United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom

Ambassador of the United States of America to the United Kingdom Ambassador of the United States to the Court of St James's
120px Seal of the United States Department of State
United States ambassador flag
File:Lewis Lukens ambassador 2011.jpg Incumbent Lewis Lukens as Chargé d'affaires-ai since January 18, 2017
U.S. Department of State Embassy of the United States, London
Style	His Excellency (Formal) Mr. Ambassador (Informal)
Reports to	U.S. Secretary of State
Residence	Winfield House
Seat	London, United Kingdom
Appointer	The President with the advice and consent of the Senate
Term length	At the pleasure of the President No fixed term
Inaugural holder	John Adams as Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James's
Formation	1785
Deputy	Consul General Daniel James Lawton (As Deputy Chief of Mission is currently serving as Chargé d'affaires-ai)
Website	US Embassy – London

The United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (known formally in the United Kingdom as Ambassador of the United States to the Court of St James's) is the official representative of the President and the Government of the United States of America to the Queen and Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The position is regarded as one of the most prestigious positions in the United States Foreign Service due to the so-called "Special Relationship". The ambassadorship has been held by various notable politicians, including five who would later become presidents: John Adams, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren and James Buchanan. However, the modern tendency of American presidents (of both parties) is to appoint keen political fundraisers from previous presidential campaigns, despite the importance and prestige of the office.

The ambassador and the embassy staff at large work at the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square, London. The official residence of the ambassador is Winfield House in Regent's Park.

The post of Ambassador is currently vacant; however, Woody Johnson has been nominated by Donald Trump, pending senate confirmation. Lewis Lukens is currently serving as Chargé d'affaires-a.i. until Johnson is approved by the Senate. The most recent Ambassador was Matthew Barzun.

Duties

The ambassador's main duty is to present American policies to the Government of the United Kingdom and people and to report British policies and views to the Federal government of the United States. He serves as the primary channel of communication between the two nations and plays an important role in treaty negotiations.

The ambassador is the head of the United States's consular service in the United Kingdom. As well as directing diplomatic activity in support of trade, he is ultimately responsible for visa services and for the provision of consular support to American citizens in the UK. He also oversees cultural relations between the two countries.

Ambassadors who later became U.S. presidents

• John Adams (1785–1788)
• James Monroe (1803–1807)
• John Quincy Adams (1814–1817)
• Martin Van Buren (1831–1832)
• James Buchanan (1853–1856)

List of highest-ranking American envoys to Britain

Ministers (1785–1811)

Name	Portrait	Appointment	Presentation	Termination	Appointer		Notes
John Adams		February 24, 1785	June 1, 1785	February 20, 1788		Congress	Left post
Thomas Pinckney		January 12, 1792	August 9, 1792	July 27, 1796		George Washington	Left post
Rufus King		May 20, 1796	July 27, 1796	May 16, 1803			Left post
James Monroe		1803	August 17, 1803	October 7, 1807		Thomas Jefferson	Left post
William Pinkney		February 26, 1808	April 27, 1808	May 7, 1811			Left post
Jonathan Russell		July 27, 1811	November 15, 1811	June 18, 1812		James Madison	Left post

Envoys (1815–1893)

Name	Portrait	Appointment	Presentation	Termination	Appointer		Notes
John Quincy Adams		April 28, 1814	June 8, 1815	May 14, 1817		James Madison	Left post
Richard Rush		1817	February 12, 1818	April 27, 1825		James Monroe	Left post
Rufus King		May 5, 1825	November 11, 1825	June 16, 1826		John Quincy Adams	Left post
Albert Gallatin		May 10, 1826	September 1, 1826	October 4, 1827			Left post
James Barbour		May 23, 1828	November 24, 1828	October 1, 1829			Left post
Louis McLane		1829	October 12, 1829	June 13, 1831		Andrew Jackson	Left post
Martin Van Buren		August 8, 1831	September 21, 1831	March 19, 1832			Left post
Aaron Vail		July 13, 1832		July 13, 1836			Left post
Andrew Stevenson	50px	March 16, 1836	July 13, 1836	October 21, 1841			Left post
Edward Everett		1841	December 16, 1841	August 8, 1845		William Henry Harrison	Left post
Louis McLane		1845	August 8, 1845	August 18, 1846		James K. Polk	Left post
George Bancroft		September 9, 1846	November 12, 1846	August 31, 1849			Left post
Abbott Lawrence		August 20, 1849	October 20, 1849	October 12, 1852		Zachary Taylor	Left post
Joseph R. Ingersoll		August 21, 1852	October 16, 1852	August 23, 1853		Millard Fillmore	Left post
James Buchanan		August 20, 1849	August 23, 1853	March 15, 1856		Franklin Pierce	Left post
George M. Dallas		February 4, 1856	April 4, 1856	May 16, 1861			Left post
Charles Francis Adams Sr.		March 20, 1861	May 16, 1861	May 13, 1868		Abraham Lincoln	Left post
Reverdy Johnson	50px	June 12, 1868	September 14, 1868	May 13, 1869		Andrew Johnson	Left post
John Lothrop Motley		April 13, 1869	June 18, 1869	December 6, 1870		Ulysses S. Grant	Left post
Robert C. Schenck		December 22, 1870	June 23, 1871	March 3, 1876			Left post
Edwards Pierrepont		May 22, 1876	July 11, 1876	December 22, 1877			Left post
John Welsh	50px	November 9, 1877	December 22, 1877	August 14, 1879		Rutherford B. Hayes	Left post
James Russell Lowell		January 26, 1880	March 11, 1880	May 19, 1885			Left post
Edward John Phelps		March 23, 1885	May 19, 1885	January 31, 1889		Grover Cleveland	Left post
Robert Todd Lincoln		March 30, 1889	May 25, 1889	May 4, 1893		Benjamin Harrison	Left post

Ambassadors (1893–present)

Name	Portrait	Appointment	Presentation	Termination	Appointer		Notes
Thomas F. Bayard		1893	June 22, 1893	March 17, 1897		Grover Cleveland	Left post
John Hay		1897	May 3, 1897	September 12, 1898		William McKinley	Left post
Joseph Hodges Choate		January 19, 1899	March 6, 1899	May 23, 1905			Left post
Whitelaw Reid		March 8, 1905	June 5, 1905	December 15, 1912		Theodore Roosevelt	Died in office
Walter Hines Page		April 21, 1913	May 30, 1913	October 3, 1918		Woodrow Wilson	Left post
John W. Davis	50px	November 21, 1918	December 18, 1918	March 9, 1921			Left post
George Brinton McClellan Harvey	50px	April 16, 1921	May 12, 1921	November 3, 1923		Warren G. Harding	Left post
Frank B. Kellogg		1924	January 14, 1924	February 10, 1925		Calvin Coolidge	Left post
Alanson B. Houghton	50px	February 24, 1925	April 27, 1925	March 28, 1929			Left post
Charles G. Dawes		April 16, 1929	June 15, 1929	December 30, 1931		Herbert Hoover	Left post
Andrew W. Mellon		February 5, 1932	April 9, 1932	March 17, 1933			Left post
Robert Worth Bingham		March 23, 1933	May 23, 1933	November 19, 1937		Franklin D. Roosevelt	Left post
Joseph P. Kennedy		January 17, 1938	March 8, 1938	October 22, 1940			Left post
John G. Winant		February 11, 1941	March 1, 1941	April 10, 1946			Left post
W. Averell Harriman		April 2, 1946	April 30, 1946	October 1, 1946		Harry S. Truman	Left post
Lewis W. Douglas		March 6, 1947	March 25, 1947	November 16, 1950			Left post
Walter S. Gifford	50px	December 12, 1950	December 21, 1950	January 23, 1953			Left post
Winthrop W. Aldrich		February 2, 1953	February 20, 1953	February 1, 1957		Dwight D. Eisenhower	Left post
John Hay Whitney		February 11, 1957	February 28, 1957	January 14, 1961			Left post
David K. E. Bruce		February 22, 1961	March 17, 1961	March 20, 1969		John F. Kennedy	Left post
Walter Annenberg	50px	March 14, 1969	April 29, 1969	October 30, 1974		Richard Nixon	Left post
Elliot Richardson		February 20, 1975	March 21, 1975	January 16, 1976		Gerald Ford	Left post
Anne Armstrong	50px	January 29, 1976	March 17, 1976	March 3, 1977			Left post
Kingman Brewster, Jr.		April 29, 1977	June 3, 1977	February 23, 1981		Jimmy Carter	Left post
John J. Louis, Jr.	50px	May 7, 1981	May 27, 1981	November 7, 1983		Ronald Reagan	Left post
Charles H. Price II		November 11, 1983	December 20, 1983	February 28, 1989			Left post
Henry E. Catto, Jr.	50px	April 14, 1989	May 17, 1989	March 13, 1991		George H. W. Bush	Left post
Raymond G. H. Seitz		April 25, 1991	June 25, 1991	May 10, 1994			Left post
William J. Crowe, Jr.		May 13, 1994	June 2, 1994	September 20, 1997		Bill Clinton	Left post
Philip Lader		August 1, 1997	September 22, 1997	February 28, 2001			Left post
William S. Farish III	50px	July 12, 2001	August 1, 2001	June 11, 2004		George W. Bush	Left post
Robert H. Tuttle	50px	July 9, 2005	October 19, 2005	February 6, 2009			Left post
Louis Susman		July 13, 2009	October 13, 2009	April 3, 2013		Barack Obama	Left post
Matthew Barzun		August 6, 2013	December 4, 2013	January 18, 2017			Left post
Lewis Lukens	50px	January 18, 2017		Incumbent		Donald Trump
Woody Johnson		January 19, 2017	Awaiting Senate confirmation

See also

• Ambassadors of the United States
• British Embassy, Washington, D.C.
• Foreign relations of the United Kingdom
• List of Ambassadors from the United Kingdom to the United States
• United Kingdom – United States relations

References

• United States Department of State: Background notes on the United Kingdom
•  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Department of State (Background Notes).

Further reading

• Alison R. Holmes and J. Simon Rofe, The Embassy in Grosvenor Square: American Ambassadors to the United Kingdom, 1938–2008. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.

External links

• United States Department of State: Chiefs of Mission for the United Kingdom
• United States Department of State: United Kingdom
• United States Embassy in London