United States Ambassador to the United Nations

Ambassador of the United States to the United Nations

Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent
Samantha Power
since August 2, 2013
Nominator Barack Obama
Inaugural holder Edward Stettinius, Jr.
as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Formation 1945
Website U.S. Mission - UN

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 more 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 Security Council of the United Nations"; it is also known as the U.S. Permanent Representative, or "Perm Rep", to the United Nations.

The U.S. Permanent Representative, currently Samantha Power, is charged with representing the United States on the U.N. Security Council and during almost all plenary meetings of the General Assembly, except in the rare situation in which a more senior officer of the United States (such as the U.S. Secretary of State or the President of the United States) is present. Like all United States ambassadors, he or she must be nominated by the U.S. President and confirmed by the Senate.

Many prominent U.S. politicians and diplomats have held the post, including Adlai Stevenson II, George H. W. Bush and Madeleine Albright.

Cabinet status

The Ambassador to the United Nations is not a member of the United States Cabinet, but the position is frequently accorded cabinet-level rank. It held this status through the Ford, Carter, and Reagan administrations 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),[1][2] but was once again elevated under the Obama administration. Former UN Ambassador 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".

Office holders

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

# Image US Ambassador to UN Years served U.N. Secretary-General U.S. President
1 Edward Stettinius, Jr. 1945–1946 Gladwyn Jebb (acting) Harry S. Truman
1946 Trygve Lie
— Herschel V. Johnson
(acting)		 1946–1947
2 Warren Austin 1947–1952
1953 Dag Hammarskjöld
3 Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. January 12, 1953 – September 2, 1960 Dwight D. Eisenhower
4 James Jeremiah Wadsworth 1960–1961
5 Adlai Stevenson 1961 John F. Kennedy
1961–1963 U Thant
1963–1965 Lyndon B. Johnson
6 Arthur Goldberg 1965–1968
7 George W. Ball June 26, 1968 – September 25, 1968
8 James Russell Wiggins 1968–1969
9 Charles Woodruff Yost 1969–1971 Richard Nixon
10 George H. W. Bush March 1, 1971 – January 1, 1972
January 1, 1972 – January 18, 1973 Kurt Waldheim
11 John A. Scali 1973–1974
1974–1975 Gerald Ford
12 Daniel Patrick Moynihan 1975–1976
13 William Scranton March 15, 1976 – January 19, 1977
14 Andrew Young 1977–1979 Jimmy Carter
15 Donald McHenry 1979–1981
16 Jeane Kirkpatrick 1981 Ronald Reagan
1982-1985 Javier Pérez de Cuéllar
17 Vernon A. Walters 1985–1989
18 Thomas R. Pickering 1989–1991 George H. W. Bush
1992 Boutros Boutros-Ghali
19 Edward J. Perkins 1992–1993
20 Madeleine Albright January 27, 1993 – January 1, 1997 Bill Clinton
January 1 - January 21, 1997 Kofi Annan
21 Bill Richardson February 13, 1997 – August 18, 1998
— Peter Burleigh
(acting)		 August 18, 1998 – August 25, 1999
22 Richard Holbrooke August 25, 1999 – January 20, 2001
— James B. Cunningham
(acting)		 January 20, 2001 - September 15, 2001 George W. Bush
23 John Negroponte September 15, 2001 – July 1, 2004
24 John Danforth July 1, 2004 – January 20, 2005
— Anne W. Patterson
(acting)		 January 20 - August 1, 2005
25 John R. Bolton
Recess Appointment
Never Confirmed by the U.S. Senate		 August 1, 2005 – December 9, 2006
— Alejandro Daniel Wolff
(acting)		 December 9, 2006 - January 1, 2007
January 1, 2007 - April 17, 2007 Ban Ki-moon
26 Zalmay Khalilzad April 17, 2007 – January 22, 2009
27 Susan Rice January 22, 2009 – July 1, 2013 Barack Obama
— Rosemary DiCarlo
(acting)		 July 1 - August 1, 2013
28 Samantha Power August 2, 2013 – present

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Kelemen, Michele (December 1, 2008). "U.N. Envoy Nominee Rice Known As Smart, Tough". National Public Radio. Retrieved January 21, 2009. The head of the United Nations Foundation, a Washington-based advocacy group, released a statement praising Rice as well as Obama's decision to make the post of U.N. ambassador a Cabinet-level position once again—as it was during the Clinton years.
  2. ↑ Cooper, Helene (November 20, 2008). "Clinton Decision Holding Up Other Obama Choices". New York Times. Retrieved February 9, 2009. Ms. Rice could get the post of United States ambassador to the United Nations, a cabinet-level position under President Clinton. President Bush downgraded the position when he came into office

External links