List of ambassadors of the United States to Yugoslavia

Last updated
Ambassador of the United States to Yugoslavia
US Department of State official seal.svg
Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent
None
NominatorThe President of the United States
Inaugural holder Henry Percival Dodge
as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
FormationJuly 17, 1919
AbolishedFebruary 4, 2003 (as Yugoslavia)
February 29, 2004 (as Serbia and Montenegro)

The nation of Yugoslavia was formed on December 1, 1918 as a result of the realignment of nations and national boundaries in Europe in the aftermath of World War I. The nation was first named the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes and was renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929. The kingdom occupied the area in the Balkans comprising the present-day states of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and most of present-day Slovenia and Croatia. The United States recognized the newly formed nation and commissioned its first envoy to the kingdom on July 17, 1919. Previously the U.S. had had an envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary who was commissioned to Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia while resident in Bucharest, Romania. Towards the end of the 1930s, the diplomatic relations between Belgrade and Washington were raised from ministerial to the ambassadorial level.

Contents

At the beginning of World War II, the government of Yugoslavia fled Belgrade and formed a government in exile in London and later in Cairo. During that time the U.S. ambassadors continued to represent the United States in London and Cairo. The embassy was transferred back to Belgrade in 1945.

Between 1943 and 1992 the nation was known by various names, including the Democratic Federative Yugoslavia (1943), the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia (1946), and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1963).

After the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992, the remnants of the nation, comprising the republics of Serbia and Montenegro, constituted a new state known as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. On May 21, 1992, the United States announced that it did not recognize the Federal Republic. The ambassador had left Belgrade one week earlier. A series of chargés d'affaires represented the U.S. government until 1999, when the embassy was closed.

In 2001 the United States recognized the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and commissioned an ambassador to Belgrade.

In 2003 the parliament of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ratified the Constitutional Charter, establishing a new state union and changing the name of the country from Yugoslavia to Serbia and Montenegro. The U.S. ambassador continued in his post as the ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro.

For ambassadors to Serbia before and after Yugoslavia, see United States Ambassador to Serbia.

Ambassadors

ImageNameTitleAppointed Presented credentials Terminated missionNotes
H Percival Dodge.jpg Henry Percival Dodge [1] – Career FSOEnvoy Extraordinary and Minister PlenipotentiaryJuly 17, 1919October 5, 1919March 21, 1926
Jno. Dyneley Prince, 1-24-23 LCCN2016847184.jpg John Dyneley Prince [2] – Political appointeeFebruary 23, 1926May 5, 1926August 31, 1932
Charles S. Wilson [3] [4] – Career FSOAugust 3, 1933September 11, 1933July 28, 1937
AB Lane.jpg Arthur Bliss Lane – Career FSOAugust 9, 1937October 23, 1937May 17, 1941 [5]
Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Jr.png Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, Jr. [6] [7] – Political appointeeAmbassador Extraordinary and PlenipotentiaryJuly 30, 1941October 3, 1941September 28, 1943 [8] Promoted to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary September 1942
Lincoln MacVeagh [9] [10] – Political appointeeNovember 12, 1943December 9, 1943March 11, 1944 [11]
New Assistant Commerce Secretary. Washington, D.C., May 13. Col. Richard C. Patterson, Jr., newly appointed Assistant Secretary of Commerce pictured at his desk shortly after taking the Oath LCCN2016873579.jpg Richard C. Patterson, Jr. [12] – Political appointeeSeptember 21, 1944November 17, 1944Left Belgrade October 25, 1946
Cavendish W. Cannon – Career FSOApril 10, 1947July 14, 1947October 19, 1949
George V Allen 1924.jpg George V. Allen [13] – Career FSOOctober 27, 1949January 25, 1950March 11, 1953
James Riddleberger.jpg James Williams Riddleberger – Career FSOJuly 31, 1953November 16, 1953January 11, 1958
US Ambassador Karl L. Rankin (cropped from Chen Cheng Yuan Chang Zhu Chi Zhang Hua -Tai Zhong Gong Lu Gao Ji Lu Mian Tong Che Dian Li hp-0100210033).jpg Karl L. Rankin [14] – Career FSODecember 13, 1957February 19, 1958April 22, 1961
Kennan.jpeg George F. Kennan – Career FSOMarch 7, 1961May 16, 1961July 28, 1963
Ambassador Elbrick.jpg Charles Burke Elbrick – Career FSOJanuary 29, 1964March 17, 1964April 28, 1969
William Leonhart [15] – Career FSOMay 1, 1969June 30, 1969October 18, 1971
MalcolmToon.jpg Malcolm Toon – Career FSOOctober 7, 1971October 23, 1971March 11, 1975
Laurence Silberman as Solicitor of Labor.jpg Laurence H. Silberman - Political appointeeMay 8, 1975May 26, 1975December 26, 1976
Lawrence Eagleburger 59-N-VS-274-89 (cropped).jpg Lawrence S. Eagleburger – Career FSOJune 8, 1977June 21, 1977January 24, 1981
David Anderson – Career FSOJuly 27, 1981August 19, 1981June 26, 1985
John Douglas Scanlan (cropped).jpg John Douglas Scanlan – Career FSOJuly 12, 1985July 26, 1985March 6, 1989
Warren Zimmermann.jpg Warren Zimmermann – Career FSOJuly 11, 1988March 21, 1989May 16, 1992The United States announced on May 21, 1992, that it would not recognize the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, comprising the republics of Serbia and Montenegro, as the successor to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Robert Rackmales.jpg Robert Rackmales Chargés d'affaires ad interimMay 1992N/AJuly 1993
Rudolf V. Perina, official portrait,1998.jpg Rudolf V. Perina July 1993N/AFebruary 1996
Lawrence E. Butler.jpg Lawrence Butler February 1996N/AAugust 1996
Richard Miles.jpg Richard M. Miles August 1996N/AMarch 1999The embassy was closed March 23, 1999. Miles and the last Embassy personnel left March 24, and NATO armed forces began military action against Serbia-Montenegro that evening.
William Dale Montgomery in 2002.jpg William Dale Montgomery [16] – Career FSOAmbassador Extraordinary and PlenipotentiaryNovember 26, 2001January 4, 2002February 29, 2004The United States again recognized the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 2001 and posted an ambassador to that nation.

Montgomery was the last ambassador sent by the U.S. to a state known as Yugoslavia. Hereafter ambassadors in Belgrade were commissioned to Serbia and Montenegro until 2006, and then to Serbia onward. For subsequent ambassadors in Belgrade, see United States Ambassador to Serbia.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Dodge was commissioned to the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.
  2. ↑ Prince was commissioned to the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes and continued to serve as ambassador after the nation was renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1929.
  3. ↑ Wilson was commissioned during a recess of the Senate and recommissioned after confirmation on January 15, 1934.
  4. ↑ Wilson was commissioned to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
  5. ↑ The king had fled Belgrade on April 14, 1941 in anticipation of a German invasion.
  6. ↑ Biddle served near the Yugoslav government-in-exile in England.
  7. ↑ Biddle was also commissioned to the governments-in-exile of Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, and Poland; resident in London.
  8. ↑ The government-in-exile of Yugoslavia transferred to Cairo September 28, 1943.
  9. ↑ MacVeagh served near the Yugoslav government-in-exile in Cairo.
  10. ↑ MacVeagh was also commissioned to the government-in-exile of Greece; resident in Cairo.
  11. ↑ The government-in-exile of Yugoslavia transferred back to England on March 11, 1944. On July 1, 1944 Rudolf E. Schoenfeld was designated Chargé d'Affaires ad interim near the Government of Yugoslavia established in England.
  12. ↑ Patterson served near the government-in-exile in London. The U.S. Embassy was transferred back to Belgrade March 31, 1945.
  13. ↑ Allen was commissioned during a recess of the Senate and recommissioned after confirmation on February 2, 1950.
  14. ↑ Rankin was commissioned during a recess of the Senate and recommissioned after confirmation on January 29, 1968.
  15. ↑ Leonhart was commissioned to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
  16. ↑ Montgomery was originally commissioned to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and continued to serve after its name was changed to Serbia and Montenegro on February 4, 2003.

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