Ambassador of the United States to Hungary | |
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![]() Seal of the United States Department of State | |
since September 14, 2022 | |
Residence | Szabadság Square 12, Budapest, H-1054 |
Nominator | The President of the United States |
Appointer | The President with Senate advice and consent |
Inaugural holder | Ulysses Grant-Smith as Chargé d'Affaires pro tem |
Formation | December 26, 1921 |
Website | U.S. Embassy - Budapest |
This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to Hungary.
Until 1867 Hungary had been part of the Austrian Empire, when the empire became Austria-Hungary. Hungary had no separate diplomatic relations with other nations. The United States had diplomatic relations with the empire and Austria-Hungary through the legation in Vienna.
The empire was dissolved following World War I, and the United States established separate diplomatic relations with Austria and Hungary in 1921, reopening the embassy in Vienna and establishing a legation in Budapest. Ulysses Grant-Smith opened the U.S. legation on December 26, 1921, and remained the chief of mission as chargé d'affaires until an ambassador was commissioned the following year.
For ambassadors to Austria-Hungary prior to the dissolution of the empire, see United States Ambassador to Austria.
The United States Embassy in Hungary is located on Szabadság tér (Liberty Square) in the Pest part of Budapest.
Ambassadors
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U.S. diplomatic terms |
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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". |
Name | Title | Appointed | Presented credentials | Terminated mission | Notes |
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Ulysses Grant-Smith[a] – Career FSO | Chargé d'Affaires pro tem | Not commissioned | January 24, 1922 | April 28, 1922 | |
Theodore Brentano – Political appointee | Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary | February 10, 1922 | May 16, 1922 | Presented recall, May 6, 1927 | |
J. Butler Wright – Career FSO | February 26, 1927 | June 18, 1927 | Presented recall, October 24, 1930 | ||
Nicholas Roosevelt[b] – Political appointee | September 29, 1930 | November 12, 1930 | May 9, 1933 | ||
John Flournoy Montgomery – Political appointee | June 13, 1933 | August 1, 1933 | March 17, 1941 | ||
Herbert Claiborne Pell – Political appointee | February 11, 1941 | May 20, 1941 | January 16, 1942 | ||
Hungary severed diplomatic relations with the United States on December 11, 1941, the day the United States declared war on Germany. Hungary declared war on the United States two days later. Pell closed the legation and departed Hungary on January 16, 1942. The United States and Hungary established normal diplomatic relations again after the war ended in 1945. | |||||
H.F. Arthur Schoenfeld – Career FSO | Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary | December 15, 1945 | January 26, 1946 | June 1, 1947 | |
Selden Chapin[c] – Career FSO | April 10, 1947 | July 9, 1947 | February 17, 1949 | ||
Nathaniel P. Davis – Career FSO | September 1, 1949 | October 21, 1949 | May 18, 1951 | ||
Christian M. Ravndal – Career FSO | October 3, 1951 | January 11, 1952 | August 5, 1956 | ||
Edward T. Wailes – Career FSO | July 26, 1956 | Did not present credentials | left post, February 27, 1957 | Ambassador Wailes had been commissioned as ambassador during the Imre Nagy regime in Hungary, prior to the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. He arrived in Hungary on November 2, 1956, shortly after the new János Kádár government had been installed. Wailes refused to present his credentials to the new government, stating that the government "did not represent the people." Shortly thereafter he was "recalled for consultations" and he left Hungary on February 27, 1957.[3] | |
Garret G. Ackerson Jr. | Chargé d'Affaires ad interim | July 1957 | Unknown | February 1961 | |
Horace G. Torbert Jr. | February 1961 | December 1962 | |||
Owen T. Jones | December 1962 | July 1964 | |||
Elim O'Shaughnessy | November 1964 | September 1966 | |||
Richard W. Tims | September 1966 | October 1967 | |||
Martin J. Hillenbrand – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | September 13, 1967 | October 30, 1967 | February 15, 1969 | Legation upgraded to embassy; title upgraded to "Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary". |
Alfred Puhan – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | May 1, 1969 | June 16, 1969 | July 9, 1973 | |
Richard F. Pedersen – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | July 24, 1973 | September 10, 1973 | March 26, 1975 | |
Eugene V. McAuliffe – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | March 25, 1975 | April 28, 1975 | April 15, 1976 | |
Philip M. Kaiser – Political appointee | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | July 7, 1977 | August 4, 1977 | March 9, 1980 | |
Harry E. Bergold Jr. – Political appointee | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | March 3, 1980 | March 31, 1980 | November 9, 1983 | |
Nicolas M. Salgo – Political appointee | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | October 7, 1983 | November 23, 1983 | August 1, 1986 | |
Robie Marcus Hooker Palmer – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | July 24, 1986 | December 8, 1986 | January 31, 1990 | |
Charles H. Thomas – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | June 27, 1990 | July 2, 1990 | January 11, 1994 | |
Donald M. Blinken – Political appointee | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | March 28, 1994 | April 1, 1994 | November 20, 1997 | |
Peter Francis Tufo – Political appointee | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | November 10, 1997 | December 3, 1997 | March 1, 2001 | |
Nancy Goodman Brinker – Political appointee | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | August 7, 2001 | September 26, 2001 | June 19, 2003 | |
George H. Walker III – Political appointee | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | August 4, 2003 | October 6, 2003 | August 6, 2006 | |
April H. Foley – Political appointee | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | May 30, 2006 | August 18, 2006 | April 2, 2009 | |
Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis – Political appointee | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | January 7, 2010 | January 11, 2010 | July 20, 2013 | |
M. André Goodfriend[4] | Chargé d’Affaires ad interim | August 18, 2013 | n/a | January 20, 2015 | |
Colleen Bradley Bell – Political appointee | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | December 14, 2014 | January 21, 2015 | January 20, 2017 | |
David Kostelancik | Chargé d’Affaires ad interim | January 20, 2017 | "n/a" | June 22, 2018 | |
David B. Cornstein – Political appointee | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | February 13, 2018 | June 22, 2018 | October 30, 2020[5] | |
Marc Dillard | Chargé d’Affaires ad interim | October 30, 2020 | n/a | August 10, 2022 | |
B. Bix Aliu[6] | Chargé d'Affaires ad interim | August 10, 2022 | n/a | September 14, 2022 | Served as Chargé d'Affaires until the arrival of the appointed Ambassador, David Pressman.[7] |
David Pressman – Career FSO[8] | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | Aug 8, 2022[9] | September 14, 2022[10] | Incumbent |
Notes
[edit]- ^ Grant-Smith was not commissioned. His letter of credence was dated December 27, 1921. He had opened the legation on December 26 and had been granted provisional recognition as Chargé d’Affaires.
- ^ Roosevelt was commissioned during a recess of the Senate and recommissioned after confirmation on December 16, 1930.
- ^ Chapin was declared persona non grata by the government of Hungary on February 11, 1949, and departed Hungary on February 17. The government of Hungary had accused Chapin of conspiring with Cardinal József Mindszenty.[1][2]
References
[edit]- ^ "Changing Cast". Time. June 6, 1955. Archived from the original on December 15, 2008. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
- ^ Plischke, Elmer (1999). U.S. Department of State–A Reference History. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 524. ISBN 9780313291265.
- ^ "Diplomats at Work". Time. March 25, 1957. Archived from the original on November 2, 2012. Retrieved February 7, 2023.
- ^ Chargè d'Affaires, a.i. at the Wayback Machine (archived 2014-01-12)
- ^ "A message from Ambassador Cornstein". U.S. Embassy in Hungary. September 15, 2020. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
- ^ "Chargé d'Affaires, a.i." U.S. Embassy in Hungary. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
- ^ "U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 117th Congress - 2nd Session". www.senate.gov. Retrieved August 26, 2022.
- ^ Bayer, Lili (November 15, 2022). "Orbán's new public enemy: A Twitter-savvy US ambassador calling out conspiracies". Politico. Retrieved December 6, 2023.
- ^ Ambassador US Embassy
- ^ "US Ambassador visits Hungarian President with his rainbow family". September 15, 2022.
See also
[edit]- Ambassadors to Hungary — Photographs of U.S. Ambassadors to Hungary 1941–2001 (PDF)
- Hungary – United States relations
- Foreign relations of Hungary
- Ambassadors of the United States
References
[edit]- United States Department of State: Background notes on Hungary
This article incorporates public domain material from U.S. Bilateral Relations Fact Sheets. United States Department of State.