Principal Officers and Chiefs of Mission, by Year: 1854

NOTE TO READERS

Updates to the Principal Officers and Chiefs of Mission database are currently suspended. For information about the Department’s current and recent leadership, we recommend visiting the Department of State homepage’s Biographies of Senior Officials and List of U.S. Ambassadors.

Notice posted on January 12, 2024.
Last updated March 14, 2024.

Note: Career Foreign Service appointees are asterisked.

Henry Bedinger (1812–1858)
- Chargé d’Affaires, Denmark (1853–1854)
- Minister Resident, Denmark (1854–1858)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Denmark (Nomination of February 25, 1856, withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.)
August Belmont (1816–1890)
- Chargé d’Affaires, Netherlands (1853–1854)
- Minister Resident, Netherlands (1854–1857)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Netherlands (Nomination of February 25, 1856, withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.)
Solon Borland (1808–1864)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, El Salvador (1853)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Guatemala (1853)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Honduras (1853)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Costa Rica (1853)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Nicaragua (1853–1854)
James Butler Bowlin (1804–1874)
- Minister Resident, Colombia (1854–1857)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Colombia (Nomination of February 25, 1856, withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.)
James Buchanan (1791–1868)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Russia (1832–1833)
- Secretary of State (1845–1849)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, United Kingdom (1853–1856)
Lewis Cass Jr. (1814–1878)
- Chargé d’Affaires, Holy See (1849–1854)
- Minister Resident, Holy See (1854–1858)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Holy See (Nomination of February 25, 1856, withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it. Nominated to the Pontifical States.)
John Randolph Clay (1808–1885)
- Chargé d’Affaires, Russia (1836–1837)
- Chargé d’Affaires, Peru (1847–1853)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Peru (1853–1860)
- Minister Resident/Consul General, Liberia (Not commissioned; nomination not confirmed by the Senate.)
John Winchester Dana (1808–1867)
- Chargé d’Affaires, Bolivia (1853–1854)
- Minister Resident, Bolivia (1854–1859)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Bolivia (Nominated on February 25, 1856; nomination withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.)
John Moncure Daniel (1825–1865)
- Chargé d’Affaires, Italy (1853–1854)
- Minister Resident, Italy (1854–1861)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Italy (Nomination of February 25, 1856, withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.)
Edwin De Leon (1818–1891)
- Agent/Consul General, Egypt (1853–1861)
Charles Eames (1812–1867)
- Chargé d’Affaires, Venezuela (1854)
- Minister Resident, Venezuela (1854–1858)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Venezuela (Nomination of February 25, 1856, withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.)
Henry William Ellsworth (1814–1864)
- Chargé d’Affaires, Sweden (1845–1861)
Theodore Sedgwick Fay (1807–1898)
- Minister Resident, Switzerland (1853–1861)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Switzerland (Nomination of February 25, 1856, withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.)
James Gadsden (1788–1858)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Mexico (1853–1856)
James Stephen Green (1817–1870)
- Chargé d’Affaires, Colombia (1853–1854)
- Minister Resident, Colombia (1854)
David Lawrence Gregg (1814–1868)
- Commissioner, Hawaii (1853–1858)
Charles Brickett Haddock (1796–1861)
- Chargé d’Affaires, Portugal (1850–1854)
William Hunter (1805–1886)
- Chief Clerk (1852–1855)
- Secretary of State ad interim (1853)
- Assistant Secretary of State (1855)
- Secretary of State ad interim (1860)
- Second Assistant Secretary of State (1866–1886)
Henry Rootes Jackson (1820–1898)
- Chargé d’Affaires, Austria (1853–1854)
- Minister Resident, Austria (1854–1858)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Mexico (1885–1886)
Ambrose Dudley Mann (1801–1889)
- Assistant Secretary of State (1853–1855)
William Learned Marcy (1786–1857)
- Secretary of State (1853–1857)
John Leake Marling (1825–1856)
- Minister Resident, Guatemala (1854–1856)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Guatemala (Nominated on February 25, 1856; nomination withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.)
Humphrey Marshall (1812–1872)
- Commissioner, China (1852–1854)
John Young Mason (1799–1859)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, France (1853–1859)
Robert Milligan McLane (1815–1898)
- Commissioner, China (1853–1854)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Mexico (1859–1860)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, France (1885–1889)
Horace H. Miller (?–)
- Chargé d’Affaires, Bolivia (1852–1854)
John Louis O’Sullivan (1813–1895)
- Chargé d’Affaires, Portugal (1854)
- Minister Resident, Portugal (1854–1858)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Portugal (Nomination of February 25, 1856, withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.)
Robert Dale Owen (1801–1877)
- Chargé d’Affaires, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (1853–1854)
- Minister Resident, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (1854–1858)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (Nomination of February 25, 1856, withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.)
James A. Peden (?–)
- Minister Resident, Argentina (1854–1857)
- Chargé d’Affaires, Argentina (1854)
- Minister Resident, Argentina (1856–1858)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Argentina (1856)
John Strother Pendleton (1802–1868)
- Chargé d’Affaires, Chile (1841–1844)
- Chargé d’Affaires, Argentina (1851–1854)
Francis Schroeder (1814–1886)
- Chargé d’Affaires, Sweden (1849–1854)
- Minister Resident, Sweden (1854–1857)
John Jacob Seibels (1816–1865)
- Chargé d’Affaires, Belgium (1853–1854)
- Minister Resident, Belgium (1854–1856)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Belgium (Nomination of February 25, 1856, withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.)
Thomas Hart Seymour (1807–1868)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Russia (1853–1858)
Pierre Soule (1801–1870)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Spain (1853–1855)
Carroll Spence (1818–1896)
- Minister Resident, Turkey (1853–1857)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Turkey (Nomination of February 25, 1856, withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.)
David Austin Starkweather (1802–1876)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Chile (1854–1857)
William Trousdale (1790–1872)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Brazil (1853–1857)
Peter Dumont Vroom (1791–1873)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Germany (1853–1857)
John H. Wheeler (1806–1882)
- Minister Resident, Nicaragua (1854–1856)
Philo White (1796–1874)
- Chargé d’Affaires, Ecuador (1853–1854)
- Minister Resident, Ecuador (1854–1858)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Ecuador (Nomination of February 25, 1856, withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.)