List of ambassadors of the United States to Iceland

Until 1874, Iceland was a dependency of Denmark rather than an independent nation. In 1874, Denmark granted Iceland home rule, which again was expanded in 1904. In 1918, The Act of Union, an agreement between Denmark, recognized Iceland as a fully sovereign state united with Denmark under a common king. Iceland established its own flag and asked that Denmark represent its foreign affairs and defense interests; thus, the United States ambassador to Denmark conducted foreign relations between the United States and Iceland.

Ambassador of the United States to Iceland
Seal of the United States Department of State
United States ambassador flag
Incumbent
Carrin Patman
since October 6, 2022
NominatorThe President of the United States
AppointerThe President
with Senate advice and consent
Inaugural holder
FormationAugust 8, 1941 (1941-08-08)
Websiteis.usembassy.gov

The German invasion and occupation of Denmark on April 9, 1940, severed communications between Iceland and Denmark. As a result, on April 10, the Parliament of Iceland elected to take control of their own foreign affairs. The United States thus commissioned Lincoln MacVeagh as its first ambassador to Iceland on August 8, 1941. MacVeagh presented his credentials to the foreign minister of Iceland on September 30, 1941. His title was Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary. The US has maintained continuous diplomatic relations with Iceland since then.

Following a plebiscite, Iceland formally became an independent republic on June 17, 1944.

The current ambassador is Carrin Patman, who presented her credentials to President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson on October 6, 2022.[1]

List of ambassadors
# Name Title Appointment Presentation of credentials Termination of mission Nature of appointment Nature of termination
1 Lincoln MacVeagh Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary 1941-08-08 1941-09-30 1942-06-27 Political appointee Left post
2 Leland Burnette Morris 1942-08-13 1942-10-07 1944-05-10 Career FSO Relinquished charge
3 Louis Goethe Dreyfus, Jr. 1944-03-21 1944-06-14 1946-10-21 Left post
4 Richard P. Butrick 1948-02-26 1948-04-29 1949-08-10
5 Edward B. Lawson 1949-07-22 1949-09-22 1954-05-29
6 John Joseph Muccio 1954-08-23 1954-10-12 1955-10-19 Mission title changed
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary 1955-10-19 1955-11-03 1959-12-16 Left post
7 Tyler Thompson 1960-01-27 1960-02-19 1961-04-16
8 James K. Penfield 1961-04-27 1961-05-24 1967-03-16
9 Karl Fritjof Rolvaag 1967-04-05 1967-05-09 1969-03-27 Political appointee
10 Luther I. Replogle 1969-07-08 1969-09-12 1972-06-15
11 Frederick Irving 1972-09-11 1972-10-11 1976-04-21 Career FSO
12 James J. Blake 1976-07-01 1976-09-08 1978-09-29
13 Richard A. Ericson, Jr. 1978-10-12 1978-11-21 1981-08-15
14 Marshall Brement 1981-07-27 1981-09-16 1985-08-01
15 L. Nicholas Ruwe 1985-07-12 1985-08-21 1989-10-07 Political appointee
16 Charles Elvan Cobb, Jr. 1989-10-10 1989-11-08 1992-01-10
17 Sigmund Rogich 1992-05-11 1992-06-04 1993-10-14
18 Parker W. Borg 1993-10-08 1993-11-24 1996-07-13 Career FSO
19 Day O. Mount 1996-06-11 1996-09-03 1999-08-12
20 Barbara J. Griffiths 1999-08-09 1999-09-29 2002-07-29
21 James Irvin Gadsden 2002-10-03 2002-12-09 2005-07-14
22 Carol van Voorst 2006-01-03 2006-01-26 2009-04-30
23 Luis E. Arreaga 2010-09-10 2010-09-20 2013-11-23
24 Robert C. Barber 2015-01-02 2015-01-28 2017-01-20 Political appointee
25 Jeffrey Ross Gunter 2019-05-23 2019-07-02 2021-01-20
26 Carrin Patman 2022-08-07 2022-10-06 Incumbent

U.S. diplomatic terms

Career FSO
After 1915, The United States Department of State began classifying ambassadors as career Foreign Service Officers (FSOs) 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 as a reward to political friends).

Appointed
The date that the ambassador took the oath of office; also known as "commissioning". It 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 requires subsequent confirmation by the Senate to remain in office.

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.

Ad interim
Latin phrase meaning "for the time being", "in the meantime".

See also

References
  1. Jóhannesson, Guðni Thorlacius [@PresidentISL] (2022-10-06). "Today H.E. Carrin Patman presented her credentials as the new US Ambassador to Iceland" (Tweet). Retrieved 2022-10-15 – via Twitter.

Further reading
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