Office of the Historian

Principal Officers and Chiefs of Mission, by Year: 1856

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    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Denmark (Nomination of February 25, 1856, withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.)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    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Netherlands (Nomination of February 25, 1856, withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.)
  • 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    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Colombia (Nomination of February 25, 1856, withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.)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    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Holy See (Nomination of February 25, 1856, withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.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.)
  • George Mifflin Dallas (1792–1864)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Russia (1837–1839)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, United Kingdom (1856–1861)
  • 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    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Bolivia (Nominated on February 25, 1856; nomination withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.)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    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Italy (Nomination of February 25, 1856, withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.)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)
  • Augustus Caesar Dodge (1812–1883)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Spain (1855–1859)
  • 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.)
  • John Forsyth (1812–1877)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Mexico (1856–1858)
  • James Gadsden (1788–1858)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Mexico (1853–1856)
  • David Lawrence Gregg (1814–1868)
    • Commissioner, Hawaii (1853–1858)
  • Henry Rootes Jackson (1820–1898)
    • Chargé d’Affaires, Austria (1853–1854)
    • Minister Resident, Austria (1854–1858)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Mexico (1885–1886)
  • 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.)
  • John Young Mason (1799–1859)
    • Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, France (1853–1859)
  • 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.)
  • Peter Parker (1804–1888)
    • Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, China (1853)
    • Commissioner, China (1855–1857)
  • 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)
  • 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)
  • 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)
  • John Addison Thomas (1811–1858)
    • Assistant Secretary of State (1855–1857)
  • 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.)