United States Ambassador to Romania

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Nicholas F. Taubman, Current U.S. Ambassador to Romania
Nicholas F. Taubman, Current U.S. Ambassador to Romania

A United States diplomatic representative to Romania has existed since 1880. The United States formally recognized Romania in 1878, following the Treaty of Berlin; diplomatic relations were opened in 1880, and American diplomats were sent to the country. Until the early 20th century, most ambassadors to Romania were also responsible for Greece, Serbia, and occasionally Bulgaria. No US Embassy was established in Romania for some time, ambassadors typically operated out of Athens until about 1905, at which point an embassy was established in Bucharest.

The main US embassy in Romania remains in Bucharest and is located at Strada Tudor Arghezi 7-9. For several years during World War II, following the death of Ambassador Franklin Mott Gunther there was no American ambassador to Romania. The latter country became an Axis country, and declared war on the Allies (see Romania during World War II). Preceded by American representation in the Allied Commission after 1945, the diplomatic mission was reopened in 1947. In 1994, the US embassy was expanded, and a branch office was opened in Cluj-Napoca. The Current US Ambassador to Romania is Nicholas F. Taubman.

[edit] Ambassadors

Diplomatic Terms

Career FSO: After 1915, The United States Department of State began classifying ambassadors as career Foreign Service Officers (FSO) for those who have served in the Foreign Service for a specified amount of time.

Political appointee: A person who is not a career foreign service officer, but is appointed by the president; often to reward political friends.

Appointed: The date that the ambassador took the oath of office—also called “commissioning.” This follows confirmation of a presidential appointment by the Senate, or a congressional-recess appointment by the president. In the case of a recess appointment, the ambassador must be later confirmed by the Senate.

Presented Credentials: The date that the ambassador presented his letter of credence to the head of state or appropriate authority of the receiving nation. At this time the ambassador officially becomes the representative of his country. This would normally occur a short time after the ambassador’s arrival on station. The host nation may reject the ambassador by not receiving the ambassador’s letter, but this occurs only rarely.

Terminated mission: Usually the date that the ambassador left the country. In some cases a letter of recall is presented, ending the ambassador’s commission, either as a means of diplomatic protest or because the diplomat is being reassigned elsewhere and replaced by another envoy.

Chargé d’affaires: The person in charge of the business of the embassy when there is no ambassador commissioned to the host country. See chargé d’affaires.

ad interim: For the time being; in the meantime. See ad interim.

  • Eugene Schuyler
    • Title: Diplomatic Agent/Consul General[1]
    • Appointed: June 11, 1880
    • Presented credentials: December 14, 1880[2]
    • Terminated mission: Presented recall, September 7, 1884
  • Walker Fearn
    • Title: Minister Resident/Consul General
    • Appointed: April 18, 1885[3]
    • Presented credentials: October 20, 1885
    • Terminated mission: Relinquished charge at Athens Oct 24, 1899
  • A. Loudon Snowdon
    • Title: Minister Resident/Consul General[4]
    • Appointed: July 1, 1889[5]
    • Presented credentials: November 25th, 1889
    • Terminated mission: Left Sinaia, Aug 18-25, 1892
  • Truxtun Beale
    • Title: Minister Resident/Consul General[6]
    • Appointed: Jul 22, 1892
    • Presented credentials: Served at Athens, but did not present credentials in Romania under any of his commissions, all of which were to Romania, Serbia, and Greece.
    • Terminated mission: 1893
  • Eben Alexander
    • Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary/Consul General
    • Appointed: April 7, 1893[7]
    • Presented credentials: June 15, 1894
    • Terminated mission: Relinquished charge at Athens, Aug 1, 1897
  • William Woodville Rockhill
    • Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary/Consul General[8]
    • Appointed: July 8, 1897[7]
    • Presented credentials: May 18, 1898
    • Terminated mission: Left Athens, Apr 27, 1899
  • Arthur S. Hardy
    • Title: Envoy Extraordinary/Minister Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: April 18 1899[9]
    • Presented credentials: July 14th, 1900
    • Terminated mission: Presented recall Mar 13, 1901
  • Charles S. Francis
    • Title: Envoy Extraordinary/Minister Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: December 20, 1900[7]
    • Presented credentials: October 16, 1901
    • Terminated mission: Relinquished charge at Athens, Dec 24, 1902
  • Henry L. Wilson
    • Title: Envoy Extraordinary/Minister Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: October 13, 1902, Declined appointment.[10]
  • John B. Jackson
    • Title: Envoy Extraordinary/Minister Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: October 13, 1902[11]
    • Presented credentials: April 7, 1903
    • Terminated mission: Presented recall Jul 25, 1905
  • John W. Riddle
    • Title: Envoy Extraordinary/Minister Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: March 8, 1905[12]
    • Presented credentials: October 3, 1905
    • Terminated mission: Left post Jan 23, 1907
  • Horace G. Knowles
    • Title: Envoy Extraordinary/Minister Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: January 16, 1907[13]
    • Presented credentials: May 7, 1907
    • Terminated mission: Left post Feb 4, 1909
  • Huntington Wilson
    • Title: Envoy Extraordinary/Minister Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: December 17, 1908 Took oath of office, but did not proceed to post [14]
  • Spencer F. Eddy
    • Title: Envoy Extraordinary/Minister Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: January 11, 1909[15]
    • Presented credentials: July 9, 1909
    • Terminated mission: Left post Sep 29, 1909
  • John R. Carter
    • Title: Envoy Extraordinary/Minister Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: September 25, 1909[16]
    • Presented credentials: November 14, 1909
    • Terminated mission: Left post October 24, 1911.
  • John B. Jackson
    • Title: Envoy Extraordinary/Minister Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: August 12, 1911[17]
    • Presented credentials: December 24, 1911
    • Terminated mission: Presented recall Oct 28, 1913
  • Charles J. Vopicka - Political Appointee
    • Title: Envoy Extraordinary/Minister Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: September 11, 1913[17]
    • Presented credentials: November 27, 1913
    • Terminated mission: Left post Jul 10, 1920
  • Peter Augustus Jay - Career FSO
    • Title: Envoy Extraordinary/Minister Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: April 18, 1921
    • Presented credentials: June 30, 1921
    • Terminated mission: Left post May 9, 1925
  • William S. Culbertson - Political Appointee
    • Title: Envoy Extraordinary/Minister Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: April 28, 1925[18]
    • Presented credentials: December 12, 1925
    • Terminated mission: Left post Apr 15, 1928
  • Charles S. Wilson - Career FSO
    • Title: Envoy Extraordinary/Minister Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: June 23, 1928[19]
    • Presented credentials: October 13, 1928
    • Terminated mission: Left post Aug 2, 1933
  • Alvin Mansfield Owlsey - Political Appointee
    • Title: Envoy Extraordinary/Minister Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: June 13, 1933
    • Presented credentials: September 15, 1933
    • Terminated mission: Left post Jun 16, 1935
  • Leland Harrison - Career FSO
    • Title: Envoy Extraordinary/Minister Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: May 15, 1935
    • Presented credentials: July 24, 1935
    • Terminated mission: Left post Sep 3, 1937
  • Franklin Mott Gunther - Career FSO
    • Title: Envoy Extraordinary/Minister Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: July 31, 1937
    • Presented credentials: October 23, 1937
    • Terminated mission: Romania declared war on U.S., Dec 12, 1941, Gunther died at Bucharest, Dec 22, 1941.
  • Rudolf E. Schoenfeld - Career FSO
    • Title: Envoy Extraordinary/Minister Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: July 28, 1947
    • Presented credentials: September 25, 1947
    • Terminated mission: Presented new credentials on Mar 11, 1948, when Romania became a republic; left post May 24, 1950.
  • James W. Gantenbein - Career FSO
    • Title: Chargé d'Affaires ad interim
    • Presented credentials: September 1950
    • Terminated mission: November 1952
  • Harold Shantz - Career FSO
    • Title: Envoy Extraordinary/Minister Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: September 27, 1952 [20]
    • Presented credentials: November 20, 1952
    • Terminated mission: Left post Aug 30, 1955
  • Robert H. Thayer - Political Appointee
    • Title: Envoy Extraordinary/Minister Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: August 17, 1955 [21]
    • Presented credentials: November 10, 1955
    • Terminated mission: Left post Dec 12, 1957
  • Clifton R. Wharton - Career FSO
    • Title: Envoy Extraordinary/Minister Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: February 5, 1958
    • Presented credentials: March 7, 1958
    • Terminated mission: Left post Oct 21, 1960
  • William A. Crawford - Career FSO
    • Title: Envoy Extraordinary/Minister Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: November 28, 1961 [22]
    • Presented credentials: December 24, 1964
    • Terminated mission: Left post Oct 10, 1965
  • Richard H. Davis - Career FSO
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: September 24, 1965[23]
    • Presented credentials: December 16, 1965
    • Terminated mission: Left post Aug 6, 1969
  • Leonard C. Meeker - Political Appointee
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: July 22, 1969[23]
    • Presented credentials: September 16, 1969
    • Terminated mission: Left post May 10, 1973
  • Harry G. Barnes, Jr. - Career FSO
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: December 19, 1973[23]
    • Presented credentials: March 14, 1974
    • Terminated mission: Left post Nov 10, 1977
  • O. Rudolph Aggrey - Career FSO
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: October 21, 1977[23]
    • Presented credentials: November 22, 1977
    • Terminated mission: Left post Jul 11, 1981
  • David B. Funderburk - Political Appointee
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: October 2, 1981[23]
    • Presented credentials: October 13, 1981
    • Terminated mission: Left post May 13, 1985
  • Roger Kirk - Career FSO
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: November 15, 1985[23]
    • Presented credentials: November 29, 1985
    • Terminated mission: Left post Jul 5, 1989
  • Alan Green, Jr. - Political Appointee
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: October 10, 1989[23]
    • Presented credentials: December 7, 1989
    • Terminated mission: Left post Jan 11, 1992
  • John R. Davis, Jr. - Career FSO
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: December 2, 1991
    • Presented credentials: March 11, 1992
    • Terminated mission: Left post Aug 9, 1994
  • Alfred H. Moses - Political Appointee
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: September 29, 1994
    • Presented credentials: December 14, 1994
    • Terminated mission: Left post Aug 11, 1997
  • James Carew Rosapepe - Political Appointee
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: November 10, 1997
    • Presented credentials: February 4, 1998
    • Terminated mission: Left post Mar 1, 2001
  • Michael E. Guest - Career FSO
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: August 3, 2001
    • Presented credentials: September 24, 2001
    • Terminated mission: Jul 8, 2004
  • Jack Dyer Crouch II - Political Appointee
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: May 25, 2004
    • Presented credentials: July 16, 2004
    • Terminated mission: February 28, 2005
  • Nicholas F. Taubman - Political Appointee
    • Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
    • Appointed: November 2, 2005
    • Presented credentials: December 5, 2005
    • Terminated mission: Incumbent

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Later promoted to Chargé d'Affaires/Consul General, eventually as Minister Resident/Consul General at which point he was also accredited to Greece and Serbia and transferred residence to Athens.
  2. ^ Credentials delivered in a private audience, Dec 14, 1880; not formally received although the Romanian Foreign Ministry had indicated on Aug 13, 1880 a willingness to enter provisionally into relations with the U.S. Legation.
  3. ^ Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Jan 13, 1886. Also accredited to Greece and Serbia; resident at Athens.
  4. ^ Promoted to Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
  5. ^ Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on December 19, 1889. Also accredited to Greece and Serbia; resident at Athens.
  6. ^ Promoted to Minister Resident/Consul General and later Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary/Consul General
  7. ^ a b c Also accredited to Greece and Serbia; resident at Athens.
  8. ^ Later recommissioned as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
  9. ^ Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on December 14th, 1899. Also accredited to Greece and Serbia; resident at Athens.
  10. ^ Commissioned during a recess of the Senate, also accredited to Greece and Serbia
  11. ^ Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Dec 8, 1902. Also accredited to Greece and Serbia; resident at Athens. Later recommissioned as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Greece, Romania, and Serbia and Diplomatic Agent to Bulgaria; resident at Athens. Recommissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Nov 16, 1903.
  12. ^ Commissioned to Romania and Serbia; resident at Bucharest
  13. ^ Commissioned to Romania and Serbia; resident at Bucharest. Later Recommissioned as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Romania and Serbia and Diplomatic Agent in Bulgaria during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Dec 12, 1907.
  14. ^ Commissioned as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Romania and Serbia and Diplomatic Agent in Bulgaria
  15. ^ Commissioned as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Romania and Serbia and Diplomatic Agent in Bulgaria; resident at Bucharest.
  16. ^ Commissioned during a recess of the Senate as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Romania and Serbia and Diplomatic Agent in Bulgaria; resident at Bucharest; recommissioned on Dec 13, 1909, after confirmation. Later recommissioned as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria
  17. ^ a b Commissioned as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria; resident at Bucharest.
  18. ^ Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Dec 17, 1925.
  19. ^ Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Jan 23, 1929.
  20. ^ Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on June 4, 1953.
  21. ^ Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on January 25, 1956.
  22. ^ Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Jan 30, 1962. Later promoted to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Jan 18, 1965. John P. Shaw was serving as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim when the Legation in Bucharest was raised to Embassy status on Jun 1, 1964.
  23. ^ a b c d e f g Commissioned to the Socialist Republic of Romania.

[edit] Sources