List of ambassadors of the United States to Sweden facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Ambassador of the United States to Sweden
United States ambassador flag
Incumbent Erik Ramanathan since January 20, 2022
U.S. Department of State Embassy of the United States, Stockholm
Reports to	U.S. Secretary of State
Residence	Villa Åkerlund
Seat	Stockholm, Sweden
Nominator	The President
Appointer	The President with the advice and consent of the Senate
Term length	At the pleasure of the President No fixed term
Inaugural holder	Benjamin Franklin as Minister Plenipotentiary
Formation	September 28, 1782
Website	U.S. Embassy – Stockholm

The United States ambassador to Sweden is a very important person. They are the official representative of the United States in Sweden. Think of them as the main link between the U.S. government and the Swedish government. They work to keep the relationship between the two countries strong and friendly.

The friendship between Sweden and the U.S. started a long time ago. It began with a special agreement called the Treaty of Amity and Commerce in 1783. This treaty helped both countries trade and get along.

Over the years, the U.S. sent different types of representatives to Sweden. Sometimes they were called "ministers" or "chargé d'affaires." These titles changed over time, but their job was always to represent the U.S. in Sweden. For many years, from 1814 to 1905, the U.S. representative in Sweden also looked after U.S. interests in Norway. This was because Norway and Sweden were united during that period.

Today, the U.S. President chooses who will be the ambassador. Sometimes, the President picks people who have helped with their election campaigns. The current ambassador is Erik Ramanathan. He officially started his job on January 20, 2022.

Where the Ambassador Lives

The ambassador's home, called Villa Åkerlund, in Stockholm, Sweden.

Since the 1930s, the U.S. ambassador to Sweden has lived in a beautiful house. It's called Villa Åkerlund. This house is part of the United States Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. It's located in an area known as Diplomatstaden, which means "Diplomat City." Many countries have their embassies and ambassador homes there.

A Look at Past U.S. Ambassadors to Sweden

The U.S. has sent many important people to represent it in Sweden over the years. Here's a list of some of them. They held different titles like "Minister Plenipotentiary" or "Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary." These are just fancy ways of saying they were the top U.S. representative.

Early Representatives (1782–1854)

The first U.S. representative for Sweden was Benjamin Franklin. He was already in Paris as the U.S. ambassador to France. He helped create the first treaty with Sweden from there.

Portrait	Representative	Title	Started Job	Ended Job
	Benjamin Franklin	Minister Plenipotentiary	September 28, 1782	April 3, 1783
	Jonathan Russell	Minister Plenipotentiary	January 18, 1814	October 22, 1818
	Christopher Hughes	Chargé d'Affaires	January 21, 1819	July 5, 1825
	William C. Somerville	Chargé d'Affaires	March 9, 1825	Died before arriving
	John James Appleton	Chargé d'Affaires	May 2, 1826	August 16, 1830
	Christopher Hughes	Chargé d'Affaires	March 3, 1830	September 22, 1841
	George W. Lay	Chargé d'Affaires	May 12, 1842	October 11, 1845
	Henry W. Ellsworth	Chargé d'Affaires	April 19, 1845	January 25, 1861
	Francis Schroeder	Chargé d'Affaires	November 7, 1849	June 29, 1854

Ministers Resident (1854–1885)

During this time, the U.S. representative was called a "Minister Resident."

Portrait	Representative	Title	Started Job	Ended Job
	Francis Schroeder	Minister Resident	June 29, 1854	September 17, 1857
	Benjamin F. Angel	Minister Resident	July 17, 1857	June 25, 1861
	Jacob S. Haldeman	Minister Resident	March 16, 1861	September 24, 1864
	James H. Campbell	Minister Resident	May 18, 1864	March 29, 1867
	Joseph J. Bartlett	Minister Resident	March 19, 1867	July 24, 1869
	Christopher Columbus Andrews	Minister Resident	June 3, 1869	November 5, 1877
	John L. Stevens	Minister Resident	August 28, 1877	June 3, 1883
	William W. Thomas, Jr.	Minister Resident	June 6, 1883	June 30, 1885
	Rufus Magee	Minister Resident	April 2, 1885	Later became an Envoy

Envoys and Ministers (1885–1947)

These representatives had the title "Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary."

Portrait	Representative	Title	Started Job	Ended Job
	Rufus Magee	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	August 10, 1888	May 25, 1889
	William W. Thomas, Jr.	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	March 19, 1889	May 2, 1894
	Thomas B. Ferguson	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	February 14, 1894	February 7, 1898
	William W. Thomas, Jr.	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	December 18, 1898	May 31, 1905
	Charles H. Graves	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	March 8, 1905	December 12, 1913
	Ira Nelson Morris	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	July 13, 1914	April 3, 1923
	Robert Woods Bliss	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	January 30, 1923	March 15, 1927
	Leland Harrison	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	February 26, 1927	November 11, 1929
	John Motley Morehead III	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	January 22, 1930	April 6, 1933
	Laurence A. Steinhardt	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	May 11, 1933	June 26, 1937
	Fred Morris Dearing	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	April 22, 1937	June 17, 1938
	Frederick A. Sterling	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	June 16, 1938	July 14, 1941
	Herschel V. Johnson	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	October 21, 1941	April 28, 1946
	Louis G. Dreyfus, Jr.	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	August 1, 1946	October 6, 1947
	H. Freeman Matthews	Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary	July 21, 1947

Ambassadors (1947–Present)

Since 1947, the U.S. representative in Sweden has been called an "Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary." This is the highest rank for a diplomat.

Portrait	Representative	Title	Started Job	Ended Job
	H. Freeman Matthews	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	September 20, 1947	May 24, 1950
	W. Walton Butterworth	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	July 5, 1950	December 9, 1953
	John M. Cabot	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	March 1, 1954	May 14, 1957
	Francis White	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	June 3, 1957	December 9, 1958
	James C.H. Bonbright	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	October 29, 1958	March 20, 1961
	J. Graham Parsons	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	March 15, 1961	April 17, 1967
	William Womack Heath	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	April 5, 1967	January 23, 1969
	Jerome H. Holland	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	February 16, 1970	August 30, 1972
	Robert Strausz-Hupé	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	April 25, 1974	March 3, 1976
	David S. Smith	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	April 6, 1976	April 29, 1977
	Rodney O'Gliasain Kennedy-Minott	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	August 3, 1977	September 26, 1980
	Franklin S. Forsberg	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	December 11, 1981	December 12, 1985
	Gregory J. Newell	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	December 9, 1985	June 12, 1989
	Charles Edgar Redman	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	May 12, 1989	August 24, 1992
	Thomas L. Siebert	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	February 9, 1994	December 17, 1997
	Lyndon Lowell Olson, Jr.	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	November 10, 1997	August 1, 2001
	Charles A. Heimbold, Jr.	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	August 3, 2001	February 12, 2004
	Miles T. Bivins	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	May 25, 2004	January 31, 2006
	Michael M. Wood	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	May 30, 2006	January 20, 2009
	Matthew Barzun	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	August 12, 2009	May 28, 2011
	Mark Brzezinski	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	October 18, 2011	July 1, 2015
	Azita Raji	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	February 1, 2016	January 20, 2017
	Ken Howery	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	September 17, 2019	January 20, 2021
	Erik Ramanathan	Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary	December 18, 2021	Incumbent

Images for kids

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  Robert S. Gilchrist, Chargé d'Affaires ad interim

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  David Lindwall, Chargé d'Affaires ad interim

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  Pamela Tremont, Chargé d'Affaires ad interim