United States Ambassador to France

There has been a United States Ambassador to France since the American Revolution. The United States sent its first envoys to France in 1776, towards the end of the four-centuries-old Bourbon dynasty. The American diplomatic relationship with France has continued throughout that country's five republican regimes, two periods of French empire, the Bourbon Restoration, and its July Monarchy. After the Battle of France, the United States maintained diplomatic relations with Vichy France until France severed them on the date Operation Torch was launched in November, 1942; the Embassy was reopened December, 1944.

United States Representatives in Paris
The following is a complete list of the credentialed American diplomats sent to France:

United States Envoys to France
During the Bourbon dynasty:
 * Benjamin Franklin, Arthur Lee, Silas Deane (substituted by John Adams in 1778) Dec. 1776–1779

United States Ministers Plenipotentiary to France
During the Bourbon dynasty:
 * Benjamin Franklin -- Appointed Sep 14, 1778; Presented credentials Mar 23, 1779; Termination of mission May 17, 1785
 * Thomas Jefferson -- Appointed Mar 10, 1785; Presented credentials: May 17, 1785 – Termination of mission September 26, 1789
 * William Short April 20, 1790 – May 15, 1792

During the First Republic:
 * Gouverneur Morris 1792–1794
 * James Monroe 1794–1796
 * Charles Cotesworth Pinckney 1796–1797
 * Robert R. Livingston 1801–1804

During the First French Empire:
 * John Armstrong 1804–1810
 * Joel Barlow 1811–1812

During the First French Empire and Bourbon Restoration:
 * William H. Crawford 1813–1815

United States Envoys Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to France

 * Albert Gallatin 1816–1823
 * James Brown 1824–1829

During the Bourbon Restoration and July Monarchy:
 * William Cabell Rives 1829–1832
 * Edward Livingston 1833–1835
 * Lewis Cass 1836–1842
 * William R. King 1844–1846

During the July Monarchy and French Second Republic:
 * Richard Rush 1847–1849

During the French Second Republic and the Second French Empire:
 * William Cabell Rives 1849–1853
 * John Young Mason 1853–1859
 * Charles J. Faulkner 1860–1861
 * William Lewis Dayton 1861–1864
 * John Bigelow 1865–1866
 * John Adams Dix 1866–1869

During the Second French Empire and French Third Republic:
 * Elihu B. Washburne 1869-1877

During the French Third Republic:
 * Edward Follansbee Noyes 1877–1881
 * Levi Parsons Morton 1881–1885
 * Robert Milligan McLane 1885–1889
 * Whitelaw Reid 1889–1892
 * Thomas Jefferson Coolidge 1892–1893

United States Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to France
During the French Third Republic:
 * James Biddle Eustis 1893–1897
 * Horace Porter 1897–1905
 * Robert Sanderson McCormick 1905–1907
 * Henry White 1907–1909
 * Robert Bacon 1909–1912
 * Myron T. Herrick 1912–1914
 * William Graves Sharp 1914–1919
 * Hugh Campbell Wallace 1919–1921
 * Myron T. Herrick 1921–1929
 * Walter E. Edge 1929-1933
 * Jesse I. Strauss 1933–1936
 * William C. Bullitt 1936–1940

During Vichy France:
 * William D. Leahy 1941–1942
 * After Leahy left, S. Pinkney Tuck served as interim Chargé d'affaires until France severed diplomatic relations with the U.S. on November 8, 1942, the date of Operation Torch

During the French Fourth Republic:
 * Jefferson Caffery 12/30/1944–1949
 * The Embassy in Paris had been opened to the public Dec 1, 1944, with Ambassador Caffery in charge pending presentation of his letter of credence.
 * David K. E. Bruce 1949–1952
 * James C. Dunn 1952–1953
 * C. Douglas Dillon 1953–1957

During the French Fourth Republic and the French Fifth Republic:
 * Amory Houghton 1957-1961

During the French Fifth Republic:
 * James M. Gavin 1961–1962
 * Charles E. Bohlen 1962–1968
 * Robert Sargent Shriver, Jr. 1968–1970
 * Arthur K. Watson 1970–1972
 * John N. Irwin, II 1973–1974
 * Kenneth Rush 1974–1977
 * Arthur A. Hartman 1977–1981
 * Evan Griffith Galbraith 1981–1985
 * Joe M. Rodgers 1985–1989
 * Walter Curley 1989–1993
 * Pamela Harriman 1993–1997
 * Felix Rohatyn 1997–2000
 * Howard H. Leach 2001–2005
 * Craig Roberts Stapleton 2005–2009
 * Charles Rivkin 2009–present.