# List of ambassadors of the United States to Bulgaria

The United States ambassador to Bulgaria (Bulgarian: Посланик на САЩ в България) is the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary from the United States to Bulgaria.

## Ambassadors
### Diplomatic agent

| Name | Appointed | Presented credentials | End of term |
| Charles M. Dickinson | April 24, 1901 | | Appointed terminated, June 30, 1903 |
| John Brinkerhoff Jackson | June 5, 1903 | September 19, 1903 | Recommissioned to a different combination of countries |
| John Brinkerhoff Jackson | March 8, 1905 | | Presented recall, June 4, 1907 |
| Horace G. Knowles | July 1, 1907 | August 21, 1907 | Left Bucharest, February 4, 1909 |
| Huntington Wilson | December 17, 1908 | January 11, 1909 | |
| Spencer F. Eddy | January 11, 1909 | | |
| John R. Carter | September 25, 1909 | October 24, 1911 | October 24, 1911 |
* ↑ Appointed to Bulgaria was in addition to assignment as Consul General at Constantinople, where Dickinson resided. No record has been found of Presented credentials at Sofia. Commissioned during a recess of the Senate.
* ↑ Dickinson became persona non grata after some very strong representations in Fall 1901 and was recommissioned after confirmation on December 10, 1901
* ↑ Commissioned as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Greece, Romania, and Serbia and Diplomatic Agent in Bulgaria; resident at Athens. Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on November 16, 1903.
* ↑ Commissioned as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Greece and Montenegro and Diplomatic Agent in Bulgaria; resident at Athens.
* ↑ Commissioned as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Romania and Serbia and Diplomatic Agent in Bulgaria; resident at Bucharest.
* ↑ Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on December 12, 1907.
* ↑ Commissioned as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Romania and Serbia and Diplomatic Agent in Bulgaria; took oath of office, but did not proceed to post.
* ↑ Commissioned as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Romania and Diplomatic Agent in Bulgaria; served at Bucharest, but did not present credentials in Bulgaria.
* ↑ Commissioned during a recess of the Senate as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Romania and Serbia and Diplomatic Agent in Bulgaria; served at Bucharest, but did not present credentials in Bulgaria. Recommissioned after confirmation on December 13, 1909.

### Envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary

| Name | Career | Appointed | Presented credentials | End of term |
| John R. Carter | | June 24, 1910 | | |
| John Brinkerhoff Jackson | | August 12, 1911 | February 1, 1912 | Presented recall, October 18, 1913 |
| Charles J. Vopicka | Non-career appointee | September 11, 1913 | December 26, 1913 | Relieved of active functions pertaining to Legation Sofia, December 17, 1918 |
| Charles S. Wilson | Foreign Service officer | October 8, 1921 | December 5, 1921 | Presented recall, October 4, 1928 |
| H. F. Arthur Schoenfeld | Foreign Service officer | July 17, 1928 | | |
| Henry Wharton Shoemaker | Non-career appointee | January 22, 1930 | March 28, 1930 | Left post, August 2, 1933 |
| Frederick A. Sterling | Foreign Service officer | September 1, 1933 | April 3, 1934 | Left post, June 30, 1936 |
| Ray Atherton | Foreign Service officer | July 13, 1937 | October 21, 1937 | Left post, July 5, 1939 |
| George H. Earle III | Non-career appointee | February 14, 1940 | April 2, 1940 | Bulgaria declared war on the U.S. on the 13 December 1941 |
| Donald R. Heath | Foreign Service officer | September 30, 1947 | November 8, 1947 | Declared persona non grata by Government of Bulgaria, January 19, 1950 |
| Edward Page, Jr. | Foreign Service officer | November 23, 1959 | March 14, 1960 | Left post, May 25, 1962 |
| Eugenie Anderson | Non-career appointee | May 28, 1962 | August 3, 1962 | Left post, December 6, 1964 |
| Nathaniel Davis | Foreign Service officer | May 6, 1965 | June 4, 1965 | Left post, May 20, 1966 |
| John M. McSweeney | Foreign Service officer | September 16, 1966 | October 26, 1966 | Promoted to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary |
* ↑ Commissioned as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria; resident at Bucharest.
* ↑ Commissioned as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria; resident at Bucharest. Charles S. Wilson presented credentials March 18, 1919, as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim at Sofia and served as such until July 1921.
* ↑ Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on January 23, 1929; did not serve under either Appointed.
* ↑ Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on January 15, 1934.
* ↑ Earle left post late in Dec. 1941, arriving at Istanbul (en route to the U.S.) December 27, 1941. Legation Sofia was reestablished September 27, 1947, with John Evarts Horner as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim.
* ↑ Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on December 9, 1947. The Department of State announced on February 21, 1950, the suspension of diplomatic relations with Bulgaria; Heath left post, February 24, 1950.
* ↑ Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on January 21, 1960.

### Ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary

| Name | Career | Appointed | Presented credentials | End of term |
| John M. McSweeney | Foreign Service officer | April 5, 1967 | April 19, 1967 | Left post, May 29, 1970 |
| Horace G. Torbert, Jr. | Foreign Service officer | October 6, 1970 | November 4, 1970 | Left post, January 23, 1973 |
| Martin F. Herz | Foreign Service officer | February 28, 1974 | April 3, 1974 | Left post, August 6, 1977 |
| Raymond L. Garthoff | Foreign Service officer | July 29, 1977 | September 16, 1977 | Left post, October 9, 1979 |
| Jack Richard Perry | Foreign Service officer | September 20, 1979 | October 17, 1979 | Left post, September 27, 1981 |
| Robert L. Barry | Foreign Service officer | November 25, 1981 | December 8, 1981 | July 12, 1984 |
| Melvyn Levitsky | Foreign Service officer | September 21, 1984 | November 13, 1984 | Left post, February 6, 1987 |
| Sol Polansky | Foreign Service officer | June 15, 1987 | September 4, 1987 | Left post, August 17, 1990 |
| Hugh Kenneth Hill | Foreign Service officer | August 6, 1990 | September 18, 1990 | Left post, September 5, 1993 |
| William Dale Montgomery | Foreign Service officer | October 8, 1993 | October 27, 1993 | Left post, January 17, 1996 |
| Avis T. Bohlen | Foreign Service officer | July 2, 1996 | September 5, 1996 | Left post August 13, 1999 |
| Richard Monroe Miles | Foreign Service officer | August 9, 1999 | September 8, 1999 | Left post February 28, 2002 |
| James W. Pardew | Foreign Service officer | April 1, 2002 | May 13, 2002 | Left post, July 30, 2005 |
| John Beyrle | Foreign Service officer | July 9, 2005 | September 8, 2005 | April 28, 2008 |
| Nancy McEldowney | Foreign Service officer | May 2, 2008 | August 26, 2008 | July 30, 2009 |
| James B. Warlick, Jr. | Foreign Service officer | December 24, 2009 | January 19, 2010 | September 14, 2012 |
| Marcie Berman Ries | Foreign Service officer | May 24, 2012 | October 1, 2012 | July 28, 2015 |
| Eric S. Rubin | Foreign Service officer | December 9, 2015 | January 27, 2016 | July 9, 2019 |
| Herro Mustafa | Foreign Service officer | September 29, 2019 | October 18, 2019 | March 1, 2023 |
| Kenneth H. Merten | Foreign Service officer | December 13, 2022 | April 7, 2023 | January 29, 2025 |
* ↑ Legation Sofia had been raised to Embassy status November 28, 1966 with Minister McSweeney in charge pending his own promotion to the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.