Chiefs of Mission for France

Chiefs of Mission

• Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790)
  • Minister Plenipotentiary, March 23, 1779–May 17, 1785
• Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
  • Minister Plenipotentiary, May 17, 1785–September 26, 1789
• William Short (1759–1849)
  • Minister Plenipotentiary, June 14, 1790–May 15, 1792
• Gouverneur Morris (1752–1816)
  • Minister Plenipotentiary, June 3, 1792–April 9, 1794
• James Monroe (1758–1831)
  • Minister Plenipotentiary, August 15, 1794–December 9, 1796
• Robert R. Livingston (1746–1813)
  • Minister Plenipotentiary, December 6, 1801–November 18, 1804
• John Armstrong (1755–1843)
  • Minister Plenipotentiary, November 18, 1804–September 14, 1810
• Jonathan Russell (1771–1832)
  • Chargé d’Affaires, November 5, 1810–November 17, 1811
• Joel Barlow (1754–1812)
  • Minister Plenipotentiary, November 17, 1811–December 26, 1812
• William Harris Crawford (1772–1834)
  • Minister Plenipotentiary, December 14, 1813–April 30, 1815
• Albert Gallatin (1761–1849)
  • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, July 16, 1816–May 16, 1823
• James Brown (1766–1835)
  • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, April 13, 1824–June 28, 1829
• William Cabell Rives (1792–1868)
  • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, October 25, 1829–September 27, 1832
• Levett Harris (?–?)
  • Chargé d’Affaires, April 20, 1833–September 30, 1833
• Edward Livingston (1764–1836)
  • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, September 30, 1833–April 29, 1835
• Thomas Pennant Barton (1803–1869)
  • Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, –November 8, 1835
• Lewis Cass (1782–1866)
  • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, December 1, 1836–November 12, 1842
• William Rufus de Vane King (1786–1853)
  • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, July 1, 1844–September 15, 1846
• Richard Rush (1780–1859)
  • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, July 31, 1847–October 8, 1849
• William Cabell Rives (1792–1868)
  • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, November 8, 1849–May 12, 1853
• John Young Mason (1799–1859)
  • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, January 22, 1854–October 3, 1859
• Charles James Faulkner (1806–1884)
  • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, March 4, 1860–May 12, 1861
• William Lewis Dayton (1807–1864)
  • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, May 19, 1861–December 1, 1864
• John Bigelow (1817–1911)
  • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, April 23, 1865–December 23, 1866
• John Adams Dix (1798–1879)
  • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, December 23, 1866–May 23, 1869
• Elihu Benjamin Washburne (1816–1887)
  • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, March 23, 1869–September 5, 1877
• Edward Follansbee Noyes (1832–1890)
  • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, September 5, 1877–August 5, 1881
• Levi Parsons Morton (1824–1920)
  • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, August 5, 1881–May 14, 1885
• Robert Milligan McLane (1815–1898)
  • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, May 14, 1885–May 20, 1889
• Whitelaw Reid (1837–1912)
  • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, May 21, 1889–March 25, 1892
• Thomas Jefferson Coolidge (1831–1920)
  • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, June 10, 1892–May 4, 1893
• James Biddle Eustis (1834–1899)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, May 6, 1893–May 24, 1897
• Horace Porter (1837–1921)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, May 26, 1897–May 2, 1905
• Robert Sanderson McCormick (1849–1919)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, May 2, 1905–March 2, 1907
• Henry White (1850–1927)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, March 23, 1907–November 3, 1909
• Robert Bacon (1860–1919)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, December 31, 1909–April 19, 1912
• Myron Timothy Herrick (1854–1929)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, April 29, 1912–November 28, 1914
• William Graves Sharp (1859–1922)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, December 4, 1914–April 14, 1919
• Hugh Campbell Wallace (1863–1931)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, April 22, 1919–July 5, 1921
• Myron Timothy Herrick (1854–1929)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, July 15, 1921–March 31, 1929
• Walter Evans Edge (1873–1956)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, December 18, 1929–April 13, 1933
• Jesse Isidor Straus (1872–1936)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, June 8, 1933–August 5, 1936
• William Christian Bullitt (1891–1967)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, October 13, 1936–July 11, 1940
• William Daniel Leahy (1875–1959)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, January 8, 1941–May 1, 1942
• Somerville Pinkney Tuck Jr. (1891–1967)
  • Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, –November 8, 1942
• Jefferson Caffery (1886–1974)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, December 30, 1944–May 13, 1949
• David Kirkpatrick Este Bruce (1898–1977)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, May 17, 1949–March 10, 1952
• James Clement Dunn (1890–1979)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, March 27, 1952–March 2, 1953
• Clarence Douglas Dillon (1909–2003)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, March 13, 1953–January 28, 1957
• Amory Houghton (1899–1981)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, April 17, 1957–January 19, 1961
• James Maurice Gavin (1907–1990)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, March 21, 1961–September 26, 1962
• Charles Eustis Bohlen (1904–1974)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, October 27, 1962–February 9, 1968
• Robert Sargent Shriver Jr. (1915–2011)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, May 25, 1968–March 25, 1970
• Arthur Kittredge Watson (1919–1974)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, May 6, 1970–October 30, 1972
• John Nichol Irwin II (1913–2000)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, March 23, 1973–October 20, 1974
• Kenneth Rush (1910–1994)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, November 21, 1974–March 14, 1977
• Arthur Adair Hartman (1926–2015)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, July 7, 1977–October 14, 1981
• Evan Griffith Galbraith (1928–2008)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, December 2, 1981–July 15, 1985
• Joe M. Rodgers (1933–2008)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, September 20, 1985–January 8, 1989
• Walter Joseph Patrick Curley Jr. (1922–2016)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, July 6, 1989–February 11, 1993
• Pamela C. Harriman (1920–1997)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, June 30, 1993–February 5, 1997
• Felix Rohatyn (1929–)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, September 11, 1997–December 7, 2000
• Howard H. Leach (1930–)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, September 4, 2001–April 16, 2005
• Craig Roberts Stapleton (1945–)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, July 25, 2005–January 29, 2009
• Charles Hammerman Rivkin (1962–)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, October 2, 2009–November 20, 2013
• Jane Dorothy Hartley (1947–)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, October 31, 2014–January 29, 2017
• Jamie D. McCourt (?–)
  • Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, December 18, 2017–

Other Nominees

• Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (1746–1825)
  • Minister Plenipotentiary: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate. Proceeded to post, but was not received by the Directory; left post on February 5, 1797. Nomination was confirmed by the Senate, but no record has been found of a new commission following confirmation.
• William Vans Murray (1760–1803)
  • Minister Plenipotentiary: Not commissioned; nomination superseded by a nomination of Murray and two others to serve on a joint commission.
• James Asheton Bayard (1767–1815)
  • Minister Plenipotentiary: Did not serve under this appointment.
• Henry Alexander Wise (1806–1876)
  • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary: Not commissioned; nomination rejected by the Senate.
• Charles Jared Ingersoll (1782–1862)
  • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary: Not commissioned; nomination rejected by the Senate.
• James Biddle Eustis (1834–1899)
  • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary: Took oath of office, but did not proceed to post in this capacity.