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. The deputy ambassador assumes the duties of the ambassador in his or her absence. As with all

United States ambassadors Ambassadors of the United States are persons nominated by the president to serve as the country's diplomatic representatives to foreign nations, international organizations, and as ambassadors-at-large. Under Article II, Section 2 of the U.S. ...

, the ambassador to the UN and the deputy ambassador are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. The ambassador serves at the pleasure of the president, and enjoys full diplomatic immunity. 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 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. Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (July 5, 1902 – February 27, 1985) was an American diplomat and Republican United States senator from Massachusetts in both Senate seats in non-consecutive terms of service and a United States ambassador. He was considered ...

, a leading moderate Republican who lost his seat in the United States Senate to John F. Kennedy in the

1952 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1952. * 1952 Chilean presidential election * 1952 Dahomeyan Territorial Assembly election * 1952 Dutch general election * 1952 Gabonese legislative election * 1952 Greek legislative election * 1952 Ic ...

, 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 A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

; Eisenhower raised the ambassadorship to

Cabinet rank The ministerial ranking, Cabinet ranking, order of precedence in Cabinet or order of precedence of ministers is the "pecking order" or relative importance of senior ministers in the Government of the United Kingdom, UK government. Use The mi ...

in order to give Lodge direct access to him without having to go through the State Department. The ambassadorship continued to hold this status through the Reagan administration but was removed from Cabinet rank by

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

, who had previously held the position himself. It was restored under the

Clinton administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following a decisive election victory over Re ...

. It was not a Cabinet-level position under the George W. Bush administration (from 2001 to 2009), but was once again elevated under the

Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican ...

, and initially retained as such by the Trump administration. 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. The position was again elevated to Cabinet rank in the Biden administration. Former UN ambassador and

national security advisor A national security advisor serves as the chief advisor to a national government on matters of security. The advisor is not usually a member of the government's cabinet but is usually a member of various military or security councils. National sec ...

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

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. *

Ernest A. Gross Ernest A. Gross (September 23, 1906 – May 2, 1999) was a United States diplomat and lawyer who headed the U.S. delegation to the United Nations in the lead-up to the Korean War. Biography Ernest A. Gross was born in Brooklyn on September 23, ...

- October 11, 1949 – 1953 * James J. Wadsworth^† February 28, 1953 – 1960 *

Charles W. Yost Charles Woodruff Yost (November 6, 1907 – May 21, 1981) was a career U.S. Ambassador who was assigned as his country's representative to the United Nations from 1969 to 1971. Biography Yost was born in Watertown, New York. He attended t ...

^† - February 13, 1961 – 1966 *

William B. Buffum William Burnside Buffum (September 10, 1921 – April 13, 2012) was an official in the United States Department of State. Biography Buffum was born in Binghamton, New York on September 10, 1921. He served in the United States Army during World W ...

- January 1967 – 1970 *

W. Tapley Bennett Jr. William Tapley Bennett Jr. (April 1, 1917 – November 29, 1994) was an American diplomat who served as Ambassador to the Dominican Republic during the 1965 civil war and who recommended that President Johnson intervene with United States troops ...

- 1971 – 1977 *

James F. Leonard James Fulton Leonard Jr. (May 30, 1920 – August 29, 2020) was an American diplomat who served as Foreign Service Officer and United States Ambassador to the United Nations (1977–1979). He was born in Osborne, Pennsylvania in May 1920. He se ...

- 1977 – 1979 * William vanden Heuvel - 1979 - 1981 *

Kenneth L. Adelman Kenneth Lee Adelman (born June 9, 1946) is an American diplomat, political writer, policy analyst and William Shakespeare scholar. Adelman has been a member of the board of directors of the global data collection company RIWI Corp. since June 2016 ...

- confirmed July 29, 1981 – 1983 *

José S. Sorzano José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

- confirmed July 26, 1983 – 1985 * Herbert S. Okun - confirmed October 1, 1985 (following a recess appointment) – 1989 *

Alexander F. Watson Alexander Fletcher Watson (born August 8, 1939) is a retired American ambassador and diplomat. Biography Watson was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended Harvard College, earning an A.B. in government in 1961, and joined the Foreign Service ...

- confirmed August 4, 1989 – 1992 *

Edward S. Walker Jr. Edward S. Walker Jr. (born June 13, 1940) is a former U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Egypt, and the UAE and is a Middle East specialist. Early life Walker was born in Abington Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. He earned his B.A. at Hamilt ...

- confirmed October 8, 1992 – 1993 * Skip Gnehm - April 1994 – August 1997 * Peter Burleigh - August 1997 – December 1999 *

James B. Cunningham James Blair Cunningham (born 1952) is an American diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Afghanistan. Cunningham has served in various diplomatic positions, including Chief of Staff to NATO Secretary General Manfred Woerner (19 ...

- December 12, 1999 – July 2004 *

Anne W. Patterson Anne Woods Patterson (born 1949) is an American diplomat and career Foreign Service Officer. She served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs from 2013 to 2017. She previously served as United States Ambassador to Egypt unt ...

- August 2004 – August 2005 * Alejandro Daniel Wolff - November 2005 – June 2010 * Rosemary DiCarlo - July 8, 2010 – c. November 1, 2014 *

Michele J. Sison Michele Jeanne Sison (born May 27, 1959, in Arlington, Virginia) is an American diplomat and career member of the Senior Foreign Service serving as the assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs. She has previously serve ...

- December 7, 2014 – February 21, 2018 * Kelley Eckels Currie (acting) - February 21, 2018 – June 8, 2018 * Jonathan Cohen - June 8, 2018 – November 17, 2019 *

Taryn Frideres Taryn is a feminine name of various meanings. Notable people Notable people with the name include: * Taryn Davidson (born 1991), Canadian model * Taryn Fiebig (1972–2021), Australian opera and musical theatre soprano and cellist * Taryn Fosh ...

- October 2019 - February 25, 2021 *

Richard M. Mills Jr. Richard Merrill Mills Jr. (born February 23, 1959) is an American diplomat who serves as the United States deputy ambassador to the United Nations. He served as the U.S. Chargé d'Affaires and Acting Permanent Representative to the United Nations ...

- November 9, 2020 – present *

Jeffrey Prescott Jeffrey Prescott is an American attorney and foreign policy advisor serving as the deputy to the United States Ambassador to the United Nations in the Biden administration. Education Prescott earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston Univ ...

- February 25, 2021 – present ^†These Deputy Ambassadors later served as full U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations position (see above).

Notes

References

External links