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, recognized 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 , severed communications between Iceland and Denmark. As a result, on April 10, the Parliament of Iceland elected to take control of their own foreign affairs. The United States thus commissioned Lincoln MacVeagh as its first ambassador to Iceland on . MacVeagh presented his credentials to the foreign minister of Iceland on . 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 .
List of ambassadors #NameTitleAppointmentPresentation of credentialsTermination of missionNature of appointmentNature of termination1Lincoln MacVeaghEnvoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary1941-08-081941-09-301942-06-27Political appointeeLeft post2Leland Burnette Morris1942-08-131942-10-071944-05-10Career FSORelinquished charge3Louis Goethe Dreyfus, Jr.1944-03-211944-06-141946-10-21Left post4Richard P. Butrick1948-02-261948-04-291949-08-105Edward B. Lawson1949-07-221949-09-221954-05-296John Joseph Muccio1954-08-231954-10-121955-10-19Mission title changedAmbassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary1955-10-191955-11-031959-12-16Left post7Tyler Thompson1960-01-271960-02-191961-04-168James K. Penfield1961-04-271961-05-241967-03-169Karl Fritjof Rolvaag1967-04-051967-05-091969-03-27Political appointee10Luther I. Replogle1969-07-081969-09-121972-06-1511Frederick Irving1972-09-111972-10-111976-04-21Career FSO12James J. Blake1976-07-011976-09-081978-09-2913Richard A. Ericson, Jr.1978-10-121978-11-211981-08-1514Marshall Brement1981-07-271981-09-161985-08-0115L. Nicholas Ruwe1985-07-121985-08-211989-10-07Political appointee16Charles Elvan Cobb, Jr.1989-10-101989-11-081992-01-1017Sigmund Rogich1992-05-111992-06-041993-10-1418Parker W. Borg1993-10-081993-11-241996-07-13Career FSO19Day O. Mount1996-06-111996-09-031999-08-1220Barbara J. Griffiths1999-08-091999-09-292002-07-2921James Irvin Gadsden2002-10-032002-12-092005-07-1422Carol van Voorst2006-01-032006-01-262009-04-3023Luis E. Arreaga2010-09-102010-09-202013-11-2324Robert C. Barber2015-01-022015-01-282017-01-20Political appointee25Jeffrey Ross Gunter2019-05-232019-07-022021-01-2026Carrin Patman2022-08-072022-10-062025-01-1827Billy Long2026-05-182026-08-10Present
See also Ambassadors of the United States Foreign relations of Iceland Iceland–United States relations
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Further reading