List of ambassadors of the United States to Australia explained
| Post: | Ambassador |
| Body: | the United States to Australia |
| Insignia: | US Department of State official seal.svg |
| Insigniasize: | 120 |
| Insigniacaption: | Seal of the United States Department of State |
| Incumbent: | Caroline Kennedy |
| Incumbentsince: | July 25, 2022[1] |
| Inaugural: | Clarence E. Gauss
|
| Formation: | 1940 |
The position of United States Ambassador to Australia has existed since 1940. U.S.–Australian relations have been close throughout the history of Australia. Before World War II, Australia was closely aligned with the United Kingdom, but it has strengthened its relationship with the United States since 1942, as Britain's influence in Asia has declined and the United States' influence has increased. At the governmental level, United States–Australia relationships are formalized by the ANZUS treaty and Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement.
The embassy in Canberra has long been regarded as a desirable posting and hence has become a patronage position. U.S. Ambassadors to Australia have traditionally been friends, political allies, or former business associates of the current President. Some have been major donors to the President's election campaign or political party. Few have been career diplomats (Marshall Green was a conspicuous exception). The two ambassadors during the Bush Administration, for example, were Tom Schieffer, a former business associate of President Bush, and Robert McCallum Jr., a Bush college friend. In 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's close associate and nominee to be U.S. Minister in Canberra, Edward J. Flynn, was forced to withdraw his nomination for the position following difficulties in the senate confirmation process.[2] The actor Fess Parker was offered the post in 1985 by Ronald Reagan, after representing Reagan at an event in Australia. Parker considered it, but turned it down.[3]
This arrangement has suited Australian governments, which welcome the ability of such Ambassadors to gain direct access to the President, bypassing the State Department. However, this has often had the result of long periods without an appointed ambassador and additional delays in the Senate confirmation process, with the career diplomat deputy head of mission serving as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, such as between February 2005 and August 2006, from September 2016 to February 2019 and from January 2021 to July 2022.
United States Ambassadors to Australia
The following individuals have served as the U.S. Ambassadors to Australia, or any precedent titles:
List of U.S. Ambassadors to Australia| Ordinal | Officeholder | Image | Term began | Term ended | Time in office | Notes |
|---|
| U.S. Ministers to Australia |
|---|
| | | July 17, 1940 | March 5, 1941 | | |
| | | September 12, 1941 | April 20, 1945 | | |
| U.S. Ambassadors to Australia |
|---|
| | | 1946 | 1948 | | [4] |
| | | 1948 | 1949 | | |
| | | | | | |
| Amos J. Peaslee | | August 12, 1953 | February 16, 1956 | | |
| | | 1956 | 1956 | | |
| | | | | | [5] |
| | | | | | [6] |
| | | 1965 | 1967 | | [7] |
| | | 1968 | 1969 | | |
| | | 1969 | 1973 | | |
| | | June 8, 1973 | July 31, 1975 | | |
| | | 1976 | 1977 | | |
| | | 1977 | 1981 | | [8] [9] |
| | | | | | [10] |
| | | | | | [11] |
| | | | | | [12] |
| | | | | | [13] |
| | | | | | [14] |
| | | | | | [15] |
| | | | | | Chargé d’affaires[16] |
| | | | | | [17] |
| | | | | | Chargé d’affaires[18] |
| | | | | | Chargé d’affaires[19] |
| | | | | | [20] |
| | | | | | Chargé d’affaires[21] |
| | | | | | [22] |
| | | | | | Chargé d’affaires[23] |
| | | | | | [24] |
| | | | | | Chargé d’affaires[25] |
| | | | | | [26] |
| | | | | | Chargé d’affaires[27] |
| | | | Incumbent | | | |
See also
References
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Caroline Kennedy Officially Starts Her Job as U.S. Ambassador to Australia . 25 July 2022 .
- Birkner . Michael . The Battle FDR Lost:The Failed Nomination of Boss Ed Flynn as Minister to Australia . The Cupola . 2018 . Passport 48 . 1 . 33–39 . 8 February 2022.
- http://www.legacy.com/ns/obituary.aspx?pid=140851424 Legacy.com, Fess Parker obituary
- Web site: Robert Butler (1897–1955) . U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian . February 15, 2016 .
- https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/sebald-william-joseph William Joseph Sebald
- http://www.legacy.com/DailyProgress/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=110840951 Daily Progress obituary
- Clark, Anne. Australian Adventure. University of Texas Press, 1969, p. 6.
- Web site: PHILIP HENRY ALSTON JR. (1911-1988). U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian.
- Web site: United States Ambassador to Australia - Nomination of Philip H. Alston, Jr. The American Presidency Project.
- Web site: Reagan's Nomination of Nesen as Ambassador to Australia . May 25, 2010 .
- Web site: L. W. Lane, Jr. . Council of American Ambassadors web site . 2004 . May 25, 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070104230129/http://www.americanambassadors.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Members.view&memberid=125 . January 4, 2007 .
- Web site: Australia bestows honor on Sembler. St. Petersburg Times. 2000-05-14. 2012-04-06.
- Web site: Edward Perkins. Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, United States Department of State. 1 January 2021.
- Web site: Genta Hawkins Holmes. Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, United States Department of State. 19 April 2010.
- Web site: Edward Gnehm. Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, United States Department of State. 1 January 2021.
- Web site: Deputy Chief of Mission . US Diplomatic Mission to Australia . US Department of State . 1 March 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20010613031358/http://usembassy-australia.state.gov/dcmbio-owens.html . 13 June 2001.
- Web site: John Schieffer. Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, United States Department of State. 1 January 2021.
- Web site: William A. Stanton (1947–) . Office of the Historian . US Department of State . 8 February 2022.
- Web site: Deputy Chief of Mission . Embassy of the United States Canberra Australia . US Department of State . 1 March 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060810091720/http://usembassy-australia.state.gov:80/dcm.html . 10 August 2006.
- Web site: Robert McCallum. Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, United States Department of State. 1 January 2021.
- Web site: Dan Clune Chargé d'Affaires ad interim . Embassy of the United States Canberra Australia . U.S. Department of State . 27 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090618041019/http://canberra.usembassy.gov/dcm/ . 18 June 2009.
- Web site: Jeff Bleich. Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, United States Department of State. 1 January 2021.
- Web site: Deputy Chief of Mission Thomas Dougherty . Embassy of the United States Canberra Australia . US Department of State . 1 March 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131028184720/http://canberra.usembassy.gov/dcm.html . 28 October 2013.
- Web site: John Berry. Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, United States Department of State. 1 January 2021.
- Web site: Chargé d'Affaires James Carouso . U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Australia . US Department of State . 28 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181022185456/https://au.usembassy.gov/our-relationship/our-ambassador/ . 22 October 2018.
- Web site: Arthur Culvahouse Jr. Office of the Historian, Bureau of Public Affairs, United States Department of State. 1 January 2021.
- Web site: 2021-11-07 . Chargé d'Affaires Michael Goldman - U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Australia . 2021-11-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211107054136if_/https://au.usembassy.gov/our-relationship/our-ambassador/ . 7 November 2021 . dead.
