# List of ambassadors of the United States to Cuba

The United States ambassador to the Republic of Cuba is the official representative of the president of the United States to the head of state of Cuba, and serves as the head of the Embassy of the United States in Havana. Direct bilateral diplomatic relations did not exist between the two countries from 1961 to 2015. President Dwight D. Eisenhower severed relations following the Cuban Revolution on January 3, 1961. Relations were subsequently restored by Cuban President Raúl Castro and President Barack Obama on July 20, 2015.
With the restoration of relations in 2015, the president may nominate an ambassador, though the position has remained vacant since 1960. The embassy is currently run by a Chargé d'affaires ad interim, Benjamin G. Ziff. The Chargé d'affaires and the embassy staff at large work in the American Embassy on the Malecón in Havana.

## History

Cuba was the last major Spanish colony to gain independence, following a lengthy struggle that began in 1868. José Martí, Cuba's national hero, helped initiate the final push for independence in 1895. In 1898, the United States fought a brief war known as the Spanish–American War, after the USS Maine sank in Havana Harbor on February 15, 1898, due to an explosion of undetermined origin. In December 1898, Spain relinquished control of Cuba to the United States with the Treaty of Paris. On May 20, 1902, the United States granted Cuba its independence but retained the right to intervene to preserve Cuban independence and stability in accordance with the Platt Amendment. Prior to 1902, American interests in Cuba were represented by a Consul-General at Havana.
In 1902 the US established an embassy in Havana and appointed its first ambassador, Herbert G. Squiers. In 1934, the Platt Amendment was repealed. The United States and Cuba concluded a Treaty of Relations in 1934 which, among other things, continued the 1903 agreements that leased the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base to the United States. In 1959 Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement overthrew the government of Fulgencio Batista and Batista fled the country on January 1, 1959. Relations between the United States and Cuba deteriorated rapidly as the Cuban government expropriated US properties and developed close ties with the Soviet Union. In October 1960, the US recalled its ambassador to protest Castro's policies. On January 3, 1961, the US withdrew diplomatic recognition of the Cuban government and closed the embassy in Havana. On September 1, 1977, the US established the United States Interests Section in Havana, located in its former embassy and operated under the auspices of the Embassy of Switzerland in Havana. The Interests Section was headed by Chief of Mission rather than an ambassador. Bilateral relations between the two governments resumed on July 20, 2015.

## Consuls General at Havana

* William Shaler (1829–1833)
* Nicholas Trist (1833–1841)
* James S. Calhoun (1841–1842)
* Robert B. Campbell (1842–1850)
* Allen F. Owen (1851–1851)
* William L. Sharkey (1851–1853)
* Alexander M. Clayton (1853–1854)
* Roger Barton (1854–1856)
* Andrew K. Blythe (1856–1858)
* Charles J. Helm (1858–1861)
* Robert Wilson Shufeldt (1861–1863)
* William T. Minor (1864–1867)
* Henry C. Hall (1873–1877)
* Adam Badeau (1882–1884)
* Ramon O. Williams (1884–1896)
* Fitzhugh Lee (1896–1898)
* J. Frank Aldrich (appointed 1897 but never took office)
* Edward S. Bragg (1902–1902)

## Ambassadors

| Name | Appointed | Presented credentials | Terminated mission | Notes |
| Herbert G. Squiers | May 20, 1902 | May 27, 1902 | December 2, 1905 | |
| Edwin V. Morgan | November 29, 1905 | March 1, 1906 | January 5, 1910 | |
| John Brinkerhoff Jackson | December 21, 1909 | March 22, 1910 | October 27, 1911 | Recalled |
| Arthur M. Beaupre | August 12, 1911 | December 18, 1911 | June 28, 1913 | |
| William E. Gonzales | June 21, 1913 | August 9, 1913 | December 18, 1919 | Political appointee |
| Boaz W. Long | June 30, 1919 | January 8, 1920 | June 17, 1921 | Political appointee |
| Enoch H. Crowder | February 10, 1923 | March 5, 1923 | May 28, 1927 | Political appointee |
| Noble Brandon Judah | November 22, 1927 | December 17, 1927 | June 1, 1929 | Political appointee |
| Harry F. Guggenheim | October 10, 1929 | November 21, 1929 | April 2, 1933 | Political appointee |
| Sumner Welles | April 24, 1933 | May 11, 1933 | December 13, 1933 | Career FSO. |
| Jefferson Caffery | February 23, 1934 | February 28, 1934 | March 9, 1937 | Career FSO |
| J. Butler Wright | July 13, 1937 | August 23, 1937 | December 4, 1939 | Career FSO. Died at post. |
| George S. Messersmith | January 12, 1940 | March 8, 1940 | February 8, 1942 | Career FSO. Recalled. |
| Spruille Braden | December 20, 1941 | May 19, 1942 | April 27, 1945 | Political appointee |
| Raymond Henry Norweb | May 21, 1945 | July 24, 1945 | May 22, 1948 | Career FSO |
| Robert Butler | May 22, 1948 | June 8, 1948 | February 10, 1951 | Political appointee |
| Willard L. Beaulac | June 20, 1951 | September 20, 1951 | August 9, 1953 | Career FSO |
| Arthur Gardner | May 28, 1953 | October 16, 1953 | June 16, 1957 | Political appointee |
| Earl E. T. Smith | June 3, 1957 | July 23, 1957 | January 19, 1959 | Political appointee |
| Philip W. Bonsal | February 16, 1959 | March 3, 1959 | October 28, 1960 | Career FSO. |
Normal relations were severed in January 1961 and were not re-established until July 2015. An ambassador to Cuba has not been appointed since the re-establishment of diplomatic relations. All the following served Chargé d'affaires ad interim.
* Jeffrey DeLaurentis from July 20, 2015, to July 7, 2017
* Scott Hamilton from July 7 to October 26, 2017
* Lawrence J. Gumbiner from October 26, 2017, to February 11, 2018
* Philip Goldberg from February 11 to July 20, 2018
* Mara Tekach from July 20, 2018 to July 21, 2020
* Timothy Zúñiga-Brown from July 31, 2020, to July 14, 2022
* Benjamin G. Ziff from July 14, 2022 to November 14, 2024
* Mike Hammer from November 14, 2024

## Chiefs of the U.S. Interests Section

The Interests Section operated from September 1, 1977, to July 20, 2015.
* 1977–1979: Lyle Franklin Lane
* 1979–1982: Wayne S. Smith
* 1982–1985: John Ferch
* 1985–1987: Curtis W. Kamman
* 1987–1990: John J. Taylor
* 1990–1993: Alan H. Flanigan
* 1993–1996: Joseph Sullivan
* 1996–1999: Michael Kozak
* 1999–2002: Vicki Huddleston
* 2002–2005: James Cason
* 2005–2008: Michael E. Parmly
* 2008–2010: Jonathan D. Farrar
* 2010–2011: Vacant
* September 2011 – 2014: John Caulfield
* August 2014 – July 20, 2015: Jeffrey DeLaurentis