List of ambassadors of the United States to Iceland
Until 1874, Iceland was a dependency of Denmark rather than an independent nation. In 1874, Denmark granted Iceland home rule, which again was expanded in 1904. In 1918, The Act of Union, an agreement between Denmark, recognised Iceland as a fully sovereign state united with Denmark under a common king. Iceland established its own flag and asked that Denmark represent its foreign affairs and defense interests. Thus the United States Ambassador to Denmark conducted foreign relations between the United States and Iceland.
The German invasion and occupation of Denmark on 9 April 1940 severed communications between Iceland and Denmark. As a result, on 10 April, the Parliament of Iceland elected to take control of their own foreign affairs. The US thus commissioned Lincoln MacVeagh as its first ambassador to Iceland on 8 August 1941. MacVeagh presented his credentials to the foreign minister of Iceland on 30 September 1941. His title was Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary. The US has maintained continuous diplomatic relations with Iceland since then.
Following a plebiscite, Iceland formally became an independent republic on 17 June 1944.
The position of ambassador was vacant from January 2017 to July 2019, with Jill Esposito heading the embassy in the interim. In August 2018, president Trump nominated Jeffrey Ross Gunter as ambassador to Iceland,. The nomination was resubmitted on January 16, 2019 and Gunter was confirmed by the Senate on 23 May 2019.
