United States Ambassador to the United Nations


The United States ambassador to the United Nations is the leader of the U.S. delegation, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The position is more formally known as the "Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, and Representative of the United States of America in the Security Council of the United Nations"; it is also known as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations. There is also a deputy ambassador who assumes the duties of the ambassador in his or her absence. Like all United States ambassadors, the ambassador to the UN and the deputy ambassador are nominated by the U.S. president and confirmed by the Senate. The ambassador serves at the pleasure of the president.
The U.S. permanent representative is charged with representing the United States on the U.N. Security Council and during almost all plenary meetings of the General Assembly, except in the rare situation in which a more senior officer of the United States is present.
Jonathan Cohen, the deputy permanent representative since June 8, 2018, a career diplomat, became the acting U.S. ambassador on January 1, 2019, after the resignation of Nikki Haley came into effect. On December 7, 2018, President Donald Trump named Heather Nauert to become the permanent ambassador, subject to Senate confirmation. On February 16, 2019, after a lengthy period where Nauert had retreated from the public gaze, it was announced that she had withdrawn her name from consideration. On February 22, 2019, President Trump nominated Kelly Knight Craft to become the ambassador. The Senate confirmed her nomination on July 31, 2019.

Cabinet status

, a leading moderate Republican who lost his seat in the United States Senate to John F. Kennedy in the 1952 elections, was appointed ambassador to the United Nations in 1953 by Dwight D. Eisenhower in gratitude for the defeated senator's role in the new president's defeat of conservative leader Robert A. Taft for the 1952 Republican nomination and subsequent service as his campaign manager in the general election; Eisenhower raised the ambassadorship to cabinet rank in order to give Lodge direct access to him without having to go through the State Department.
The ambassadorship continued to hold this status through the Reagan administration but was removed from cabinet rank by George H. W. Bush, who had previously held the position himself. It was restored under the Clinton administration. It was not a cabinet-level position under the George W. Bush administration, but was once again elevated under the Obama administration, and retained as such by the Trump administration.
Former UN ambassador and national security advisor John R. Bolton has publicly opposed the granting of cabinet-level status to the office, stating "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".
In December 2018, it was reported by several news organizations that along with the nomination of Heather Nauert to replace Nikki Haley, the Trump administration would once again downgrade the position to non-Cabinet rank.

List of ambassadors

The following is a chronological list of those who have held the office:

Living former U.S. ambassadors to the United Nations

As of, there are thirteen living former U.S. ambassadors to the United Nations, the oldest being Edward J. Perkins. The most recent ambassador to die was George H. W. Bush, on November 30, 2018. The most recently serving ambassador to die was Richard Holbrooke, on December 13, 2010.