| Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations | |
|---|---|
 Seal of the U.S. Mission to the United Nations | |
 Flag of a United States chief of mission | |
.jpg) | |
| United States Mission to the United Nations | |
| Style | Mr. Ambassador (informal) The Honorable (formal) His Excellency (diplomatic) |
| Member of | National Security Council |
| Reports to | President Secretary of State |
| Residence | 50 United Nations Plaza |
| Seat | United Nations Headquarters New York City, U.S. |
| Appointer | Thepresident withSenateadvice and consent |
| Term length | No fixed term At the pleasure of the president of the United States |
| Formation | December 21, 1945; 79 years ago (1945-12-21) |
| First holder | Edward Stettinius Jr. |
| Salary | Executive Schedule, Level IV |
| Website | usun |
TheUnited States ambassador to the United Nations is the leader of theU.S. Mission to theUnited Nations. The position is formally known as thepermanent representative of theUnited States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status ofambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary, and representative of the United States of America in theUnited Nations Security Council.
The deputy ambassador assumes the duties of the position in the ambassador's absence. As with allUnited States ambassadors, the ambassador to the UN and the deputy ambassador are both nominated by thepresident of the United States andconfirmed by theSenate. The ambassador serves at the pleasure of the President. The ambassador may be assisted by one or more appointed delegates, often appointed for a specific purpose or issue.
The U.S. permanent representative is charged with representing the United States on the UN Security Council, and during all plenary meetings of theGeneral Assembly, except when a more senior officer of the United States (such as thesecretary of state or the president of the United States) is in attendance.
Despite the titlehead of external mission, the United States ambassador to the United Nations is also responsible for importing United Nations policies and motions voted in the main organs of the United Nations onto the national territory.
The current ambassador isMike Waltz, who was nominated by PresidentDonald Trump and confirmed by the Senate on September 19, 2025.
In January 2025, following presidential inauguration, Donald Trump formally nominatedElise Stefanik, who is currently serving in theUnited States House of Representatives, to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in his second term.[1][2] Trump withdrew the nomination on March 27, 2025.[3] On May 1, 2025, Trump announced via social media that he intended to nominateMike Waltz to serve as the next U.S. ambassador to the UN.[4] He was confirmed 47–43 by the Senate on September 19, 2025.[5]
Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., a leading moderate Republican who lost his seat in theUnited States Senate toJohn F. Kennedy in the1952 elections, was appointed ambassador to the United Nations in 1953 byDwight D. Eisenhower in gratitude for the defeated senator's role in the new president's defeat of conservative leaderRobert A. Taft for the1952 Republican nomination and subsequent service as his campaign manager in thegeneral election; Eisenhower raised the ambassadorship toCabinet rank in order to give Lodge direct access to him without having to go through the State Department.[6]
The ambassadorship continued to hold this status throughout the remainder of theCold War but was removed from Cabinet rank byGeorge H. W. Bush, who had previously held the position himself. It was restored under theClinton administration. It was not a Cabinet-level position under theGeorge W. Bush administration (from 2001 to 2009),[7][8] but was once again elevated under theObama administration, and initially retained as such by thefirst Trump administration during the tenure ofNikki Haley.[9] However, in December 2018, it was reported by several news organizations that the Trump administration would once again downgrade the position to non-Cabinet rank.[10] The position was again elevated to Cabinet rank in theBiden administration.[11] It was again downgraded to non-Cabinet rank under thesecond Trump administration.[12]
Former UN ambassador and national security advisorJohn Bolton has publicly opposed the granting of Cabinet-level status to the office, stating in 2008 "One, it overstates the role and importance the U.N. should have in U.S. foreign policy, second, you shouldn't have two secretaries in the same department".[13]
Denotesacting United States ambassador to the United Nations.
The following is a chronological list of those who have held the office:
| # | Portrait | Name | Start | End | President | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | .jpg) | Edward Stettinius Jr. | January 17, 1946 | June 3, 1946 | Harry S. Truman (1945–1953) | |
| — | .jpg) | Herschel Johnson Acting | June 3, 1946 | January 14, 1947 | ||
| 2 | .jpg) | Warren Austin | January 14, 1947 | January 22, 1953[a] | ||
| 3 | _(cropped).jpg) | Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. | January 26, 1953[14] | September 3, 1960 | Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953–1961) | |
| 4 | .jpg) | James Jeremiah Wadsworth | September 8, 1960 | January 21, 1961[b] | ||
| 5 | .jpg) | Adlai Stevenson II | January 23, 1961 | July 14, 1965 | John F. Kennedy (1961–1963) | |
| Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–1969) | ||||||
| 6 | .jpg) | Arthur Goldberg | July 28, 1965 | June 24, 1968 | ||
| 7 | .jpg) | George Ball | June 26, 1968 | September 25, 1968 | ||
| 8 |  | James Russell Wiggins | October 7, 1968 | January 20, 1969 | ||
| 9 |  | Charles W. Yost | January 23, 1969 | February 25, 1971 | Richard Nixon (1969–1974) | |
| 10 | .jpg) | George H. W. Bush | March 1, 1971 | January 18, 1973 | ||
| 11 |  | John A. Scali | February 20, 1973 | June 29, 1975 | ||
| Gerald Ford (1974–1977) | ||||||
| 12 |  | Daniel Patrick Moynihan | June 30, 1975 | February 2, 1976 | ||
| 13 | .png) | William Scranton | March 15, 1976 | January 19, 1977 | ||
| 14 |  | Andrew Young | January 30, 1977 | September 23, 1979 | Jimmy Carter (1977–1981) | |
| 15 |  | Donald McHenry | September 23, 1979 | January 20, 1981 | ||
| 16 |  | Jeane Kirkpatrick | February 4, 1981 | April 1, 1985 | Ronald Reagan (1981–1989) | |
| 17 |  | Vernon A. Walters | May 22, 1985 | March 15, 1989[c] | ||
| 18 |  | Thomas R. Pickering | March 20, 1989 | May 7, 1992 | George H. W. Bush (1989–1993) | |
| 19 | .jpg) | Edward J. Perkins | May 12, 1992 | January 27, 1993[d] | ||
| 20 |  | Madeleine Albright | January 27, 1993 | January 21, 1997 | Bill Clinton (1993–2001) | |
| 21 |  | Bill Richardson | February 18, 1997 | August 18, 1998 | ||
| — | .jpg) | Peter Burleigh Acting | August 18, 1998 | September 7, 1999 | ||
| 22 |  | Richard Holbrooke | September 7, 1999 | January 20, 2001 | ||
| — |  | James B. Cunningham Acting | January 20, 2001 | September 19, 2001 | George W. Bush (2001–2009) | |
| 23 |  | John Negroponte | September 19, 2001 | July 23, 2004 | ||
| 24 |  | John Danforth | July 23, 2004 | January 20, 2005 | ||
| — |  | Anne W. Patterson Acting | January 20, 2005 | August 2, 2005 | ||
| 25 |  | John Bolton | August 2, 2005 | December 31, 2006 | ||
| — |  | Alejandro Daniel Wolff Acting | December 31, 2006 | April 30, 2007 | ||
| 26 |  | Zalmay Khalilzad | April 30, 2007 | January 22, 2009[a] | ||
| 27 |  | Susan Rice | January 26, 2009 | June 30, 2013 | Barack Obama (2009–2017) | |
| — | .jpg) | Rosemary DiCarlo Acting | June 30, 2013 | August 5, 2013 | ||
| 28 |  | Samantha Power | August 5, 2013 | January 20, 2017 | ||
| — |  | Michele J. Sison Acting | January 20, 2017 | January 27, 2017 | Donald Trump (2017–2021) | |
| 29 |  | Nikki Haley | January 27, 2017 | December 31, 2018 | ||
| — |  | Jonathan R. Cohen Acting | January 1, 2019 | September 12, 2019 | ||
| 30 |  | Kelly Craft | September 12, 2019 | January 20, 2021 | ||
| — |  | Richard M. Mills Jr. Acting | January 20, 2021 | February 25, 2021 | Joe Biden (2021–2025) | |
| 31 |  | Linda Thomas-Greenfield | February 25, 2021 | January 20, 2025 | ||
| — |  | Dorothy Shea Acting[15] | January 20, 2025 | September 21, 2025 | Donald Trump (2025–present) | |
| 32 |  | Mike Waltz | September 21, 2025 | present | ||
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The United States deputy ambassador to the United Nations serves as the second most senior American diplomat before the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council in New York and carries the diplomatic rank of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary. The deputy ambassador assumes the duties of the position in the ambassador's absence.
† These deputy ambassadors later served as full U.S. ambassadors to the United Nations(see above).
The deputy to the ambassador to the UN is a separate position from the Senate-confirmed role of deputy ambassador to the United Nations. The deputy to the ambassador assists the U.S. ambassador to the UN by acting as a liaison in Washington, D.C., managing their Washington office, interacting with Congress and acting as a stand-in for the UN ambassador.[16] The two roles co-exist, as in 2019 whenTaryn Frideres was Deputy to the Ambassador at the same time thatJonathan Cohen was Deputy Ambassador to the UN.
The head of the United Nations Foundation, a Washington-based advocacy group, released a statement praising Rice as well as Obama's decision to make the post of U.N. ambassador a Cabinet-level position once again – as it was during the Clinton years.
Ms. Rice could get the post of United States ambassador to the United Nations, a cabinet-level position under President Clinton. President Bush downgraded the position when he came into office
Media related toPermanent Representatives of the United States to the United Nations at Wikimedia Commons
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