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Senators Who Served as Ambassadors or Held Diplomatic Posts


Since 1789, 96 senators have served as ambassadors or held other diplomatic posts. A key to abbreviated diplomatic titles is below.


Name & Senate Service DatesTitleCountryDates as Diplomat
Adams, John Quincy (1803-1808)

Minister Resident

Minister Resident

Minister Plenipotentiary

EE/MP

Netherlands

Prussia

Russia

United Kingdom

1794-1797

1797-1801

1809-1814

1815-1817

Armstrong, John (1802-1804) Minister Plenipotentiary France 1804-1810
Austin, Warren R. (1931-1804) Representative United Nations 1947-1953
Bagby, Arthur P. (1841-1848) EE/MP Russia 1848-1849
Baker, Howard (1967-1984) Ambassador Japan 2001-2005
Barbour, James (1813-1826) EE/MP United Kingdom 1828-1829
Baucus, Max S. (1978-2014) Ambassador China 2014-2017
Bayard, Richard H. (1836-1839;1841-1845) Charge d'Affaires Belgium 1850-1853
Bayard, Thomas F. (1869-1886) AE/P Great Britian 1893-1897
Benton, William (1949-1953) Ambassador UNESCO 1963-1968
Borland, Solon (1847-1853) EE/MP Central America 1853-1854
Brock, Wiilam E., III (1971-1977) U.S. Trade Rep.   1981-1985
Brown, Ethan A. (1822-1825) Charge d'Affaires Brazil 1830-1834
Brown, Scott (2010-2013)

Ambassador

Ambassador

New Zealand

Independent State of Samoa

2017-2020

2017-2020

Buchanan, James (1834-1845)

EE/MP

EE/MP

Russia

United Kingdom

1832-1833

1853-1856

Cameron, Simon (1845-1849;

1857-1861; 1867-1877)

EE/MP

Russia

1862

Campbell, George W. (1811-1814;

1815-1818)

EE/MP

Russia

1818-1820

Cass, Lewis (1845-1857) EE/MP France 1836-1842
Cheney, Person C. (1886-1887) EE/MP Switzerland 1892-1893
Christiancy, Isaac P. (1875-1879) EE/MP Peru 1879-1881
Clark, Richard C. (1973-1979) Amb. at Large   1979
Clayton, Powell (1871-1877) EEMP, AE/P Mexico 1897-1905
Coats, Daniel (1989-1999) Ambassador Germany 2001-2005
Cooper, John S. (1946- 1949; 1952-1955; 1956-1973)

AE/P

AE/P

India & Nepal

German Dem. Republic

1955-1956

1974-1976

Corwin, Thomas (1845-1850) EE/MP Mexico 1861-1864
Crawford, William H. (1807-1813) MP France 1813-1815
Dallas, George M. (1831-1833)

EE/MP

EE/MP

Russia

United Kingdom

1837-1839

1856-1861

Danforth, John ( 1976-1995) AE/P United Nations 2004-2005
Dayton, William L. (1842-1851) EE/MP France 1861-1864
Dix, John A. (1845-1849) EE/MP France 1866-1869
Dodge, Augustus C. (1848-1855) EE/MP Spain 1855-1859
Donnelly, Joe (2013-2019) Ambassador the Holy See 2022-present
Eaton, John H. (1818-1829) EE/MP Spain 1836-1840
Eaton, John H. (1818-1829) EE/MP Spain 1836-1840
Edge, Walter E. (1919-1929) AE/P France 1929-1933
Ellis, Powhatan (1825-1832)

Charge d’Affaires

EE/MP

Mexico

Mexico

1836

1839-1842

Eustis, James B. (1876-1879; 1885-1891) AE/P France 1893-1897
Everett, Edward (1853-1854) EE/MP United Kingdom 1841-1845
Ferguson, Homer (1943-1955) AE/P Philippines 1955-1956
Flake, Jeff (2013-2019) Ambassdor Turkey 2021-present
Fogg, George G. (1866-1867) Minister Resident Switzerland 1861-1865
Forsyth, John (1818-1819; 1829-1834) Minister Plenipotentiary Spain 1819-1823
Fowler, Wyche, Jr. (1987-1993) Ambassador Saudi Arabia 1997-2001
Green, James S. (1857-1861) Charge d’Affaires New Granada* 1853-1854
Hale, John P. (1847-1853; 1855-1865) EE/MP Spain 1865-1869
Hamlin, Hannibal ( 1848-1849; 1869-1881) EE/MP Spain 1881-1882
Hannegan, Edward A. (1843-1849) EE/MP Prussia 1849-1850
Hecht, Chic (1983-1989) AE/P The Bahamas 1989-1993
Hendrickson, Robert (1949-1955) AE/P New Zealand 1955-1956
Hunter, William (1811-1821) CdA, EE/MP Brazil 1834-1843
Hutchison, Kay Bailey (1993-2013) Ambassador NATO 2017-2021
Jarvis, Thomas J. (1894-1895) EE/MP Brazil 1885-1888
Johnson, Reverdy (1845-1849; 1863-1868)

EE/MP

England 1868-1869
Jones, George W. (1848-1859) MR New Granada* 1859-1861
Keating, Kenneth B. (1959-1965)

AE/P

AE/P

India

Israel

1969-1972

1973-1975

Kellogg, Frank B. (1917-1923) AE/P Great Britain 1923-1925
King, Rufus (1789-1796; 1813-1825)

MP

EE/MP

Great Britain

United Kingdom

1796-1803

1825-1826

King, William R. (1819-1844;1848-1852) EE/MP France 1844-1846
Krueger, Robert C. (1993)

Ambassador at Large

Ambassador

Ambassador

 

Burundi

Botswana

1979-1981

1994-1996

1996-1999

Livingston, Edward (1829-1831) EE/MP France 1833-1835
Lodge, Henry C., Jr. (1937-1944; 1947-1953)

Representative

AE/P

Amb. at Large

AE/P

Personal Rep.

United Nations

Vietnam

 

Germany

Vatican

1953-1960

1965-1967

1967-1968

1968-1969

1970-1977

Mansfield, Michael (1953-1977) AE/P Japan 1977-1988
Mattingly, Mack (1981-1987) AE/P Seychelles 1992-1993
McGee, Gale W. (1959-1977) Perm. Rep. OAS 1977-1981
McGovern, George (1963-1981) Ambassador

UN Food and

Agriculture

Agency

1998-2001
McLane, Louis (1827-1829)

EE/MP

EE/MP

United Kingdom

United Kingdom

1829-1831

1845-1846

Mondale, Walter F. (1964-1976) AE/P Japan 1993-1996
Monroe, James (1790-1794)

MP

MP

France

Great Britain

1794-1796

1803-1807

Morrow, Dwight W. (1930-1931) Ambassador Mexico 1927-1930
Moseley-Braun, Carol (1993-1999) Ambassador New Zealand 1999-2001
Moynihan, Daniel P. (1977-2001) AE/P India 1973-1975
Palmer, Thomas W. (1883-1889) EE/MP Spain 1889-1890
Partridge, Frank C. (1930-1931) EE/MP Venezuela 1893-1894
Pendleton, George H. (1879-1885) EE/MP Germany 1885-1889
Piles, Samuel H. (1905-1911) EE/MP Colombia 1922-1928
Pinckney, Charles (1789-1801) Minister Plenipotentiary Spain 1801-1804
Pinkney, William (1819-1822)

Minister Plenipotentiary

EE/MP

Great Britain

Russia

1808-1811

1816-1818

Poindexter, Miles (1911-1932) AE/P Peru 1923-1928
Ransom, Matt W. (1872-1895) EE/MP Mexico 1895-1897
Rives, William C. (1832-1834; 1836-1839; 1841-1845) EE/MP France 1829-1832
Sackett, Frederic M. (1925-1930) AE/P Germany 1930-1933
Salazar, Ken (2005-2009) Ambassador Mexico 2021-present
Sargent, Aaron A. (1873-1879) EE/MP Germany 1882-1884
Sasser, James R. (1977-1995) AE/P China 1995-1999
Saxbe, William B. (1969-1974) AE/P India 1975-1976
Schurz, Carl (1869-1875) EE/MP Spain 1861
Semple, James (1843-1847) Charge D'Affaires New Granada* 1837-1842
Soulé, Pierre (1847; 1849-1853) EE/MP Spain 1853-1855
Stockton, John P. (1865-1866; 1869-1875) Minister Resident Papal States 1858-1861
Stone, Richard B. (1975-1980) Ambassador at Large   1983-1984
Udall, Tom (2009-2021) Ambassador New Zealand 2021-present
Van Buren, Martin** (1821-1828) EE/MP United Kingdom 1831-1832
Weller, John (1852-1857) EE/MP Mexico 1860-1861
Wilkins, William (1831-1834) EE/MP Russia 1834-1835
Williams, John (1815-1823) Charge D’Affaires Central America 1825-1826
Wright, Joseph (1862-1863)

EE/MP

 

Prussia

 

1857-1861

1865-1867

AE/P = Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary

EE/MP = Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary

Perm. Rep. = Permanent Representative

CdA = Charge d'Affaires

OAS = Organization of American States

* Colombia

**Nomination rejected by the Senate in January 1832 after he had begun his service.

Source: U.S. Department of State, Principal Officers of the Department of State and United States Chiefs of Mission, 1778-1990, Dept. of State Publication 9825, January 1991; news accounts.