1940 - Principals and Chiefs Chronological
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Principal Officers and Chiefs of Mission, by Year: 1940
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.
- *Norman Armour (1887–1982)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Haiti (1932–1933)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Haiti (1933–1935)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Canada (1935–1938)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Chile (1938–1939)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Argentina (1939–1944)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Spain (1944–1945)
- Assistant Secretary of State for Political Affairs (1947–1948)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Venezuela (1950–1951)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Guatemala (1954–1955)
- *Ray Atherton (1883–1960)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, Greece (1924)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Bulgaria (1937–1939)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Denmark (1939–1940)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Canada (1943)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Canada (1943–1948)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Luxembourg (1943)
- Adolf Augustus Berle Jr. (1895–1971)
- Assistant Secretary of State (1938–1944)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Brazil (1945–1946)
- Anthony Joseph Drexel Biddle Jr. (1896–1961)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Norway (1935–1937)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Poland (1937–1943)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Czechoslovakia (1941–1943)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Belgium (1941–1943)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Greece (1941–1942)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Norway (1941–1942)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Netherlands (1941–1942)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Yugoslavia (1941–1942)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Greece (1942–1943)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Norway (1942–1943)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Netherlands (1942–1943)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Yugoslavia (1942–1943)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Czechoslovakia (1943)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Luxembourg (1943)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Spain (1961)
- *Maxwell Blake (1877–1959)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, Morocco (1917)
- Agent/Consul General, Morocco (1917–1922)
- Diplomatic Agent/Consul General, Morocco (1925–1940)
- Claude Gernade Bowers (1878–1958)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Spain (1933–1939)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Chile (1939–1953)
- Spruille Braden (1894–1978)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Colombia (1935)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Colombia (1939–1942)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Cuba (1941–1945)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Argentina (1945)
- Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs (1945–1947)
- William Christian Bullitt (1891–1967)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Russia (1933–1936)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, France (1936–1940)
- *Jefferson Caffery (1886–1974)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, Greece (1923)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, El Salvador (1926–1928)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Colombia (1928–1933)
- Assistant Secretary of State (1933)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Cuba (1934–1937)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Brazil (1937–1944)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, France (1944–1949)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Egypt (1949–1955)
- Francis Patrick Corrigan (1881–1968)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, El Salvador (1934–1937)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Panama (1937–1939)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Venezuela (1939–1947)
- *Raymond Edwin Cox (1893–)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, Norway (1940)
- James Henry Roberts Cromwell (1898–1990)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Canada (1940)
- John Clarence Cudahy (1887–1943)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Poland (1933–1937)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Ireland (1937–1940)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Belgium (1940)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Luxembourg (1940)
- Josephus Daniels Jr. (1862–1948)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Mexico (1933–1941)
- *William Dawson Jr. (1885–1972)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Ecuador (1930–1935)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Colombia (1934–1937)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Uruguay (1937–1939)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Uruguay (1937)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Panama (1939–1941)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Uruguay (1941–1946)
- Permanent Representative of the U.S.A. to the Organization of American States (Washington) (1948)
- Fay Allen Des Portes (1890–1944)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Bolivia (1933–1936)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Guatemala (1936–1943)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Costa Rica (1943–1944)
- *Louis Goethe Dreyfus Jr. (1889–1973)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Iran (1939–1943)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Afghanistan (1940–1942)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Iceland (1944–1946)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Sweden (1946–1947)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Afghanistan (1949–1951)
- George Howard Earle III (1890–1974)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Austria (1933–1934)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Bulgaria (1940–1941)
- John Draper Erwin (1883–1983)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Honduras (1937–1943)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Honduras (1943–1947)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Honduras (1951–1954)
- Bert Fish (1875–1943)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Egypt (1933–1941)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Saudi Arabia (1939–1941)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Portugal (1941–1943)
- *Robert Frazer (1878–1947)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, El Salvador (1937–1942)
- *Clarence Edward Gauss (1886–1960)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Australia (1940–1941)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, China (1941–1944)
- *George Anderson Gordon (1885–1959)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Haiti (1935–1937)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Netherlands (1937–1940)
- Henry Francis Grady (1882–1957)
- Assistant Secretary of State (1939–1941)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, India (1947–1948)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Greece (1948–1950)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Nepal (1948)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Iran (1950–1951)
- Hugh Gladney Grant (1888–1972)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Albania (1935–1939)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Thailand (1940–1941)
- David Gray Jr. (1870–1968)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Ireland (1940–1947)
- *Joseph Clark Grew (1880–1965)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, Austria (1917)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Denmark (1920–1921)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Switzerland (1921–1924)
- Under Secretary of State (1924–1927)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Turkey (1927–1932)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Japan (1932–1941)
- Under Secretary of State (1944–1945)
- Secretary of State ad interim (1945)
- *Bernard Anthony Gufler (1903–1973)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, Lithuania (1940)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Sri Lanka (1959–1961)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Finland (1961–1963)
- *Franklin Mott Gunther (1885–1941)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Egypt (1928–1930)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Ecuador (1930)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Romania (1937–1941)
- Green Haywood Hackworth (1883–1973)
- Legal Adviser (1931–1946)
- Florence Jaffray Hurst Harriman (1870–1967)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Norway (1937–1940)
- *Leland Harrison (1883–1951)
- Assistant Secretary of State (1922–1924)
- Assistant Secretary of State (1924–1927)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Sweden (1927–1929)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Uruguay (1929–1930)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Romania (1935–1937)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Switzerland (1937–1947)
- William Harrison Hornibrook (1884–1946)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Thailand (1915–1916)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Iran (1933–1936)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Afghanistan (1935–1936)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Costa Rica (1937–1941)
- Findley Burtch Howard (1885–)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Paraguay (1935–1941)
- Cordell Hull (1871–1955)
- Secretary of State (1933–1944)
- *Douglas Jenkins (1880–1961)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Bolivia (1939–1941)
- *Nelson Trusler Johnson (1887–1954)
- Assistant Secretary of State (1927–1929)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, China (1929–1935)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, China (1935–1941)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Australia (1941–1945)
- *Leo John Keena (1878–1967)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Honduras (1935–1937)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, South Africa (1937–1942)
- Joseph Patrick Kennedy (1888–1969)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, United Kingdom (1938–1940)
- *Paul Knabenshue (1883–1942)
- Minister Resident/Consul General, Iraq (1932–1933)
- Minister Resident/Consul General, Iraq (1933–1942)
- *Arthur Bliss Lane (1894–1956)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Nicaragua (1933–1936)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Estonia (1936–1937)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Latvia (1936–1937)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Lithuania (1936–1937)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Yugoslavia (1937–1941)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Costa Rica (1941–1942)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Colombia (1942–1944)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Poland (1944–1947)
- William Daniel Leahy (1875–1959)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, France (1940–1942)
- *Walter Anderson Leonard (1880–1955)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, Estonia (1940)
- Boaz Walton Long (1876–1962)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, El Salvador (1914–1917)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Cuba (1919–1921)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Nicaragua (1936–1938)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Ecuador (1938–1942)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Ecuador (1942–1943)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Guatemala (1943–1945)
- Samuel Miller Breckinridge Long (1881–1958)
- Third Assistant Secretary of State (1917–1920)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Italy (1933–1936)
- Assistant Secretary of State (1940–1944)
- *John Van Antwerp MacMurray (1881–1960)
- Assistant Secretary of State (1924–1925)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, China (1925–1929)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Estonia (1933–1936)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Latvia (1933–1936)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Lithuania (1933–1936)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Turkey (1936–1941)
- Lincoln MacVeagh (1890–1972)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Greece (1933–1941)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Iceland (1941–1942)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, South Africa (1942–1943)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Greece (1943–1947)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Yugoslavia (1943–1944)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Portugal (1948–1952)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Spain (1952–1953)
- *Ferdinand Lathrop Mayer (1887–1986)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Haiti (1937–1940)
- *George Strausser Messersmith (1883–1960)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Austria (1934–1937)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Uruguay (1934)
- Assistant Secretary of State (1937–1940)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Cuba (1940–1942)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Mexico (1941–1946)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Argentina (1946–1947)
- *Jay Pierrepont Moffat (1896–1943)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Canada (1940–1943)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Luxembourg (1941–1943)
- John Flournoy Montgomery (1878–1954)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Hungary (1933–1941)
- Robert Walton Moore (1859–1941)
- Assistant Secretary of State (1933–1937)
- Counselor (1937–1941)
- *Edwin Lowe Neville (1884–1944)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Thailand (1937–1940)
- Meredith Nicholson (1866–1947)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Paraguay (1933–1935)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Venezuela (1935–1938)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Nicaragua (1938–1941)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Portugal (Not commissioned; nomination withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.)
- Owen Joseph Christoffer Norem (1902–)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Lithuania (1937–1940)
- *Raymond Henry Norweb (1894–1983)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Bolivia (1936–1937)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Dominican Republic (1937–1940)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Peru (1940–1943)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Portugal (1943–1944)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Portugal (1944–1945)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Cuba (1945–1948)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Panama (1945)
- *Earl LeNoir Packer (1894–1993)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, Latvia (1940)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, Burma ()
- Herbert Claiborne Pell (1884–1961)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Portugal (1937–1941)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Hungary (1941)
- *William Phillips (1878–1968)
- Third Assistant Secretary of State (1909)
- Third Assistant Secretary of State (1914–1917)
- Assistant Secretary of State (1917–1920)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Netherlands (1920–1922)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Luxembourg (1920–1922)
- Under Secretary of State (1922–1924)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Belgium (1924–1927)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Luxembourg (1924–1927)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Canada (1927–1929)
- Under Secretary of State (1933–1936)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Italy (1936–1941)
- *Hans Frederick Arthur Schoenfeld (1889–1952)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Bulgaria (1928)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Costa Rica (1929)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Dominican Republic (1931–1937)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Finland (1937–1942)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Hungary (1945–1947)
- *Rudolf Emil Schoenfeld (1895–1981)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, Belgium (1944)
- Chargé d’Affaires, Luxembourg (1944)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, Poland (1945)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Romania (1947–1950)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Guatemala (1951–1953)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Colombia (1953–1955)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, Belgium (Served as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim near the Government of Belgium established in England.)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, Norway ()
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, Belgium (Schoenfeld established the Legation near the Government of the Netherlands in the United Kingdom.)
- *Robert McGregor Scotten (1891–1968)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Dominican Republic (1940–1942)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Costa Rica (1942–1943)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Ecuador (1943–1947)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, New Zealand (1947–1948)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, New Zealand (1948–1955)
- Laurence Adolph Steinhardt (1892–1950)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Sweden (1933–1937)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Peru (1937–1939)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Russia (1939–1941)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Turkey (1942–1945)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Czechoslovakia (1944–1948)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Canada (1948–1950)
- *Frederick Augustine Sterling (1876–1957)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Ireland (1927–1934)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Bulgaria (1933–1936)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Estonia (1937)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Latvia (1937)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Sweden (1938–1941)
- Myron Charles Taylor (1874–1959)
- Personal Representative of the President, Holy See (1950)
- Lester Aglar Walton (1882–1965)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Liberia (1935–1946)
- *Alexander Wilbourne Weddell (1876–1948)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Argentina (1933–1938)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Spain (1939–1942)
- *Benjamin Sumner Welles (1892–1961)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Cuba (1933)
- Assistant Secretary of State (1933)
- Assistant Secretary of State (1933–1937)
- Under Secretary of State (1937–1943)
- *John Campbell White (1884–1967)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Haiti (1940–1943)
- Diplomatic Agent/Consul General, Morocco (1940–1941)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Haiti (1943–1944)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Peru (1944–1945)
- *John Cooper Wiley (1893–1967)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Estonia (1938–1940)
- Chargé d’Affaires ad interim, Austria (1938)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Latvia (1938–1940)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Colombia (1944–1947)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Portugal (1947–1948)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Iran (1948–1950)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Panama (1951–1953)
- *Edwin Carleton Wilson (1893–1972)
- Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Uruguay (1939–1941)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Panama (1941–1943)
- Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Turkey (1945–1948)