The history of Ambassadors of the United States to Poland began in 1919.
Until the end of the Great War, Poland had been partitioned between Russia, Germany, and Austria-Hungary. After the war and the collapse of the empires, Poland became an independent republic in 1918.
The United States recognized the Second Polish Republic and established diplomatic relations. The first U.S. Minister to Poland was Hugh S. Gibson, appointed in 1919.
Diplomatic relations were maintained throughout the years of World War II with the government-in-exile of Poland resident in London.
The U.S. Embassy in Poland is located in Warsaw.
Hugh S. Gibson – Career FSO
Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
Appointed: April 16, 1919
Presented credentials: May 2, 1919
Terminated mission: Presented recall May 3, 1924
Alfred J. Pearson – Political appointee
Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
Appointed: April 2, 1924
Presented credentials: June 26, 1924
Terminated mission: Left post August 18, 1925
John B. Stetson, Jr. – Political appointee
Title: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
Appointed: July 3, 1925
Presented credentials: August 29, 1925
Terminated mission: Left post August 29, 1929
Note: From 1930 onward, the U.S. envoy to Poland had the rank of ambassador.
Alexander P. Moore – Political appointee
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: January 31, 1930
President Hoover nominated Moore as ambassador, but Moore died before taking the oath of office.
John N. Willys – Political appointee
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: March 8, 1930
Presented credentials: May 24, 1930
Terminated mission: Left post May 30, 1932
Ferdinand Lammot "Mot" Belin – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: November 2, 1932
Presented credentials: December 13, 1932
Terminated mission: Recess appointment expired, March 4, 1933
Note: President Roosevelt nominated James Michael Curley for the post in 1933 but withdrew the nomination before the Senate acted upon it.
John Cudahy – Political appointee
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: June 13, 1933
Presented credentials: September 6, 1933
Terminated mission: Left post April 23, 1937
Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, Jr. – Political appointee
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: May 4, 1937
Presented credentials: June 2, 1937
Terminated mission: Left London December 1, 1943
Wartime Notes:
Biddle was the U.S. ambassador in Warsaw in September 1939 when Germany invaded Poland, which action set off World War II. The government of Poland evacuated the country, first to France (September 1939–June 1940) and later to England. Rudolf E. Schoenfeld opened the U.S. embassy near the government of Poland established in England, making his initial call as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim on September 21, 1940. Biddle followed the government-in-exile to London, where he arrived on March 14, 1941, and continued as ambassador through 1943.
Biddle was also commissioned to the governments-in-exile of Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Yugoslavia.
The U.S. embassy in London to the government-in-exile of Poland was terminated on July 5, 1945. Rudolf E. Schoenfeld was still serving as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim when United States withdrew the recognition of the Polish government in exile, recognizing the new communist government, and the mission in London was closed.
The U.S. Embassy in Warsaw was reestablished on July 5, 1945, the same day on which the embassy in London was closed. Ambassador Lane (see below) was in charge of the embassy pending his presentation of credentials.
Arthur Bliss Lane – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: September 21, 1944
Presented credentials: August 4, 1945
Terminated mission: Left post February 24, 1947
Stanton Griffis – Political appointee
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: May 15, 1947
Presented credentials: July 9, 1947
Terminated mission: Left post April 21, 1948
Waldemar J. Gallman – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: July 7, 1948
Presented credentials: October 15, 1948
Terminated mission: Left post July 8, 1950
Joseph Flack – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: September 20, 1950
Presented credentials: November 30, 1950
Terminated mission: Left Poland, April 22, 1955
Joseph E. Jacobs – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: April 1, 1955
Presented credentials: May 23, 1955
Terminated mission: Left post July 23, 1957
Jacob D. Beam – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: June 26, 1957
Presented credentials: August 9, 1957
Terminated mission: Left post November 30, 1961
John M. Cabot – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: January 30, 1962
Presented credentials: March 2, 1962
Terminated mission: Left post September 24, 1965
John A. Gronouski – Political appointee
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: September 11, 1965
Presented credentials: December 7, 1965
Terminated mission: Left post May 26, 1968
Walter J. Stoessel, Jr. – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: July 24, 1968
Presented credentials: September 12, 1968
Terminated mission: Left post August 5, 1972
Richard T. Davies – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: December 2, 1972
Presented credentials: January 5, 1973
Terminated mission: Left post February 5, 1978
William E. Schaufele, Jr. – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: February 3, 1978
Presented credentials: March 30, 1978
Terminated mission: Left post September 11, 1980
Francis J. Meehan – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: October 2, 1980
Presented credentials: October 27, 1980
Terminated mission: Left post February 11, 1983
Note: The following officers served as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim: Herbert E. Wilgis, Jr. (February–July 1983); and John R. Davis, Jr. (September 1983–January 1987). Davis was appointed as Chargé d'Affaires on January 9, 1987 and subsequently appointed as ambassador.
John R. Davis, Jr. – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: February 5, 1988
Presented credentials: March 17, 1988
Terminated mission: Left post July 20, 1990
Thomas W. Simons, Jr. – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: August 6, 1990
Presented credentials: September 11, 1990
Terminated mission: Left post April 28, 1993
Nicholas Andrew Rey – Political appointee
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: November 22, 1993
Presented credentials: December 21, 1993
Terminated mission: Left post October 25, 1997
Daniel Fried – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: November 10, 1997
Presented credentials: November 27, 1997
Terminated mission: Left post May 6, 2000
Christopher R. Hill – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: May 31, 2000
Presented credentials: July 27, 2000
Terminated mission: Left post April 14, 2004
Victor Henderson Ashe – Political appointee
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: May 26, 2004
Presented credentials: August 17, 2004
Terminated mission: September 29, 2009
Lee A. Feinstein - Political appointee
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: September 28, 2009
Presented credentials: October 20, 2009
Terminated mission: October, 2012
Stephen Mull – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: November 8, 2012
Presented credentials: October 24, 2012
Terminated mission: August 29, 2015
Paul W. Jones – Career FSO
Title: Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Appointed: June 8, 2015
Presented credentials: September 24, 2015
