United States Ambassador to Albania

Updated on Jan 15, 2024

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Nominator Barack Obama Website U.S. Embassy - Tirana		Formation September 22, 1922

Inaugural holder Ulysses Grant-Smith as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary

This is a list of Ambassadors of the United States to Albania.

Albania had been under the domination of the Ottoman Empire since the 14th century but gained a shaky independence in 1912 after an uprising against the Turks. After suffering invasions and occupations during the First and Second Balkan Wars and the Great War, Albania achieved a relatively stable degree of statehood.

The United States established diplomatic relations with Albania in 1922. President Harding appointed the first U.S. Minister to Albania, Ulysses Grant-Smith, who arrived in Tirana in December 1922. The first envoys to Albania had the rank of Minister.

Albania–United States relations were broken in 1939 upon the Italian invasion of Albania just prior to the start of World War II. Relations were not restored until the downfall of Communism in Europe in 1991.

The United States Embassy in Albania is located in Tirana.

Ambassadors

Ulysses Grant-Smith – Career FSO

Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary

Appointed: September 22, 1922

Presented credentials: December 4, 1922

Terminated mission: Left post, February 8, 1925

Note: In 1928 the Albanian parliament declared the nation a kingdom. This change of government required a new commission for the U.S. Ambassador during his term.

Charles C. Hart – Political appointee

Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary

Appointed: May 27, 1925

Presented credentials: August 1, 1925 and December 13, 1928

Terminated mission: Left post, December 12, 1929

Herman Bernstein – Political appointee

Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary

Appointed: February 17, 1930

Presented credentials: April 28, 1930

Terminated mission: Left post, September 24, 1933

Post Wheeler – Career FSO

Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary

Appointed: August 26, 1933

Presented credentials: November 28, 1933

Terminated mission: Left post, November 1, 1934

Hugh Gladney Grant – Political appointee

Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary

Appointed: August 9, 1935

Presented credentials: November 8, 1935

Terminated mission: Left post, September 27, 1939

Note: Italian forces occupied Tirana on April 8, 1939, which effectively brought an end to the U.S. mission to Albania. The U.S. legation was officially closed on September 16, 1939.

Note: The United States resumed diplomatic relations with Albania on March 15, 1991. Embassy Tirana was opened October 1, 1991 with Christopher R. Hill as Chargé d’Affaires ad interim. The previous legation was raised to embassy status and the envoys would henceforth have the rank of Ambassador.

William Edwin Ryerson – Career FSO