List of United States permanent representatives to NATO

Permanent Representative of the United States to NATO
Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent Scott M. Oudkirk Chargé d'affaires since October 24, 2024
Nominator	The president of the United States
Appointer	The president of the United States with Senate advice and consent
Inaugural holder	William H. Draper Jr. as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Formation	April 8, 1953
Website	U.S. Mission - NATO

The United States Permanent Representative to NATO (commonly called the U.S. Ambassador to NATO) is the official representative of the United States to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Background

The Representative has the rank of full ambassador and is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The full 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

Image	Ambassador	Dates served
	William Henry Draper, Jr.	April 8, 1953 – June 13, 1953
	John Chambers Hughes	June 12, 1953 – April 20, 1955
	George Walbridge Perkins, Jr.	March 14, 1955 – October 12, 1957
	Warren Randolph Burgess	September 21, 1957 – March 23, 1961
	Thomas K. Finletter	March 2, 1961 – September 2, 1965
	Harlan Cleveland	September 1, 1965 – June 11, 1969
	Robert Ellsworth	May 13, 1969 – June 30, 1971
	David M. Kennedy	March 17, 1972 – February 1, 1973
	Donald Rumsfeld	February 2, 1973 – December 5, 1974
	David K. E. Bruce	October 17, 1974 – February 12, 1976
	Robert Strausz-Hupé	March 3, 1976 – April 20, 1977
	William Tapley Bennett Jr.	April 26, 1977 – March 31, 1983
	David Manker Abshire	July 13, 1983 – January 5, 1987
	Alton G. Keel, Jr.	March 13, 1987 – June 17, 1989
	William Howard Taft IV	August 3, 1989 – June 26, 1992
	Reginald Bartholomew	June 15, 1992 – March 25, 1993
	Robert E. Hunter	July 1, 1993 – January 1, 1998
	Alexander Vershbow	November 10, 1997 – July 9, 2001
	R. Nicholas Burns	August 7, 2001 – March 7, 2005
	Victoria Nuland	July 13, 2005 – May 2, 2008
	Kurt Volker	July 2, 2008 – May 15, 2009
	Ivo Daalder	May 15, 2009 – September 2, 2013
	Douglas Lute	September 3, 2013 – January 20, 2017
	Kay Bailey Hutchison	August 28, 2017 – January 20, 2021
	Julianne Smith	December 6, 2021 – October 23, 2024
	Matthew Whitaker	Nominee

Other websites

• List of NATO ambassadors — US State Department
• NNDB
• United States Mission to NATO