List of ambassadors of the United States to Norway
The United States Ambassador to Norway is the official representative of the President and the Government of the United States of America to the King and Government of Norway.
Since the United States was recognized as an independent country in 1783, it first established diplomatic relations with Norway in 1818 when Jonathan Russell was accepted as the Minister Plenipotentiary to Sweden and Norway. From 1814 to 1905, Sweden and Norway were in a personal union. Although each country was fully sovereign, they had a common foreign policy and diplomatic service. The United States Ambassador to Sweden thus was the US representative to Norway as well as Sweden. In 1905 Sweden and Norway peacefully separated and Norway continued to be an independent constitutional monarchy. On November 14, 1905, the US State Department instructed Ambassador Charles H. Graves to handle affairs for Sweden and Norway separately and the Ambassador was thus commissioned to Norway equally with Sweden, though he remained in Stockholm.
On June 22, 1906, Herbert H. D. Peirce was appointed to be the first ambassador of the US appointed specifically solely for Norway. On August 6, 1906, the embassy in Stockholm ceased all functions related to Norway. Peirce presented his credentials to the foreign minister of Norway on August 13, 1906.
James P. DeHart assumed duties as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim on January 12, 2017 at the Embassy. On October 23, 2017 President Donald Trump nominated Kenneth Braithwaite to be the next ambassador to Norway. He is a business executive, former town councilman and retired rear admiral of the United States Navy Reserve. He left the post as he was sworn in on May 29, 2020 as the 77th United States Secretary of the Navy.
