 1798, by His Excellency John Adams. J. Derrett. p. 62.
The undersigned Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the French Republic, had the honour of announcing to you officially, on the 6th of October, their arrival at Paris, and of presenting to you on the 8th, a copy of their letters of credence.
This article incorporates public domain material from U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets. United States Department of State.
- Willson, Beckles. America's Ambassadors to France (1777-1927): A Narrative of Franco-American Diplomatic Relations (1928).
- United States Embassy in Paris official site
- United States Department of State: France
- United States Department of State: Chiefs of Mission for France
- United States Department of State: Background notes on France
- Interview with 1984 U.S. Ambassador to France from the Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives