List of Ambassadors of the United States to Russia
Encyclopedia
Since 1780, the United States has maintained diplomatic relations with Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. When Russia became the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

, the former Ambassador to Russia took over as Ambassador to the Soviet Union. Despite the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

, the position of ambassador
Ambassador
An ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents a nation and is usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization....

 was constantly filled. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Ambassador's title was changed back to the Ambassador to Russia.

Ambassadors to Russia (1780–1917)

Name State of Residency Appointment Presentation of Credentials Termination of Mission Notes
Francis Dana
Francis Dana
Francis Dana was an American lawyer, jurist, and statesman from Massachusetts. He served as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1777-1778 and 1784. He signed the Articles of Confederation.-Biography:...

Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

December 19, 1780 September 1783 Proceeded to post, but was not officially received at court.
William Short
William Short (American ambassador)
William Short was Thomas Jefferson's private secretary when he was ambassador in Paris, from 1786 to 1789. Jefferson, later the third President of the United States, referred to Short as his "adoptive son". Short, along with Jefferson, was a co-founder of Phi Beta Kappa at the College of William &...

Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

September 8, 1808 Commissioned during a recess of the Senate. Did not proceed to post, his nomination having been rejected by the Senate while he was en route.
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States . He served as an American diplomat, Senator, and Congressional representative. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties. Adams was the son of former...

Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

June 27, 1809 November 5, 1809 April 28, 1814 Nomination of March 6, 1809 rejected by the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

; nomination of June 26, 1809 confirmed.
James A. Bayard Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

February 28, 1815 Did not proceed to post.
William Pinkney
William Pinkney
William Pinkney was an American statesman and diplomat, and the seventh U.S. Attorney General.-Biography:Born in Annapolis, Maryland, Pinkney studied medicine and law, becoming a lawyer after his admission to the bar in 1786...

Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

March 7, 1816 January 13, 1817 February 14, 1818
George Washington Campbell Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

April 16, 1818 February 7, 1819 July 8, 1820
Henry Middleton
Henry Middleton (governor)
Henry Middleton was an American planter and political leader from Charleston, South Carolina. He was the 43rd Governor of South Carolina , represented South Carolina in the U. S...

South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

April 6, 1820 June 17, 1821 August 3, 1830
John Randolph
John Randolph of Roanoke
John Randolph , known as John Randolph of Roanoke, was a planter and a Congressman from Virginia, serving in the House of Representatives , the Senate , and also as Minister to Russia...

Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

May 26, 1830 September 19, 1830 Proceeded to post, but did not present credentials.
James Buchanan
James Buchanan
James Buchanan, Jr. was the 15th President of the United States . He is the only president from Pennsylvania, the only president who remained a lifelong bachelor and the last to be born in the 18th century....

Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

January 4, 1832 June 11, 1832 August 5, 1833
Mahlon Dickerson
Mahlon Dickerson
Mahlon Dickerson was an American judge and politician. He was elected Governor of New Jersey as well as United States Senator from that state. He was twice appointed Secretary of the Navy - under Presidents Andrew Jackson and Martin van Buren...

New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

May 28, 1834 Declined appointment.
William Wilkins Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

June 30, 1834 December 14, 1834 December 24, 1835
John Randolph Clay
John Randolph Clay
John Randolph Clay was an American diplomat.-Biography:Clay was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1808, the second child of parents Joseph and Mary Ashmead Clay and younger brother of Joseph Ashmead Clay . He also had a younger sister Ann Eliza Clay...

Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

June 29, 1836 September 2, 1836 August 5, 1837
George M. Dallas
George M. Dallas
George Mifflin Dallas was a U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania and the 11th Vice President of the United States , serving under James K. Polk.-Family and early life:...

Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

March 7, 1837 August 6, 1837 July 29, 1839
Churchill C. Cambreleng
Churchill C. Cambreleng
Churchill Caldom Cambreleng was an American politician from New York.-Life:...

New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

May 25, 1840 September 21, 1840 July 13, 1841 Commissioned not of record; letter of credence issued on May 25, 1840.
Charles S. Todd
Charles Scott Todd
Charles Stewart Todd was a United States army officer and government official.The son of Supreme Court Associate Justice Thomas Todd, he was born near Danville, Kentucky, and graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1809. He was a subaltern and judge-advocate of General James Winchester's...

Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

August 27, 1841 November 28, 1841 January 27, 1846
Ralph I. Ingersoll Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

August 8, 1846 May 30, 1847 July 1, 1848
Arthur P. Bagby
Arthur P. Bagby
Arthur Pendleton Bagby was the tenth Governor of the U.S. state of Alabama from 1837 to 1841. Born in Louisa County, Virginia in 1794, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1819, practicing in Claiborne, Alabama...

Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

June 15, 1848 January 14, 1849 May 14, 1849
Neill S. Brown
Neill S. Brown
Neill Smith Brown was Governor of Tennessee from 1847 to 1849.-Biography:Neill Brown was born in Giles County, Tennessee. He taught school in his native county to work his way through college. He was admitted to the bar in 1834, and later fought with the 1st Tennessee in the Second Seminole War...

Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

May 2, 1850 August 13, 1850 June 23, 1853
Thomas H. Seymour Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

May 24, 1853 April 2, 1854 July 17, 1858 Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on December 6, 1853.
Francis W. Pickens South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

January 11, 1858 July 18, 1858 September 9, 1860
John Appleton
John Appleton
John Appleton was born in Beverly, Massachusetts and raised in Cumberland County, Maine, USA. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1834, also studied at Cambridge Law School, and was admitted to the Cumberland County bar in 1837, commencing practice in Portland, Maine.He also did editorial work on...

Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

June 8, 1860 September 9, 1860 June 8, 1861
Cassius M. Clay
Cassius Marcellus Clay (abolitionist)
Cassius Marcellus Clay , nicknamed "The Lion of White Hall", was an emancipationist from Madison County, Kentucky, United States who served as the American minister to Russia...

Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

March 28, 1861 July 14, 1861 June 25, 1862
Simon Cameron
Simon Cameron
Simon Cameron was an American politician who served as United States Secretary of War for Abraham Lincoln at the start of the American Civil War. After making his fortune in railways and banking, he turned to a life of politics. He became a U.S. senator in 1845 for the state of Pennsylvania,...

Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

January 17, 1862 June 25, 1862 September 18, 1862
Cassius M. Clay
Cassius Marcellus Clay (abolitionist)
Cassius Marcellus Clay , nicknamed "The Lion of White Hall", was an emancipationist from Madison County, Kentucky, United States who served as the American minister to Russia...

Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

March 11, 1863 May 7, 1863 October 1, 1869
John L. Dawson Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

Not commissioned; nomination rejected by the Senate.
Henry A. Smythe New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

Not commissioned; nomination tabled by the Senate.
Andrew G. Curtin Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

April 16, 1869 October 28, 1869 July 1, 1872
James L. Orr
James Lawrence Orr
James Lawrence Orr was an American politician who served as Speaker of the United States House of Representatives in the United States Congress...

South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

December 12, 1872 March 18, 1873 May 6, 1873
Marshall Jewell
Marshall Jewell
Marshall Jewell was a U.S. political figure. He served as the 44th and 46th Governor of Connecticut between 1869 and 1870, and again from 1871 until 1873. Born in 1825 in Winchester, New Hampshire, he was first appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant as Minister to Russia from 1873 to 1874, but...

Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

May 29, 1873 December 9, 1873 July 19, 1874 Commissioned during a recess of the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

; recommissioned after confirmation on December 10, 1873.
George H. Boker Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

January 13, 1875 July 24, 1875 January 14, 1878
Edwin W. Stoughton
Edwin W. Stoughton
Edwin Wallace Stoughton was an American lawyer. Born in Springfield, Vermont, Edwin Wallace Stoughton moved to New York when he was eighteen to study law. As a lawyer he was involved in several celebrated cases, including the patent trial of tire pioneer Charles Goodyear...

New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

October 30, 1877 January 14, 1878 March 2, 1879
John W. Foster
John W. Foster
John Watson Foster was an American military man, journalist and diplomat.Born in Petersburg, Indiana, and raised in Evansville, Indiana, he was first a lawyer and then served as general for the Union in the American Civil War. Following the war he worked as a journalist, editing the Evansville...

Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...

January 26, 1880 June 11, 1880 August 1, 1881
William H. Hunt
William H. Hunt
William Henry Hunt was the United States Secretary of the Navy under President James Garfield and briefly under President Chester A. Arthur.-Biography:...

Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

April 12, 1882 August 23, 1882 February 27, 1884 Died at post.
Aaron Augustus Sargent
Aaron Augustus Sargent
Aaron Augustus Sargent was an American journalist, lawyer, politician and diplomat. He was sometimes called the "Senator for the Southern Pacific Railroad".-Biography:...

California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

Not commissioned although nomination was confirmed by the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

.
Alphonso Taft
Alphonso Taft
Alphonso Taft was the Attorney General and Secretary of War under President Ulysses S. Grant and the founder of an American political dynasty. He was the father of U.S...

Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

July 4, 1884 September 3, 1884 July 31, 1885
Alexander R. Lawton Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

Not commissioned; nomination withdrawn before the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 acted upon it.
George V. N. Lothrop
George V. N. Lothrop
George Van Ness Lothrop was a politician in the U.S. state of Michigan, serving as the seventh Michigan Attorney General from 1848 until 1851.-Biography:...

Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

May 7, 1885 July 31, 1885 August 1, 1888 Commissioned during a recess of the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

; recommissioned after confirmation on January 13, 1886.
Lambert Tree
Lambert Tree
Lambert Tree , was a circuit court judge, ambassador, and patron of the arts. Judge Lambert Tree was a Chicago Circuit Court judge who achieved fame by presiding over the indictment, trial, and conviction of corrupt City Council members. He lost the 1882 U.S. Senate race by one vote, but in 1885...

Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

September 25, 1888 January 4, 1889 February 2, 1889
C. Allen Thorndike Rice
C. Allen Thorndike Rice
Charles Allen Thorndike Rice was a journalist and the editor and publisher of the North American Review from 1876 to 1889.-Early life and family:...

New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

March 30, 1889 Took oath of office, but died in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 before proceeding to post.
Charles Emory Smith
Charles Emory Smith
Charles Emory Smith was an American journalist and political leader. He was born in Mansfield, Connecticut....

Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

February 14, 1890 May 14, 1890 April 17, 1892
Andrew D. White New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

July 22, 1892 November 7, 1892 October 1, 1894
Clifton R. Breckinridge
Clifton R. Breckinridge
Clifton Rodes Breckinridge was a Democratic alderman, congressman, diplomat, businessman and veteran of the Confederate Army and Navy. He was a member of the prominent Breckinridge family, the son of Vice President of the United States and Confederate General John C. Breckinridge and the...

Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...

July 20, 1894 November 1, 1894 December 10, 1897 Officially recognized on November 1, 1894.
Ethan A. Hitchcock
Ethan A. Hitchcock
Ethan Hitchcock may refer to:* Ethan A. Hitchcock U.S. Army general* Ethan A. Hitchcock United States Secretary of the Interior...

Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

August 16, 1897 December 16, 1897 Commissioned during a recess of the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

; recommissioned after confirmation on December 18, 1897.
Ethan A. Hitchcock
Ethan A. Hitchcock
Ethan Hitchcock may refer to:* Ethan A. Hitchcock U.S. Army general* Ethan A. Hitchcock United States Secretary of the Interior...

Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

February 11, 1898 March 21, 1898 January 28, 1899 Position upgraded to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.
Charlemagne Tower, Jr.
Charlemagne Tower, Jr.
Charlemagne Tower, Jr. was an American businessman, scholar, and diplomat.-Biography:Charlemagne Tower was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 17, 1848 to Charlemagne Tower Sr. and Amelia Malvina Tower. He was the first of seven children.He spent his childhood in Orwigsburg and...

Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

January 12, 1899 March 19, 1899 November 19, 1902
Robert S. McCormick Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

September 26, 1902 January 12, 1903 March 27, 1905 Commissioned during a recess of the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

; recommissioned after confirmation on December 8, 1902.
George v. L. Meyer
George von Lengerke Meyer
George von Lengerke Meyer was a Massachusetts businessman and politician who served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, as United States ambassador to Italy and Russia, as United States Postmaster General from 1907 to 1909 during the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt and...

Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

March 8, 1905 April 12, 1905 January 26, 1907
John W. Riddle
John W. Riddle
John Wallace Riddle was an American diplomat. His first diplomatic assignment was as agent/consul general in Egypt . He was then sent to Romania and Serbia in 1905 to serve as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary , followed by postings as U.S. ambassador to Russia and ambassador to...

Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

December 19, 1906 February 8, 1907 September 8, 1909
William Woodville Rockhill
William Woodville Rockhill
William Woodville Rockhill was a United States diplomat, best known as the author of the U.S.'s Open Door Policy for China and as the first American to learn to speak Tibetan and therefore as the father of modern U.S...

District of Columbia May 17, 1909 January 11, 1910 June 17, 1911
Curtis Guild Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

April 24, 1911 August 17, 1911 April 24, 1913
Henry M. Pindell Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

January 27, 1914 Declined appointment.
George T. Marye California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

July 9, 1914 October 30, 1914 March 29, 1916
David R. Francis
David R. Francis
David Rowland Francis was an American politician. He served in various positions including Mayor of Saint Louis, the 27th Governor of Missouri, and United States Secretary of the Interior. He was the U.S. Ambassador to Russia between 1916 and 1917, during the Russian Revolution of 1917...

Missouri
Missouri
Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

March 6, 1916 May 5, 1916 November 7, 1917 Normal relations interrupted, November 7, 1917; new Government of Russia still unrecognized by the United States when Francis left Russia on November 7, 1918. He was serving as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim when Embassy in Russia was closed September 14, 1919.

Ambassadors to the Soviet Union (1933–1991)

Name State of Residency Appointment Presentation of Credentials Termination of Mission Notes
William C. Bullitt Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

November 21, 1933 December 13, 1933 May 16, 1936 Commissioned during a recess of the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

; recommissioned after confirmation on January 15, 1934.
Joseph E. Davies
Joseph E. Davies
Joseph Edward Davies was appointed by President Wilson to be Commissioner of Corporations in 1912, and First Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission in 1915. He was the second Ambassador to represent the United States in the Soviet Union and U.S. Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg...

District of Columbia November 16, 1936 January 25, 1937 June 11, 1938 Commissioned during a recess of the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

; recommissioned after confirmation on January 23, 1937.
Laurence A. Steinhardt New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

March 23, 1939 August 11, 1939 November 12, 1941
William H. Standley California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

February 14, 1942 April 14, 1942 September 19, 1943
W. Averell Harriman
W. Averell Harriman
William Averell Harriman was an American Democratic Party politician, businessman, and diplomat. He was the son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman. He served as Secretary of Commerce under President Harry S. Truman and later as the 48th Governor of New York...

New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

October 7, 1943 October 23, 1943 January 24, 1946
Walter Bedell Smith
Walter Bedell Smith
Walter Bedell "Beetle" Smith was a senior United States Army general who served as General Dwight D. Eisenhower's chief of staff at Allied Forces Headquarters during the Tunisia Campaign and the Allied invasion of Italy...

March 22, 1946 April 3, 1946 December 25, 1948
Alan G. Kirk May 21, 1949 July 4, 1949 October 6, 1951
George F. Kennan
George F. Kennan
George Frost Kennan was an American adviser, diplomat, political scientist and historian, best known as "the father of containment" and as a key figure in the emergence of the Cold War...

Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

March 14, 1952 May 14, 1952 September 19, 1952 The Government of the Soviet Union declared Kennan persona non grata
Persona non grata
Persona non grata , literally meaning "an unwelcome person", is a legal term used in diplomacy that indicates a proscription against a person entering the country...

 on October 3, 1952, and he did not return to his post.
Charles E. Bohlen
Charles E. Bohlen
Charles Eustis “Chip” Bohlen was a United States diplomat from 1929 to 1969 and Soviet expert, serving in Moscow before and during World War II, succeeding George F. Kennan as United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union , then ambassador to the Philippines , and to France...

District of Columbia March 27, 1953 April 20, 1953 April 18, 1957
Llewellyn E. Thompson Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

June 3, 1957 July 16, 1957 July 27, 1962
Foy D. Kohler
Foy D. Kohler
Foy David Kohler was an American diplomat and career Foreign Service Officer who was Ambassador to the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis.- Early life :...

Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

August 20, 1962 September 27, 1962 November 14, 1966
Llewellyn E. Thompson Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

October 13, 1966 January 23, 1967 January 14, 1969
Jacob D. Beam
Jacob D. Beam
Jacob Dyneley Beam was an American diplomat.Beam was born in Princeton, New Jersey. His father was a German professor at Princeton University, and the younger Beam earned a bachelor's degree in 1929 from Princeton...

March 14, 1969 April 18, 1969 January 24, 1973 Adolph Dubs
Adolph Dubs
Adolph "Spike" Dubs was the United States Ambassador to Afghanistan from May 13, 1978 until his death in 1979. He was killed in an exchange of fire after a kidnapping attempt.-Career:...

 served as Chargé d'Affaires
Chargé d'affaires
In diplomacy, chargé d’affaires , often shortened to simply chargé, is the title of two classes of diplomatic agents who head a diplomatic mission, either on a temporary basis or when no more senior diplomat has been accredited.-Chargés d’affaires:Chargés d’affaires , who were...

 ad interim between January 1973 and March 1974.
Walter J. Stoessel, Jr. December 19, 1973 March 4, 1974 September 13, 1976
Malcolm Toon
Malcolm Toon
Malcolm Toon was an American diplomat. He graduated from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University in 1938, and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II. Toon was the ambassador to Czechoslovakia from 1969–1971, Yugoslavia from 1971–1975, Israel from 1975–1976, and the Soviet...

New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

November 24, 1976 January 18, 1977 October 16, 1979 Commissioned during a recess of the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

; recommissioned after confirmation on June 8, 1977.
Thomas J. Watson, Jr.
Thomas J. Watson, Jr.
Thomas John Watson, Jr. was an American businessman, political figure, and philanthropist. He was the 2nd president of IBM , the 11th national president of the Boy Scouts of America , and the 16th United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union...

Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

October 10, 1979 October 29, 1979 January 15, 1981
Arthur A. Hartman
Arthur A. Hartman
Arthur Adair Hartman is a retired American career diplomat who served as Ambassador to France under Jimmy Carter and Ambassador to the Soviet Union under Ronald Reagan.-Career:...

Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

September 28, 1981 October 26, 1981 February 20, 1987
Jack F. Matlock, Jr.
Jack F. Matlock, Jr.
Jack Foust Matlock, Jr. is a former American ambassador, career Foreign Service Officer, a teacher, an historian, and a linguist. He was a specialist in Soviet affairs during some of the most tumultuous years of the Cold War, and served as U.S...

Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

March 12, 1987 April 6, 1987 August 11, 1991
Robert S. Strauss Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

August 2, 1991 August 24, 1991 November 19, 1992 Commissioned to the USSR - continued to serve as Ambassador to Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Ambassadors to Russia (1992–present)

Name State of Residency Appointment Presentation of Credentials Termination of Mission Notes
Thomas R. Pickering
Thomas R. Pickering
Thomas Reeve "Tom" Pickering , is a retired United States ambassador. Among his many diplomatic appointments, he served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations from 1989 to 1992.-Early life:...

New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

May 12, 1993 May 21, 1993 November 1, 1996 Chargé d'Affaires
Chargé d'affaires
In diplomacy, chargé d’affaires , often shortened to simply chargé, is the title of two classes of diplomatic agents who head a diplomatic mission, either on a temporary basis or when no more senior diplomat has been accredited.-Chargés d’affaires:Chargés d’affaires , who were...

 ad interim: Richard M. Miles (November 1996-May 1997), and John F. Tefft
John F. Tefft
John F. Tefft is the United States Ambassador to Ukraine. He has been a career Foreign Service Officer for thirty-three years.Tefft is also a former United States Ambassador to Georgia and Lithuania, as well as former Chargé d'Affaires of the U.S...

 (May 1997-January 1998).
James F. Collins
James Franklin Collins
James Franklin Collins is a former United States Ambassador to Russia. A career Foreign Service Officer in the State Department, he is a Russian specialist.- Biography :...

Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

August 1, 1996 January 26, 1998
Alexander Vershbow
Alexander Vershbow
Alexander Russell "Sandy" Vershbow is an American Assistant Secretary of Defense and diplomat.Until October 2008, he was the United States Ambassador to South Korea; he was appointed to the position in October 2005. Before that post he had been the ambassador to the Russian Federation from 2001 to...

Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

2001 2005
William Joseph Burns
William Joseph Burns
William J. Burns , an American diplomat, is the current Deputy Secretary of State and the highest ranked Foreign Service Officer in the United States. He is only the second serving career diplomat in U.S. history to become Deputy Secretary...

District of Columbia August 10, 2005 2005 March 2008 In January 2008, was named Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, the State Department's #3 position.
John Beyrle
John Beyrle
John R. Beyrle , a career Foreign Service Officer and specialist in Russian and Eastern European affairs, is currently Ambassador of the United States to the Russian Federation.- Biography :...

Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

July 2, 2008 July 3, 2008 Incumbent

Nomination

On May 28, 2011, President Obama announced that he intended to nominate Michael McFaul
Michael McFaul
Michael Anthony McFaul is a Stanford University professor and the nominee for United States Ambassador to Russia. Prior to his nomination to the ambassadorial position, McFaul worked for the U.S. National Security Council as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director of Russian and...

 as the next ambassador to Russia to succeed outgoing Ambassador Beyrle
John Beyrle
John R. Beyrle , a career Foreign Service Officer and specialist in Russian and Eastern European affairs, is currently Ambassador of the United States to the Russian Federation.- Biography :...

. U.S. Presidents often announce an "intent to nominate" prior to the official nomination being sent to the Senate for confirmation.

See also

  • Embassy of Russia in Washington, D.C.
  • Russia – United States relations
  • Foreign relations of Russia
    Foreign relations of Russia
    The foreign relations of Russia is the policy of the Russian government by which it guides the interactions with other nations, their citizens and foreign organizations and sets standards of interaction for Russian organizations, corporations and individual citizens towards them...

  • Ambassadors of the United States

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK