Ambassadors are the highest-ranking diplomats of the U.S. and are usually based at the embassy in the host country. They are under the jurisdiction of the Department of State and answer directly to the secretary of state; however, ambassadors serve "at the pleasure of the President", meaning they can be dismissed at any time. Appointments change regularly for various reasons, such as reassignment or retirement.
An ambassador may be a career Foreign Service officer (career diplomat–CD) or a political appointee (PA). In most cases, career foreign service officers serve a tour of approximately three years per ambassadorship, whereas political appointees customarily tender their resignations upon the inauguration of a new president. From 1974 to 2025, between 57% and 74% of ambassadors were career diplomats.
Note that the information in this list is subject to change due to regular personnel changes resulting from retirements and reassignments. The State Department posts updated lists of ambassadors approximately monthly, accessible via an interactive menu-based website.
The embassy was closed on February 6, 2014. Poland became the protecting power until its embassy closed on July 27, 2014, at which point the Czech Republic took responsibility.
Chief Innovation and Intellectual Property Negotiator, Office of the United States Trade Representative
Vacant since February 24, 2016
(N/A)
Other chiefs of mission
Senior diplomatic representatives of the United States hosted in posts other than embassies. Unlike other consulates, these persons report directly to the Secretary of State.[citation needed]
These diplomatic officials report directly to the Secretary of State. Many oversee a portfolio not restricted to one nation, often an overall goal, and are not usually subject to Senate confirmation. Unlike the State Department offices and diplomats listed in other sections of this article, the offices and special envoys, representatives or coordinators listed in this section are created and staffed by direction of top federal executive administrators–primarily U.S. Presidents and Secretaries of State–whose political or organizational management philosophies may not be shared by their successors. As such, many of these positions may go unfilled upon assumption of office by successor presidential administrations, with their offices sometimes merged with or subsumed into other offices, or abolished altogether.
Nations without exchange of ambassadors
Bhutan: According to the U.S. State Department, "The United States and the Kingdom of Bhutan have not established formal diplomatic relations; however, the two governments have informal and cordial relations." Informal contact with the nation of Bhutan is maintained through the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi.
Iran: On April 7, 1980, the United States broke diplomatic relations with Iran after the 1979 Iranian revolution. On April 24, 1981, the Swiss government assumed representation of U.S. interests in Tehran, and Algeria assumed representation of Iranian interests in the United States. Currently, Iranian interests in the United States are represented by the government of Pakistan. The U.S. Department of State named Iran a "State Sponsor of Terrorism" on January 19, 1984.
North Korea: The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is not on friendly terms with the United States, and while talks between the two countries are ongoing, there is no exchange of ambassadors. Sweden functions as Protective Power for the United States in Pyongyang and performs limited consular responsibilities for U.S. citizens in North Korea.
Taiwan: With the normalization of relations with the People's Republic of China in 1979, the United States has not maintained official diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Relations between Taiwan and the United States are maintained through an unofficial instrumentality, the American Institute in Taiwan, functions as a de facto embassy, performing most consular functions and staffed by Foreign Service officers.
Notable past ambassadors
Many well-known individuals have served the United States as ambassadors, or in formerly analogous positions such as envoy, including several who also became President of the United States (indicated in boldface below). Some notable ambassadors have included:
↑The U.S. Embassy in Kabul transferred operations to Doha, Qatar, on August 31, 2021, following the fall of Kabul to the Taliban. Since December 31, 2021, the U.S. Interests Section at the Embassy of Qatar in Kabul has served as the protecting power for the U.S. in Afghanistan.
12One ambassador, resident at Madrid, is accredited to Andorra and Spain.
12One ambassador, resident at Luanda, is accredited to Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe.
1234567One ambassador, resident at Bridgetown, is accredited to Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
↑In 1989 the military government of Burma changed the name of the nation to Myanmar, but the United States government and other Western governments still refer to the country as Burma in official usage.
12One ambassador, resident at Antananarivo, is accredited to Madagascar and Comoros.
12345One ambassador, resident at Suva, is accredited to Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Tonga, and Tuvalu.
12One ambassador, resident at Paris, is accredited to France and Monaco.
12One ambassador, resident at Dakar, is accredited to Guinea-Bissau and Senegal.
12One ambassador, resident at Rome, is accredited to Italy and San Marino.
↑The U.S. Embassy in Tripoli suspended operations in 2014. Diplomatic personnel operate from the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia.
12One ambassador, resident at Bern, is accredited to Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
↑One ambassador, resident at Port Louis, is accredited to Mauritius and Seychelles.
12One ambassador, resident at Wellington, is accredited to New Zealand and Samoa.
↑American citizens who travel to North Korea do so at their own risk and in some cases in violation of U.S. and/or UN sanctions.
123One ambassador, resident at Port Moresby, is accredited to Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu.
↑The U.S. Embassy in Khartoum suspended operations in April 2023. The Ambassador operates from the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
↑The ambassador to the U.K. is known as the "Ambassador to the Court of St. James's".
↑The U.S. Embassy in Sanaa suspended operations in 2015. The Ambassador operates from the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
↑Full title is Ambassador-at-Large, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Senior Bureau Official for Global Health Security and Diplomacy
↑Kanowitz, Stephanie (October 31, 2017). "SIDEBAR: Who's In and Who's Out". washdiplomat.com. Archived from the original on November 1, 2017. Retrieved January 1, 2019.
↑Goshko, John M.; Walsh, Edward (April 8, 1980). "U.S. Breaks Diplomatic Ties With Iran: Carter Breaks Ties, Orders Ouster of Iranian Diplomats". The Washington Post. p.A1. ProQuest147221464.
↑"Former No. 2 Iran Diplomat To Be Allowed Back in U.S.". The Washington Post. April 25, 1980. p.A27. ProQuest147210403.
