The United States ambassador to the United Kingdom (known formally as the ambassador of the United States to the

Court of St James's The Court of St James's is the royal court for the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. All ambassadors to the United Kingdom are formally received by the court. All ambassadors from the United Kingdom are formally accredited from the court – & ...

) is the official representative of the

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

and the

American government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

to the

monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...

and

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. The position is held by

Jane D. Hartley Jane Dorothy Hartley (born April 18, 1950) is an American diplomat who has served as the United States ambassador to the United Kingdom in the Joe Biden administration since 2022. She served as the United States ambassador to France and Monaco fr ...

, who presented her credentials to Queen Elizabeth II on July 19, 2022. The position is regarded as one of the most prestigious posts in the

United States Foreign Service The United States Foreign Service is the primary personnel system used by the diplomatic service of the United States federal government, under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of over 13,000 professionals carryi ...

due to the "

Special Relationship The Special Relationship is a term that is often used to describe the politics, political, social, diplomacy, diplomatic, culture, cultural, economics, economic, law, legal, Biophysical environment, environmental, religion, religious, military ...

" between the United States and United Kingdom. The ambassadorship has been held by various notable politicians, including five who would later become presidents:

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American statesman, lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. A member of the Democratic-Republican Party, Monroe was ...

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth president of the United States, from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States S ...

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; nl, Maarten van Buren; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was an American lawyer and statesman who served as the eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (Uni ...

and

James Buchanan James Buchanan Jr. ( ; April 23, 1791June 1, 1868) was an American lawyer, diplomat and politician who served as the 15th president of the United States from 1857 to 1861. He previously served as secretary of state from 1845 to 1849 and repr ...

. However, the modern tendency of American presidents (of both parties) is to appoint keen political

fundraisers Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

from previous

presidential campaign President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese fu ...

s, despite the importance and prestige of the office. The

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

and executive staff work at the American Embassy in

Nine Elms Nine Elms is an area of south-west London, England, within the London Borough of Wandsworth. It lies on the River Thames, with Battersea to the west, South Lambeth to the south and Vauxhall to the east. The area was formerly mainly industrial bu ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The official residence of the ambassador is

Winfield House Winfield House is an English townhouse in Regent's Park, central London and the official residence of the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. The grounds are , the second-largest private garden in London after that of Buckingham P ...

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...

Duties

The ambassador's main duty is to present US policies to the

and its people, as well as report British policies and views to the

federal government of the United States The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fede ...

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

List of US chiefs of mission to the Court of St James's

Ministers (1785–1811)

John Adams is referred to as the first "ambassador". He is also referred to as the first "minister plenipotentiary". ''Plenipotentiary'' means "having full power"; a minister that has power to act for their country in all matters.

Ministers (1815–1893)

Diplomatic relations with Great Britain were restored after the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

. The

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...

(1815) established a uniform system of

diplomatic rank Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seating ...

. Under that system, the highest rank of "ambassador" was a personal representative of a sovereign, and the next rank of "minister", represented a government. As a republic, the United States maintained diplomatic relations with Great Britain at the rank of ''Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary''. The rank was colloquially known as ''Minister'', and the position continued to be referred to as "United States Minister to Great Britain".

Ambassadors (1893–present)

Although France became a republic in 1870, the country continued to exchange ambassadors with other Great Powers. In 1893, the United States followed the French precedent and upgraded its relations with other Great Powers to the ambassadorial level. The United States

Legation A legation was a diplomatic representative office of lower rank than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an ambassador, a legation was headed by a Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, minister. Ambassadors diplomatic rank, out ...

in London became the

United States Embassy The United States has the second most diplomatic missions of any country in the world after Mainland China, including 166 of the 193 member countries of the United Nations, as well as observer state Vatican City and non-member countries Kosovo a ...

, and the United States Minister to Great Britain became the United States Ambassador to Great Britain.

Notes

References

United States Department of State: Background notes on the United Kingdom
*

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
{{DEFAULTSORT:United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Lists of ambassadors to the United Kingdom Politics of the United Kingdom