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List of ambassadors of the United States to Iceland

{{Short description|None}}

{{Use American English|date=June 2022}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2022|cs1-dates=y}}

{{Infobox official post

| post = Ambassador

| body = the United States to Iceland

| nativename =

| flag = Flag of a United States ambassador.svg

| flagsize =

| flagcaption = United States ambassador flag

| insignia = US Department of State official seal.svg

| insigniasize = 120px

| insigniacaption = Seal of the United States Department of State

| department =

| image =

| alt =

| incumbent = Erin Sawyer
Chargé d'affaires

| incumbentsince = January 18, 2025

| style =

| residence =

| nominator = The President of the United States

| appointer = The President

| appointer_qualified = with Senate advice and consent

| appointerpost =

| termlength =

| inaugural = {{ubl|Lincoln MacVeagh|as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary}}

| formation = {{start date|1941|08|08}}

| last =

| abolished =

| succession =

| deputy =

| salary =

| website = {{URL|https://is.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 {{date2|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 {{date2|August|8, |1941}}. MacVeagh presented his credentials to the foreign minister of Iceland on {{date2|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 {{date2|June|17, |1944}}.

List of ambassadors

class="wikitable"
#

!Name

!Title

!Appointment

!Presentation of credentials

!Termination of mission

!Nature of appointment

!Nature of termination

style="text-align: right;"|1

|Lincoln MacVeagh

| rowspan="6" |Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary

|style="text-align: center;"|1941-08-08

|style="text-align: center;"|1941-09-30

|style="text-align: center;"|1942-06-27

|Political appointee

|Left post

style="text-align: right;"|2

|Leland Burnette Morris

|style="text-align: center;"|1942-08-13

|style="text-align: center;"|1942-10-07

|style="text-align: center;"|1944-05-10

| rowspan="8" |Career FSO

|Relinquished charge

style="text-align: right;"|3

|Louis Goethe Dreyfus, Jr.

|style="text-align: center;"|1944-03-21

|style="text-align: center;"|1944-06-14

|style="text-align: center;"|1946-10-21

| rowspan="3" |Left post

style="text-align: right;"|4

|Richard P. Butrick

|style="text-align: center;"|1948-02-26

|style="text-align: center;"|1948-04-29

|style="text-align: center;"|1949-08-10

style="text-align: right;"|5

|Edward B. Lawson

|style="text-align: center;"|1949-07-22

|style="text-align: center;"|1949-09-22

|style="text-align: center;"|1954-05-29

rowspan="2" style="text-align: right;"|6

|rowspan="2"|John Joseph Muccio

|style="text-align: center;"|1954-08-23

|style="text-align: center;"|1954-10-12

|style="text-align: center;"|1955-10-19

|Mission title changed

rowspan="21" |Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary

|style="text-align: center;"|1955-10-19

|style="text-align: center;"|1955-11-03

|style="text-align: center;"|1959-12-16

| rowspan="21" |Left post

style="text-align: right;"|7

|Tyler Thompson

|style="text-align: center;"|1960-01-27

|style="text-align: center;"|1960-02-19

|style="text-align: center;"|1961-04-16

style="text-align: right;"|8

|James K. Penfield

|style="text-align: center;"|1961-04-27

|style="text-align: center;"|1961-05-24

|style="text-align: center;"|1967-03-16

style="text-align: right;"|9

|Karl Fritjof Rolvaag

|style="text-align: center;"|1967-04-05

|style="text-align: center;"|1967-05-09

|style="text-align: center;"|1969-03-27

| rowspan="2" |Political appointee

style="text-align: right;"|10

|Luther I. Replogle

|style="text-align: center;"|1969-07-08

|style="text-align: center;"|1969-09-12

|style="text-align: center;"|1972-06-15

style="text-align: right;"|11

|Frederick Irving

|style="text-align: center;"|1972-09-11

|style="text-align: center;"|1972-10-11

|style="text-align: center;"|1976-04-21

| rowspan="4" |Career FSO

style="text-align: right;"|12

|James J. Blake

|style="text-align: center;"|1976-07-01

|style="text-align: center;"|1976-09-08

|style="text-align: center;"|1978-09-29

style="text-align: right;"|13

|Richard A. Ericson, Jr.{{Cite web |date=27 March 1995 |title=The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training Foreign Affairs Oral History Project AMBASSADOR RICHARD A. ERICSON, JR. |url=https://adst.org/OH%20TOCs/ERICSON,%20Richard%20A.toc.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240717142844/https://adst.org/OH%20TOCs/ERICSON,%20Richard%20A.toc.pdf |archive-date=17 July 2024 |access-date=17 July 2024 |website=Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training}}

|style="text-align: center;"|1978-10-12

|style="text-align: center;"|1978-11-21

|style="text-align: center;"|1981-08-15

style="text-align: right;"|14

|Marshall Brement

|style="text-align: center;"|1981-07-27

|style="text-align: center;"|1981-09-16

|style="text-align: center;"|1985-08-01

style="text-align: right;"|15

|L. Nicholas Ruwe

|style="text-align: center;"|1985-07-12

|style="text-align: center;"|1985-08-21

|style="text-align: center;"|1989-10-07

| rowspan="3" |Political appointee

style="text-align: right;"|16

|Charles Elvan Cobb, Jr.

|style="text-align: center;"|1989-10-10

|style="text-align: center;"|1989-11-08

|style="text-align: center;"|1992-01-10

style="text-align: right;"|17

|Sigmund Rogich

|style="text-align: center;"|1992-05-11

|style="text-align: center;"|1992-06-04

|style="text-align: center;"|1993-10-14

style="text-align: right;"|18

|Parker W. Borg

|style="text-align: center;"|1993-10-08

|style="text-align: center;"|1993-11-24

|style="text-align: center;"|1996-07-13

| rowspan="6" |Career FSO

style="text-align: right;"|19

|Day O. Mount

|style="text-align: center;"|1996-06-11

|style="text-align: center;"|1996-09-03

|style="text-align: center;"|1999-08-12

style="text-align: right;"|20

|Barbara J. Griffiths

|style="text-align: center;"|1999-08-09

|style="text-align: center;"|1999-09-29

|style="text-align: center;"|2002-07-29

style="text-align: right;"|21

|James Irvin Gadsden

|style="text-align: center;"|2002-10-03

|style="text-align: center;"|2002-12-09

|style="text-align: center;"|2005-07-14

style="text-align: right;"|22

|Carol van Voorst

|style="text-align: center;"|2006-01-03

|style="text-align: center;"|2006-01-26

|style="text-align: center;"|2009-04-30

style="text-align: right;"|23

|Luis E. Arreaga

|style="text-align: center;"|2010-09-10

|style="text-align: center;"|2010-09-20

|style="text-align: center;"|2013-11-23

style="text-align: right;"|24

|Robert C. Barber

|style="text-align: center;"|2015-01-02

|style="text-align: center;"|2015-01-28

|style="text-align: center;"|2017-01-20

| rowspan="3" |Political appointee

style="text-align: right;"|25

|Jeffrey Ross Gunter

|style="text-align: center;"|2019-05-23

|style="text-align: center;"|2019-07-02

|style="text-align: center;"|2021-01-20

style="text-align: right;"|26

|Carrin Patman

|style="text-align: center;"|2022-08-07

|style="text-align: center;"|2022-10-06

|style="text-align: center;"|2025-01-18

See also

References

{{reflist}}

  • {{StateDept}}

Further reading

  • {{Cite web |title=Chiefs of Mission for Iceland |url=https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/chiefsofmission/iceland |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220522200937/https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/chiefsofmission/iceland |archive-date=2022-05-22 |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=Office of the Historian |publisher=United States Department of State |language=en-US }}}
  • {{Cite web |title=Iceland |url=https://www.state.gov/countries-areas/iceland/ |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220610001207/https://www.state.gov/countries-areas/iceland/ |archive-date=2022-06-10 |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=United States Department of State |language=en-US }}
  • {{Cite web |title=U.S. Embassy in Iceland |url=https://is.usembassy.gov/ |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220610001223/https://is.usembassy.gov/ |archive-date=2022-06-10 |access-date=2022-06-10 |website=U.S. Embassy in Iceland |language=en-US }}

{{Ambassadors of the United States|state=collapsed}}

{{Ambassadors to Iceland}}

Category:1941 establishments

*Main

Iceland

United States