List of ambassadors of the United States to Iceland

Lincoln MacVeagh
as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary

FormationAugust 8, 1941 (1941-08-08)Websiteis.usembassy.gov

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.

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
6	John Joseph Muccio	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	Political appointee
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".

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".

References

^ 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.