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The office of
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
AmbassadorAn ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....
(or formerly Minister/Envoy Extraordinary) to the United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
(known formally as
Ambassador to the Court of St. James'sThe Court of St James's is the royal court of the United Kingdom. It previously had the same function in the Kingdom of England and in the Kingdom of Great Britain .-Overview:...
) was traditionally, and still is very much so today due to the
Special RelationshipThe Special Relationship is a phrase used to describe the exceptionally close political, diplomatic, cultural, economic, military and historical relations between the United Kingdom and the United States, following its use in a 1946 speech by British statesman Winston Churchill...
, the most prestigious position in the
United States Foreign ServiceThe United States Foreign Service is a component of the United States federal government under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of approximately 11,500 professionals carrying out the foreign policy of the United States and aiding U.S...
. The ambassadorship has been held by various notable politicians, including five who would later become presidents:
John AdamsJohn Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
,
James MonroeJames Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation...
,
John Quincy AdamsJohn Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States . He served as an American diplomat, Senator, and Congressional representative. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties. Adams was the son of former...
,
Martin Van BurenMartin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....
and
James BuchananJames Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....
.
The ambassador and the embassy staff at large work at the
American EmbassyThe Embassy of the United States of America to the Court of St. James's has been located since 1960 in the American Embassy London Chancery Building, in Grosvenor Square, Westminster, London...
in
Grosvenor SquareGrosvenor Square is a large garden square in the exclusive Mayfair district of London, England. It is the centrepiece of the Mayfair property of the Duke of Westminster, and takes its name from their surname, "Grosvenor".-History:...
,
LondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The official residence of the Ambassador of the United States of America to the Court of St. James's is
Winfield HouseWinfield House is a mansion set in 12 acres of grounds in Regent's Park, London, England - the largest private garden in or close to central London after that of Buckingham Palace...
in Regent's Park.
Ministers Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James's, 1785-1811
- John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
(1785–1788)
Note: John Adams became so frustrated with his cool reception at the court that he closed the legation in 1788 and the post remained vacant for four years.
- Thomas Pinckney
Thomas Pinckney was an early American statesman, diplomat and veteran of both the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812.-Early life in the military:...
(1792–1796)
- Rufus King
Rufus King was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat. He was a delegate for Massachusetts to the Continental Congress. He also attended the Constitutional Convention and was one of the signers of the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
(1796–1803)
- James Monroe
James Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation...
(1803–1807)
- William Pinkney
William Pinkney was an American statesman and diplomat, and the seventh U.S. Attorney General.-Biography:Born in Annapolis, Maryland, Pinkney studied medicine and law, becoming a lawyer after his admission to the bar in 1786...
(1808–1811)
- From 1811 to the outbreak of the War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
, chargé d'affairesIn diplomacy, chargé d’affaires , often shortened to simply chargé, is the title of two classes of diplomatic agents who head a diplomatic mission, either on a temporary basis or when no more senior diplomat has been accredited.-Chargés d’affaires:Chargés d’affaires , who were...
Jonathan RussellJonathan Russell was a United States Representative from Massachusetts and diplomat.Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Russell graduated from Brown University in 1791. He studied law and was admitted to the bar, but did not practice...
was the chief United States officer in London.
Note: The United States severed relations with the United Kingdom on the outbreak of the
War of 1812The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
- Normal relations were restored in 1815.
Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James's, 1815-1893
- John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States . He served as an American diplomat, Senator, and Congressional representative. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties. Adams was the son of former...
(1815–1817)
- Richard Rush
Richard Rush was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the second son of Benjamin Rush, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and Julia Rush. He entered the College of New Jersey at the age of 14, and graduated in 1797 as the youngest member of his class...
(1818–1825)
- Rufus King
Rufus King was an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat. He was a delegate for Massachusetts to the Continental Congress. He also attended the Constitutional Convention and was one of the signers of the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
(1825–1826)
- Albert Gallatin
Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin was a Swiss-American ethnologist, linguist, politician, diplomat, congressman, and the longest-serving United States Secretary of the Treasury. In 1831, he founded the University of the City of New York...
(1826–1827)
- James Barbour
James Barbour was an American lawyer, amember and speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, the 18th Governor of Virginia, the first Governor to reside in the current Virginia Governor's Mansion, a U.S. Senator from 1814–1825, and the United States Secretary of War from 1825-1828.Barbour was a...
(1828–1829)
- Louis McLane
Louis McLane was an American lawyer and politician from Wilmington, in New Castle County, Delaware, and Baltimore, Maryland. He was a veteran of the War of 1812 and a member of the Federalist Party and later the Democratic Party. He served as the U.S. Representative from Delaware, U.S. Senator...
(1829–1831)
- Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....
(1831–1832)
- From 1832 to 1836, Aaron Vail
Aaron Vail was an American ambassador. As a chargé d'affaires, he acted as the chief American officer in London in lieu of an United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom between April 4, 1832 and 1836; between the presidencies of Martin Van Buren and Andrew Stevenson. He then became a Special...
, the American chargé d'affaires, acted as the chief American officer in London.
- Andrew Stevenson
Andrew Stevenson was a Democratic politician in the United States. Educated at the College of William and Mary, he married three times. His second wife, Sarah Coles, was a cousin of Dolley Madison and sister of Edward Coles, a governor of Illinois...
(1836–1841)
- Edward Everett
Edward Everett was an American politician and educator from Massachusetts. Everett, a Whig, served as U.S. Representative, and U.S. Senator, the 15th Governor of Massachusetts, Minister to Great Britain, and United States Secretary of State...
(1841–1845)
- Louis McLane
Louis McLane was an American lawyer and politician from Wilmington, in New Castle County, Delaware, and Baltimore, Maryland. He was a veteran of the War of 1812 and a member of the Federalist Party and later the Democratic Party. He served as the U.S. Representative from Delaware, U.S. Senator...
(1845–1846)
- George Bancroft
George Bancroft was an American historian and statesman who was prominent in promoting secondary education both in his home state and at the national level. During his tenure as U.S. Secretary of the Navy, he established the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1845...
(1846–1849)
- Abbott Lawrence
Abbott Lawrence was a prominent American businessman, politician, and philanthropist...
(1849–1852)
- Joseph R. Ingersoll (1852–1853)
- James Buchanan
James Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....
(1853–1856)
- George M. Dallas
George Mifflin Dallas was a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania and the 11th Vice President of the United States , serving under James K. Polk.-Family and early life:...
(1856–1861)
- Charles Francis Adams, Sr.
Charles Francis Adams, Sr. was an American lawyer, politician, diplomat and writer. He was the grandson of President John Adams and Abigail Adams and the son of President John Quincy Adams and Louisa Adams....
(1861–1868)
- Reverdy Johnson
Reverdy Johnson was a statesman and jurist from Maryland.-Early life:Born in Annapolis, Johnson was the son of a distinguished Maryland lawyer and politician, John Johnson . He graduated from St. John's College in 1812 and then studied law...
(1868–1869)
- John Lothrop Motley
John Lothrop Motley was an American historian and diplomat.-Biography:...
(1869–1870)
- Robert C. Schenck
Robert Cumming Schenck was a Union Army general in the American Civil War, and American diplomatic representative to Brazil and the United Kingdom. He was at both battles of Bull Run and took part in the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of 1862, and the Battle of Cross Keys...
(1871–1876)
- Edwards Pierrepont
Edwards Pierrepont was an American statesman, jurist and lawyer.-Biography:Born in North Haven, Connecticut, he graduated from Yale University and New Haven Law School, was admitted to the bar in 1840 and practiced law in Columbus, Ohio, from 1840 to 1845...
(1876–1877)
- John Welsh
John Welsh was an American merchant and minister to England.-Biography:His ancestors were among the early Swedish and English settlers in America...
(1877–1879)
- James Russell Lowell
James Russell Lowell was an American Romantic poet, critic, editor, and diplomat. He is associated with the Fireside Poets, a group of New England writers who were among the first American poets who rivaled the popularity of British poets...
(1880–1885)
- Edward John Phelps
Edward John Phelps was a lawyer and diplomat from Vermont. Born in Middlebury, he graduated from Middlebury College in 1840, studied law at Yale University, and began practicing in 1843.-Schooling:...
(1885–1889)
- Robert Todd Lincoln
Robert Todd Lincoln was an American lawyer and Secretary of War, and the first son of President Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln...
(1889–1893)
Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James's, 1893-present
- Thomas F. Bayard, Sr.
Thomas Francis Bayard was an American lawyer and politician from Wilmington, Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party, who served three terms as U.S. Senator from Delaware, and as U.S. Secretary of State, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom.-Early life and family:Bayard was born in...
(1893–1897)
- John Hay
John Milton Hay was an American statesman, diplomat, author, journalist, and private secretary and assistant to Abraham Lincoln.-Early life:...
(1897–1898)
- Joseph Choate (1899–1905)
- Whitelaw Reid
Whitelaw Reid was a U.S. politician and newspaper editor, as well as the author of a popular history of Ohio in the Civil War.-Early life:...
(1905–1912)
- Walter Hines Page
Walter Hines Page was an American journalist, publisher, and diplomat. He was the United States ambassador to the United Kingdom during World War I.-Biography:...
(1913–1918)
- John W. Davis
John William Davis was an American politician, diplomat and lawyer. He served as a United States Representative from West Virginia , then as Solicitor General of the United States and US Ambassador to the UK under President Woodrow Wilson...
(1918–1921)
- George Brinton McClellan Harvey
George Brinton McClellan Harvey was an American diplomat, journalist, author, administrator for electric rail construction and owner and editor of several newspapers, all positions that brought him great wealth....
(1921–1923)
- Frank B. Kellogg
Frank Billings Kellogg was an American lawyer, politician and statesman who served in the U.S. Senate and as U.S. Secretary of State. He co-authored the Kellogg-Briand Pact, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1929..- Biography :Kellogg was born in Potsdam, New York, and his family...
(1924–1925)
- Alanson B. Houghton
Alanson Bigelow Houghton was an American businessman, politician, and diplomat who served as a Congressman and Ambassador. He was a member of the Republican Party.-Early life and business career:...
(1925–1929)
- Charles G. Dawes
Charles Gates Dawes was an American banker and politician who was the 30th Vice President of the United States . For his work on the Dawes Plan for World War I reparations he was a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served in the First World War, was U.S...
(1929–1931)
- Andrew W. Mellon
Andrew William Mellon was an American banker, industrialist, philanthropist, art collector and Secretary of the Treasury from March 4, 1921 until February 12, 1932.-Early life:...
(1932–1933)
- Robert Worth Bingham
Robert Worth Bingham was a politician, judge, newspaper publisher and United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He attended the University of North Carolina and University of Virginia but did not graduate. He moved to Louisville in the 1890s and received a law degree from the University of...
(1933–1937)
- Joseph P. Kennedy (1938–1940)
- John G. Winant (1941–1946)
- W. Averell Harriman
William Averell Harriman was an American Democratic Party politician, businessman, and diplomat. He was the son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman. He served as Secretary of Commerce under President Harry S. Truman and later as the 48th Governor of New York...
(1946)
- Lewis W. Douglas (1947–1950)
- Walter S. Gifford (1950–1953)
- Winthrop W. Aldrich
Winthrop Williams Aldrich GBE was an American banker and financier, scion of a prominent political family, and US Ambassador to the United Kingdom.-Early years:...
(1953–1957)
- John Hay Whitney
John Hay Whitney , colloquially known as "Jock" Whitney, was U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher of the New York Herald Tribune, and a member of the Whitney family.-Family:...
(1957–1961)
- David K. E. Bruce
David Kirkpatrick Este Bruce was an American diplomat, and the only American to serve as Ambassador to France, the Republic of Germany and the United Kingdom.-Biography:...
(1961–1969)
- Walter H. Annenberg (1969–1974)
- Elliot L. Richardson (1975–1976)
- Anne Legendre Armstrong (1976–1977)
- Kingman Brewster, Jr.
Kingman Brewster, Jr., was an educator, president of Yale University, and American diplomat.-Early life:...
(1977–1981)
- John J. Louis, Jr.
John Jeffry Louis, Jr. was an American businessman and United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom.Born in Evanston, Illinois to Chicago advertiser John Jeffry Louis and Johnson Wax heiress Henriette Johnson Louis, John J. Louis, Jr...
(1981–1983)
- Charles H. Price II
Charles H. Price II is a prominent American businessman and former Ambassador of the United States.-Early life:Price was born to a prominent family in Kansas City, Missouri, who owned a local candy manufacturing firm, the Price Candy Company...
(1983–1989)
- Henry E. Catto, Jr.
Henry Edward Catto, Jr. is an American businessman and public servant.A native of San Antonio, Texas and son of a prominent insurance man, he was educated at T.M.I.—The Episcopal School of Texas, graduating in 1948, and at Williams College, graduating in 1952. In the early 1960s, Catto twice ran...
(1989–1991)
- Raymond G. H. Seitz
Raymond George Hardenbergh Seitz is a former career diplomat and U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on December 8, 1940. He graduated from Yale University in 1963 with a BA in history, following which he spent 2 years teaching in Dallas, Texas. He joined the US...
(1991–1994)
- William J. Crowe, Jr. (1994–1997)
- Philip Lader
Philip Lader was the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom and as of 2010 is chairman of WPP Group plc, a global media and communications firm....
(1997–2001)
- William S. Farish III 2001-2004
- Robert H. Tuttle
Robert Holmes Tuttle is a former United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. He held the post from July 2005 to February 2009.A California native, he was nominated to be Ambassador by U.S. President George W. Bush...
2005-2009
- Louis Susman
Louis B. Susman is an American lawyer, retired investment banker, and the current United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Nominated by President Barack Obama, he was confirmed by the Senate on July 10, 2009, and sworn in by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.Susman is a longtime and...
2009–present
Ambassadors who later became US Presidents
- John Adams
John Adams was an American lawyer, statesman, diplomat and political theorist. A leading champion of independence in 1776, he was the second President of the United States...
(1785–1788)
- James Monroe
James Monroe was the fifth President of the United States . Monroe was the last president who was a Founding Father of the United States, and the last president from the Virginia dynasty and the Republican Generation...
(1803–1807)
- John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States . He served as an American diplomat, Senator, and Congressional representative. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties. Adams was the son of former...
(1815–1817)
- Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....
(1831–1832)
- James Buchanan
James Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....
(1853–1856)
See also
External links