List of ambassadors of the United States to the United Nations

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.

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), but was once again elevated under the Obama administration, and initially retained as such by the first Trump administration during the tenure of Nikki Haley. 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.{{cite news | access-date = 2018-12-07

Former UN ambassador and national security advisor John Bolton has publicly opposed the granting of Cabinet-level status to the office, stating in 2008 "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. The deputy ambassador assumes the duties of the position in the ambassador's absence.

• Ernest A. Gross – October 11, 1949 – 1953
• James J. Wadsworth† – February 28, 1953 – 1960
• Charles W. Yost† – February 13, 1961 – 1966
• William B. Buffum – January 1967 – 1970
• W. Tapley Bennett Jr. – 1971–1977
• James F. Leonard – 1977–1979
• William vanden Heuvel – 1979–1981
• Kenneth L. Adelman – confirmed July 29, 1981 – 1983
• José S. Sorzano – confirmed July 26, 1983 – 1985
• Herbert S. Okun – confirmed October 1, 1985 (following a recess appointment) – 1989
• Alexander F. Watson – confirmed August 4, 1989 – 1992
• Edward S. Walker Jr. – confirmed October 8, 1992 – 1993
• Skip Gnehm – April 1994 – August 1997
• Peter Burleigh – August 1997 – December 1999
• James B. Cunningham – December 12, 1999 – July 2004
• Anne W. Patterson – August 2004 – August 2005
• Alejandro Daniel Wolff – November 2005 – June 2010
• Rosemary DiCarlo – July 8, 2010 – c. November 1, 2014
• Michele J. Sison – December 7, 2014 – February 21, 2018
• Kelley Eckels Currie (acting) – February 21, 2018 – June 8, 2018
• Jonathan Cohen – June 8, 2018 – November 17, 2019
• Richard M. Mills Jr. – November 9, 2020 – June 21, 2024
• Dorothy Shea – August 16, 2024 – November 22, 2025
• Tammy Bruce – December 29, 2025 – present

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

List of deputies to the ambassador

The deputy to the ambassador to the UN 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.

• Taryn Frideres – October 2019 – February 25, 2021
• Jeffrey Prescott – February 25, 2021 – February 25, 2024
• Ned Price – February 29, 2024 – January 20, 2025

Notes

References

References

1. (20 January 2025). "President Trump Announces Cabinet and Cabinet Level Appointments".
2. Halpert, Madeline. (11 November 2024). "Who is Elise Stefanik, Trump's pick for UN ambassador?". BBC News.
3. Mangan, Dan. (2025-03-27). "Trump withdraws nomination of Rep. Elise Stefanik for U.N. ambassador".
4. (2025-05-01). "Trump Moves Waltz to the U.N. and Names Rubio His Interim National Security Adviser".
5. (September 19, 2025). "Waltz confirmed by senate".
6. Hubbard, James P.. (2011). "The United States and the End of British Colonial Rule in Africa, 1941–1968". McFarland & Company.
7. Kelemen, Michele. (December 1, 2008). "U.N. Envoy Nominee Rice Known As Smart, Tough". National Public Radio.
8. Cooper, Helene. (November 20, 2008). "Clinton Decision Holding Up Other Obama Choices". [[The New York Times]].
9. Walker, Hunter. "[https://www.yahoo.com/news/president-trump-announces-his-full-cabinet-roster-044552214.html President Trump announces his full Cabinet roster]." Yahoo News. 2017-02-07. Retrieved 2017-02-08.
10. Kirby, Jen. (November 23, 2020). "Biden announces veteran diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield as UN ambassador pick".
11. (2025-10-01). "U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz isn't part of Trump's Cabinet, sources say".
12. Baker, Peter. (2008-12-01). "Choice for U.N. Backs Action Against Mass Killings". The New York Times.
13. Chesly Manly. (January 27, 1953). "Lodge Asks FBI to Screen All U.S. Aids [sic] on U.N.". [[Chicago Tribune]].
14. "Our Leaders". [[United States Mission to the United Nations]].
15. (February 2025). "Inspection of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, New York".