Office of the Historian

Principal Officers and Chiefs of Mission, by Year: 1939

Note: Career Foreign Service appointees are asterisked.

  • *Norman Armour (1887–1982)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Haiti (1932–1933)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Haiti (1933–1935)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Canada (1935–1938)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Chile (1938–1939)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Argentina (1939–1944)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Spain (1944–1945)
    • Assistant Secretary of State for Political Affairs (1947–1948)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Venezuela (1950–1951)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Guatemala (1954–1955)
  • *Ray Atherton (1883–1960)
    • Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, Greece (1924)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Bulgaria (1937–1939)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Denmark (1939–1940)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Canada (1943)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Canada (1943–1948)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Luxembourg (1943)
  • Adolf Augustus Berle Jr. (1895–1971)
    • Assistant Secretary of State (1938–1944)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Brazil (1945–1946)
  • Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Jr. (1896–1961)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Norway (1935–1937)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Poland (1937–1943)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Czechoslovakia (1941–1943)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Greece (1941–1942)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Netherlands (1941–1942)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Norway (1941–1942)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Yugoslavia (1941–1942)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Belgium (1941–1943)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Greece (1942–1943)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Netherlands (1942–1943)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Norway (1942–1943)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Yugoslavia (1942–1943)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Czechoslovakia (1943)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Luxembourg (1943)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Spain (1961)
  • *Maxwell Blake (1877–1959)
    • Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, Morocco (1917)
    • Agent/Consul General, Morocco (1917–1922)
    • Diplomatic Agent/Consul General, Morocco (1925–1940)
  • Claude Gernade Bowers (1878–1958)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Spain (1933–1939)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Chile (1939–1953)
  • Spruille Braden (1894–1978)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Colombia (1935)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Colombia (1939–1942)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Cuba (1941–1945)
    • Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs (1945–1947)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Argentina (1945)
  • William Christian Bullitt (1891–1967)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Russia (1933–1936)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, France (1936–1940)
  • *Jefferson Caffery (1886–1974)
    • Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, Greece (1923)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, El Salvador (1926–1928)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Colombia (1928–1933)
    • Assistant Secretary of State (1933)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Cuba (1934–1937)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Brazil (1937–1944)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, France (1944–1949)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Egypt (1949–1955)
  • Robert Granville Caldwell (1882–1976)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Portugal (1933–1937)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Bolivia (1937–1939)
  • Wilbur John Carr (1870–1942)
    • Assistant Secretary of State (1924–1933)
    • Assistant Secretary of State (1933–1937)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Czechoslovakia (1937–1939)
  • Francis Patrick Corrigan (1881–1968)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, El Salvador (1934–1937)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Panama (1937–1939)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Venezuela (1939–1947)
  • John Clarence Cudahy (1887–1943)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Poland (1933–1937)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Ireland (1937–1940)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Luxembourg (1940)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Belgium (1940)
  • Josephus Daniels Jr. (1862–1948)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Mexico (1933–1941)
  • Joseph Edward Davies (1876–1958)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Russia (1936–1938)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Luxembourg (1938–1939)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Belgium (1938–1939)
  • *William Dawson Jr. (1885–1972)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Ecuador (1930–1935)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Colombia (1934–1937)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Uruguay (1937–1939)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Uruguay (1937)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Panama (1939–1941)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Uruguay (1941–1946)
    • Permanent Representative of the U.S.A. to the Organization of American States (Washington) (1948)
  • Fay Allen Des Portes (1890–1944)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Bolivia (1933–1936)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Guatemala (1936–1943)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Costa Rica (1943–1944)
  • *Louis Goethe Dreyfus Jr. (1889–1973)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Iran (1939–1943)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Afghanistan (1940–1942)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Iceland (1944–1946)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Sweden (1946–1947)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Afghanistan (1949–1951)
  • John Draper Erwin (1883–1983)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Honduras (1937–1943)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Honduras (1943–1947)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Honduras (1951–1954)
  • Bert Fish (1875–1943)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Egypt (1933–1941)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Saudi Arabia (1939–1941)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Portugal (1941–1943)
  • *Robert Frazer (1878–1947)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, El Salvador (1937–1942)
  • Antonio Cornelius Gonzalez (1888–1965)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Panama (1933–1935)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Ecuador (1934–1938)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Venezuela (1938–1939)
  • *George Anderson Gordon (1885–1959)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Haiti (1935–1937)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Netherlands (1937–1940)
  • Henry Francis Grady (1882–1957)
    • Assistant Secretary of State (1939–1941)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, India (1947–1948)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Greece (1948–1950)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Nepal (1948)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Iran (1950–1951)
  • Hugh Gladney Grant (1888–1972)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Albania (1935–1939)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Thailand (1940–1941)
  • *Joseph Clark Grew (1880–1965)
    • Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, Austria (1917)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Denmark (1920–1921)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Switzerland (1921–1924)
    • Under Secretary of State (1924–1927)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Turkey (1927–1932)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Japan (1932–1941)
    • Under Secretary of State (1944–1945)
    • Secretary of State ad interim (1945)
  • *Franklin Mott Gunther (1885–1941)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Egypt (1928–1930)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Ecuador (1930)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Romania (1937–1941)
  • Green Haywood Hackworth (1883–1973)
    • Legal Adviser (1931–1946)
  • Florence Jaffray Hurst Harriman (1870–1967)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Norway (1937–1940)
  • *Leland Harrison (1883–1951)
    • Assistant Secretary of State (1922–1924)
    • Assistant Secretary of State (1924–1927)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Sweden (1927–1929)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Uruguay (1929–1930)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Romania (1935–1937)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Switzerland (1937–1947)
  • William Harrison Hornibrook (1884–1946)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Thailand (1915–1916)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Iran (1933–1936)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Afghanistan (1935–1936)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Costa Rica (1937–1941)
  • Findley Burtch Howard (1885–)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Paraguay (1935–1941)
  • Cordell Hull (1871–1955)
    • Secretary of State (1933–1944)
  • *Douglas Jenkins (1880–1961)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Bolivia (1939–1941)
  • *Nelson Trusler Johnson (1887–1954)
    • Assistant Secretary of State (1927–1929)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, China (1929–1935)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, China (1935–1941)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Australia (1941–1945)
  • *Leo John Keena (1878–1967)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Honduras (1935–1937)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, South Africa (1937–1942)
  • Joseph Patrick Kennedy (1888–1969)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, United Kingdom (1938–1940)
  • *Paul Knabenshue (1883–1942)
    • Minister Resident/Consul General, Iraq (1932–1933)
    • Minister Resident/Consul General, Iraq (1933–1942)
  • *Arthur Bliss Lane (1894–1956)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Nicaragua (1933–1936)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Estonia (1936–1937)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Latvia (1936–1937)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Lithuania (1936–1937)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Yugoslavia (1937–1941)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Costa Rica (1941–1942)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Colombia (1942–1944)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Poland (1944–1947)
  • Boaz Walton Long (1876–1962)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, El Salvador (1914–1917)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Cuba (1919–1921)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Nicaragua (1936–1938)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Ecuador (1938–1942)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Ecuador (1942–1943)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Guatemala (1943–1945)
  • *John Van Antwerp MacMurray (1881–1960)
    • Assistant Secretary of State (1924–1925)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, China (1925–1929)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Estonia (1933–1936)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Latvia (1933–1936)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Lithuania (1933–1936)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Turkey (1936–1941)
  • Lincoln MacVeagh (1890–1972)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Greece (1933–1941)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Iceland (1941–1942)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, South Africa (1942–1943)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Greece (1943–1947)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Yugoslavia (1943–1944)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Portugal (1948–1952)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Spain (1952–1953)
  • *Harrison Freeman Matthews (1899–1986)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Sweden (1947–1950)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Sweden (1947)
    • Secretary of State ad interim (1953)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Netherlands (1953–1957)
    • Career Ambassador (1956)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Austria (1957–1962)
    • Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, Spain ()
  • *Ferdinand Lathrop Mayer (1887–1986)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Haiti (1937–1940)
  • *George Strausser Messersmith (1883–1960)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Uruguay (1934)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Austria (1934–1937)
    • Assistant Secretary of State (1937–1940)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Cuba (1940–1942)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Mexico (1941–1946)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Argentina (1946–1947)
  • John Flournoy Montgomery (1878–1954)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Hungary (1933–1941)
  • Robert Walton Moore (1859–1941)
    • Assistant Secretary of State (1933–1937)
    • Counselor (1937–1941)
  • *Edwin Lowe Neville (1884–1944)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Thailand (1937–1940)
  • Meredith Nicholson (1866–1947)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Paraguay (1933–1935)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Venezuela (1935–1938)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Nicaragua (1938–1941)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Portugal (Not commissioned; nomination withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.)
  • Owen Joseph Christoffer Norem (1902–)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Lithuania (1937–1940)
  • *Raymond Henry Norweb (1894–1983)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Bolivia (1936–1937)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Dominican Republic (1937–1940)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Peru (1940–1943)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Portugal (1943–1944)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Portugal (1944–1945)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Cuba (1945–1948)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Panama (1945)
  • Alvin Mansfield Owsley (1888–1967)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Romania (1933–1935)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Ireland (1935–1937)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Denmark (1937–1939)
  • Herbert Claiborne Pell (1884–1961)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Portugal (1937–1941)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Hungary (1941)
  • *William Phillips (1878–1968)
    • Third Assistant Secretary of State (1909)
    • Third Assistant Secretary of State (1914–1917)
    • Assistant Secretary of State (1917–1920)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Luxembourg (1920–1922)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Netherlands (1920–1922)
    • Under Secretary of State (1922–1924)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Luxembourg (1924–1927)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Belgium (1924–1927)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Canada (1927–1929)
    • Under Secretary of State (1933–1936)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Italy (1936–1941)
  • Daniel Calhoun Roper (1867–1943)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Canada (1939)
  • Francis Bowes Sayre (1885–1972)
    • Assistant Secretary of State (1933–1939)
  • *Hans Frederick Arthur Schoenfeld (1889–1952)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Bulgaria (1928)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Costa Rica (1929)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Dominican Republic (1931–1937)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Finland (1937–1942)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Hungary (1945–1947)
  • Laurence Adolph Steinhardt (1892–1950)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Sweden (1933–1937)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Peru (1937–1939)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Russia (1939–1941)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Turkey (1942–1945)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Czechoslovakia (1944–1948)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Canada (1948–1950)
  • *Frederick Augustine Sterling (1876–1957)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Ireland (1927–1934)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Bulgaria (1933–1936)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Estonia (1937)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Latvia (1937)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Sweden (1938–1941)
  • Myron Charles Taylor (1874–1959)
    • Personal Representative of the President, Holy See (1950)
  • Lester Aglar Walton (1882–1965)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Liberia (1935–1946)
  • *Alexander Wilbourne Weddell (1876–1948)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Argentina (1933–1938)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Spain (1939–1942)
  • *Benjamin Sumner Welles (1892–1961)
    • Assistant Secretary of State (1933)
    • Assistant Secretary of State (1933–1937)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Cuba (1933)
    • Under Secretary of State (1937–1943)
  • *John Cooper Wiley (1893–1967)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Estonia (1938–1940)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Latvia (1938–1940)
    • Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, Austria (1938)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Colombia (1944–1947)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Portugal (1947–1948)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Iran (1948–1950)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Panama (1951–1953)
  • *Edwin Carleton Wilson (1893–1972)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Uruguay (1939–1941)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Panama (1941–1943)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Turkey (1945–1948)
  • *Joshua Butler Wright (1877–1939)
    • Third Assistant Secretary of State (1923–1924)
    • Assistant Secretary of State (1924–1927)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Hungary (1927–1930)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Uruguay (1930–1934)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Czechoslovakia (1934–1937)
    • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Cuba (1937–1939)