The United States ambassador to Vietnam (Vietnamese: Đại sứ Hoa Kỳ tại Việt Nam) is the chief American diplomat to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. After the First Indochina War and the defeat of the French domination over Vietnam, the country was split into North and South Vietnam (the Republic of Vietnam) at the Geneva Conference of 1954. The United States did not recognize North Vietnam and thus had no diplomatic relations with the country. After the reunification of Vietnam in 1976, there followed a period of 20 years in which the United States had no diplomatic relations with Vietnam.
| Ambassador of the United States to Vietnam | |
|---|---|
| Đại sứ Hoa Kỳ tại Việt Nam | |
 Seal of the United States Mission to Vietnam | |
 | |
| Nominator | The President of the United States |
| Inaugural holder | Pete Peterson as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary |
| Formation | April 11, 1997 |
| Website | U.S. Embassy - Hanoi |
The U.S. opened a Liaison Office in Hanoi on January 28, 1995. Diplomatic relations were established July 11, 1995, and the embassy in Hanoi was established with L. Desaix Anderson as chargé d’affaires ad interim.
Ambassadors
1950 to 1975 (South Vietnam)
Since 1997
| Name | Title | Appointed | Presented credentials | Terminated mission |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pete Peterson – Political appointee[1] | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | April 11, 1997 | May 14, 1997 | July 15, 2001 |
| Raymond Burghardt – Career FSO | November 28, 2001 | February 5, 2002 | September 5, 2004 | |
| Michael W. Marine – Career FSO | May 6, 2004 | September 10, 2004 | August 10, 2007 | |
| Michael W. Michalak – Career FSO[2] | May 24, 2007 | August 10, 2007 | February 14, 2011 | |
| Virginia E. Palmer – Career FSO[3] | Chargé d'Affaires ad interim | February 14, 2011 | - | July 2011 |
| David B. Shear – Career FSO[4] | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | August 4, 2011 | August 29, 2011 | August 8, 2014 |
| Ted Osius – Career FSO[5] | December 10, 2014[6] | December 16, 2014[7] | November 4, 2017 | |
| Daniel Kritenbrink – Career FSO | October 27, 2017 | November 6, 2017 | April 15, 2021 | |
| Christopher Klein[8] | Chargé d'Affaires ad interim | April 15, 2021[9] | - | October 15, 2021 |
| Marie C. Damour | Chargé d'Affaires ad interim | October 15, 2021[10] | - | January 3, 2022[11] |
| Marc Knapper – Career FSO | Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary | January 3, 2022[12] | February 11, 2022[13] | Incumbent |
Residence
The house used by the U.S. ambassador was designed by M. LaCollogne, Principal Architect and Chief of Civil Construction Service in Tonkin and built in 1921 by Indochina Public Property, part of the French colonial government, for Indochina Financial Governors who lived here until 1948. The house was then assigned, until 1954, to the highest-ranking Indochina Tariff Officer. When the French left South East Asia in 1954, Vietnamese government officials moved in. Deputy Prime Minister Phan Kế Toại was the last occupant; at his death, the house became the headquarter of the Committee for Foreign Culture Exchange. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ press office was located in the building until 1994. The residence was included in an exchange of property between the United States of America and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1995.[14]
