List of ambassadors of the United States to the United Nations

Last updated

Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations
US Department of State official seal.svg
Seal of the Department of State
Linda-Thomas-Greenfield-v1-8x10-1.jpg
Incumbent
Linda Thomas-Greenfield
since February 25, 2021
United States Mission to the United Nations
Style Madam Ambassador
(informal)
The Honorable
(formal)
Her Excellency
(diplomatic)
Member of National Security Council
Cabinet
Reports to President
Secretary of State
Residence 50 United Nations Plaza
Seat United Nations Headquarters
New York City, New York, U.S.
Appointer President
with Senate advice and consent
Term length No fixed term
At the pleasure of the President of the United States
FormationDecember 21, 1945;78 years ago (1945-12-21)
First holder Edward Stettinius Jr.
Salary Executive Schedule, Level IV
Website usun.usmission.gov

The United States ambassador to the United Nations is the leader of the U.S. delegation, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The position is formally known as the permanent representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, and representative of the United States of America in the United Nations Security Council.

Contents

The deputy ambassador assumes the duties of the ambassador in his or her absence. As with all United States ambassadors, the ambassador to the UN and the deputy ambassador are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. The ambassador serves at the pleasure of the President. The ambassador may be assisted by one or more appointed delegates, often appointed for a specific purpose or issue.

The U.S. permanent representative is charged with representing the United States on the UN Security Council, and during all plenary meetings of the General Assembly, except when a more senior officer of the United States (such as the secretary of state or the president of the United States) is in attendance.

The protection of the United States ambassador to the United Nations is provided by the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS). He is the second most protected diplomat in the United States after the secretary of state and before the deputy secretary of state.

Despite his title head of external mission, the United States ambassador to the United Nations is also responsible for importing United Nations policies and motions voted in the main organs of the United Nations onton the national territory.

The current ambassador is Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who was nominated by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate on February 23, 2021.

Cabinet status

Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., a leading moderate Republican who lost his seat in the United States Senate to John F. Kennedy in the 1952 elections, was appointed ambassador to the United Nations in 1953 by Dwight D. Eisenhower in gratitude for the defeated senator's role in the new president's defeat of conservative leader Robert A. Taft for the 1952 Republican nomination and subsequent service as his campaign manager in the general election; Eisenhower raised the ambassadorship to Cabinet rank in order to give Lodge direct access to him without having to go through the State Department. [1]

The ambassadorship continued to hold this status throughout the remainder of the Cold War but was removed from Cabinet rank by George H. W. Bush, who had previously held the position himself. It was restored under the Clinton administration. It was not a Cabinet-level position under the George W. Bush administration (from 2001 to 2009), [2] [3] but was once again elevated under the Obama administration, and initially retained as such by the Trump administration during the tenure of Nikki Haley. [4] However, in December 2018, it was reported by several news organizations that the Trump administration would once again downgrade the position to non-Cabinet rank. [5] The position was again elevated to Cabinet rank in the Biden administration. [6]

Former UN ambassador and national security advisor John R. Bolton has publicly opposed the granting of Cabinet-level status to the office, stating "One, it overstates the role and importance the U.N. should have in U.S. foreign policy, second, you shouldn't have two secretaries in the same department".

List of ambassadors

Status

  Denotes Acting United States Ambassador to the United Nations

The following is a chronological list of those who have held the office:

#PortraitAmbassadorYears Served U.S. President
1 Edward Stettinius, as lend-lease administrator, September 2, 1941.jpg Edward Stettinius Jr. January 17, 1946 – June 3, 1946 Harry S. Truman
— Herschel Johnson (1945).jpg Herschel Johnson June 3, 1946 – January 14, 1947
Acting
2 Warren Austin.jpg Warren Austin January 14, 1947 – January 22, 1953
Dwight D. Eisenhower
3 Cabot Lodge (1964).jpg Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. January 26, 1953 [7] – September 3, 1960
4 JamesJeremiahWadsworth.jpg James Jeremiah Wadsworth September 8, 1960 – January 21, 1961
John F. Kennedy
5 AdlaiEStevenson1900-1965.jpg Adlai Stevenson II January 23, 1961 – July 14, 1965
Lyndon B. Johnson
6 Arthur Goldberg (1971).jpg Arthur Goldberg July 28, 1965 – June 24, 1968
7 GeorgeWildmanBall.jpg George Ball June 26, 1968 – September 25, 1968
8 JamesWiggins.jpg James Russell Wiggins October 7, 1968 – January 20, 1969
9 AmbassadorCWYost.jpg Charles W. Yost January 23, 1969 – February 25, 1971 Richard Nixon
10 George H. W. Bush presidential portrait (cropped).jpg George H. W. Bush March 1, 1971 – January 18, 1973
11 John Scali.jpg John A. Scali February 20, 1973 – June 29, 1975
Gerald Ford
12 Daniel Patrick Moynihan in 1976.jpg Daniel Patrick Moynihan June 30, 1975 – February 2, 1976
13 William Scranton (PA).png William Scranton March 15, 1976 – January 19, 1977
14 Andrew Young at the second annual Tom Johnson lecture DIG13465.jpg Andrew Young January 30, 1977 – September 23, 1979 Jimmy Carter
15 UnitedNationsAmbassadorMcHenry.jpg Donald McHenry September 23, 1979 – January 20, 1981
16 Od jeane-kirkpatrick-official-portrait 1-255x301.jpg Jeane Kirkpatrick February 4, 1981 – April 1, 1985 Ronald Reagan
17 Ambassador Vernon A. Walters.jpg Vernon A. Walters May 22, 1985 – March 15, 1989
George H. W. Bush
18 ThomasRPickering.jpg Thomas R. Pickering March 20, 1989 – May 7, 1992
19 Ambassador Perkins.jpg Edward J. Perkins May 12, 1992 – January 27, 1993
Bill Clinton
20 Secalbright.jpg Madeleine Albright January 27, 1993 – January 21, 1997
21 Bill Richardson at the LBJ Library (3).jpg Bill Richardson February 18, 1997 – August 18, 1998
— Peter Burleigh.jpg Peter Burleigh August 18, 1998 – September 7, 1999
Acting
22 Richard Holbrooke.jpg Richard Holbrooke September 7, 1999 – January 20, 2001
— James B Cunningham.jpg James B. Cunningham January 20, 2001 – September 19, 2001
Acting		 George W. Bush
23 John Negroponte official portrait State.jpg John Negroponte September 19, 2001 – July 23, 2004
24 John danforth.JPG John Danforth July 23, 2004 – January 20, 2005
— Anne W Patterson ambassador 2011.jpg Anne W. Patterson January 20, 2005 – August 2, 2005
Acting
25 John R Bolton at CPAC 2017 by Michael Vadon.jpg John Bolton August 2, 2005 – December 31, 2006
— Alejandro D. Wolff US State Dept photo.jpg Alejandro Daniel Wolff December 31, 2006 – April 30, 2007
Acting
26 Zalmay Khalilzad in October 2011-cropped.jpg Zalmay Khalilzad April 30, 2007 – January 22, 2009
Barack Obama
27 Susan E. Rice, DPC Director (cropped).jpg Susan Rice January 26, 2009 – June 30, 2013
— Rosemary DiCarlo official portrait (cropped).jpg Rosemary DiCarlo June 30, 2013 – August 5, 2013
Acting
28 Samantha Power official portrait.jpg Samantha Power August 5, 2013 – January 20, 2017
— Michele Sison official photo.jpg Michele J. Sison January 20, 2017 – January 27, 2017
Acting		 Donald Trump
29 Nikki Haley official photo.jpg Nikki Haley January 27, 2017 – December 31, 2018
— Jonathan R. Cohen official photo.jpg Jonathan Cohen January 1, 2019 – September 12, 2019
Acting
30 Kelly Knight Craft.jpg Kelly Craft September 12, 2019 – January 20, 2021
— RichardMillsJr.jpg Richard M. Mills Jr. January 20, 2021 – February 25, 2021
Acting		 Joe Biden
31 Linda-Thomas-Greenfield-v1-8x10-1.jpg Linda Thomas-Greenfield February 25, 2021 – present

List of deputy ambassadors

The United States deputy ambassador to the United Nations serves as the second most senior American diplomat before the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council in New York and carries the diplomatic rank of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary. In the absence of the ambassador, the deputy serves in his or her place.

  1. ↑ Prescott serves as Deputy to the Ambassador to the UN. It is a separate position from the Senate-confirmed role of Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations. The deputy to the ambassador assists the U.S. ambassador to the UN by acting as a liaison in Washington, D.C., managing their Washington office, interacting with Congress and acting as a stand-in for the UN ambassador. The two roles co-exist, as in 2019 when Taryn Frideres was Deputy to the Ambassador at the same time that Jonathan Cohen was Deputy Ambassador to the UN.

†These deputy ambassadors later served as full U.S. ambassador to the United Nations position (see above).

See also

Notes

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    References

    1. ↑ Hubbard, James P. (2011). The United States and the End of British Colonial Rule in Africa, 1941–1968. Jefferson City, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 172. ISBN   978-0-7864-5952-0.
    2. ↑ Kelemen, Michele (December 1, 2008). "U.N. Envoy Nominee Rice Known As Smart, Tough". National Public Radio. Retrieved January 21, 2009. The head of the United Nations Foundation, a Washington-based advocacy group, released a statement praising Rice as well as Obama's decision to make the post of U.N. ambassador a Cabinet-level position once again –as it was during the Clinton years.
    3. ↑ Cooper, Helene (November 20, 2008). "Clinton Decision Holding Up Other Obama Choices". The New York Times . Retrieved February 9, 2009. Ms. Rice could get the post of United States ambassador to the United Nations, a cabinet-level position under President Clinton. President Bush downgraded the position when he came into office
    4. ↑ Walker, Hunter. "President Trump announces his full Cabinet roster." Yahoo News. 2017-02-07. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
    5. ↑ Kristen Welker; Geoff Bennett; Daniel Barnes (December 7, 2018). "U.N. ambassador to no longer be Cabinet-level position". NBC News . Retrieved December 7, 2018.
    6. ↑ Kirby, Jen (November 23, 2020). "Biden announces veteran diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield as UN ambassador pick". Vox.
    7. ↑ Chesly Manly (January 27, 1953). "Lodge Asks FBI to Screen All U.S. Aids [sic] on U.N." Chicago Tribune. Chicago Tribune Press Service. Archived from the original on March 19, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
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