List of United States permanent representatives to NATO

The United States permanent representative to NATO (commonly referred to as the U.S. ambassador to NATO) is the official representative of the United States mission to NATO. The representative has the rank of full ambassador and is appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The official title of the representative is United States permanent representative on the Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, with the rank and status of ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary.

The first representative was appointed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953.

List

#	Portrait	Ambassador	Dates served
1	File:William Henry Draper Jr.jpg	William Henry Draper Jr.	April 8, 1953 – June 13, 1953
2	File:No image.svg	John Chambers Hughes	June 12, 1953 – April 20, 1955
3	File:No image.svg	George Walbridge Perkins Jr.	March 14, 1955 – October 12, 1957
4	File:No image.svg	Warren Randolph Burgess	September 21, 1957 – March 23, 1961
5	File:Thomas K. Finletter.jpg	Thomas K. Finletter	March 2, 1961 – September 2, 1965
6	File:Harlan Cleveland 2006.jpg	Harlan Cleveland	September 1, 1965 – June 11, 1969
7	File:Robert F. Ellsworth.jpg	Robert Ellsworth	May 13, 1969 – June 30, 1971
8	File:David M. Kennedy 1972.png	David M. Kennedy	March 17, 1972 – February 1, 1973
9	File:Rumsfeld1.jpg	Donald Rumsfeld	February 2, 1973 – December 5, 1974
10	File:David K. E. Bruce.jpg	David K. E. Bruce	October 17, 1974 – February 12, 1976
11	File:No image.svg	Robert Strausz-Hupé	March 3, 1976 – April 20, 1977
12	File:Tappley Bennett.JPG	William Tapley Bennett Jr.	April 26, 1977 – March 31, 1983
13	File:David M Abshire.jpg	David Manker Abshire	July 13, 1983 – January 5, 1987
14	File:Alton Keel 1986.jpg	Alton G. Keel Jr.	March 13, 1987 – June 17, 1989
15	File:William Howard Taft IV, Deptuty Secretary of Defense, official portrait.JPEG	William Howard Taft IV	August 3, 1989 – June 26, 1992
16	File:Reginald Bartholomew 1984 (cropped).jpg	Reginald Bartholomew	June 15, 1992 – March 25, 1993
17	File:WilsonHunter.preview.JPG	Robert E. Hunter	July 1, 1993 – December 31, 1997
18	File:Alexander Vershbow.JPG	Alexander Vershbow	January 1, 1998 – July 9, 2001
19	File:Assignment- 59-CF-DS-24774-05) Official portrait of R. Nicholas Burns, Under Secretary for Political Affairs (Photographer- Ann Thomas--State) (59-CF-DS-24774-05 Burns Nick fromPSD. - DPLA - f4243003ba9e37e05b4cd2e0e77a3e8d.jpg	R. Nicholas Burns	August 7, 2001 – March 7, 2005
20	File:Victoria Nuland State Department.jpg	Victoria Nuland	July 13, 2005 – May 2, 2008
21	File:Kurt Volker.jpg	Kurt Volker	July 2, 2008 – May 13, 2009
22	File:Amb. Ivo H. Daalder WEB.jpg	Ivo H. Daalder	May 15, 2009 – July 6, 2013
23	File:Douglas Lute 2013.JPG	Douglas Lute	September 3, 2013 – January 20, 2017
24	File:Kay Bailey Hutchison official photo (cropped).jpg	Kay Bailey Hutchison	August 28, 2017 – January 20, 2021
-	File:Douglas D. Jones.jpg	Douglas D. Jones (acting)	January 20, 2021 – September 27, 2021
25	File:Julianne Smith, NATO Ambassador.jpg	Julianne Smith	December 6, 2021 – October 23, 2024
-	File:United States Deputy Chief of Mission at NATO Scott McConnin Oudkirk.jpg	Scott Oudkirk (acting)	October 24, 2024 – April 3, 2025
26	File:United States Ambassador to NATO Matthew George Whitaker.jpg	Matthew Whitaker	April 3, 2025 - present

Sources

• List of NATO ambassadors — US State Department