Embassy of the United States in France

The Embassy of the United States in France is the diplomatic representation of the United States of America to the French Republic. It is located at no. 2, avenue Gabriel, in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It is surrounded by avenues Gabriel and des Champs-Élysées, rue Boissy-d'Anglas and the northeast corner of Place de la Concorde. It is also adjacent to the Hôtel de Crillon (5*) and the Palais de l'Élysée.

Diplomatic representation of the USA in France since 1779

France was the first country to recognize (and financially support) the United States, then at war with the United Kingdom. The United States' first representative was Benjamin Franklin (1779-1785), one of its negotiators, who had been negotiating with Louis XVI's France since 1776. He was succeeded by the great figures of American independence: John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Monroe.
This was followed by 29 plenipotentiary ministers until 1893, and then 39 plenipotentiary ambassadors to France. Since 2022, the Ambassador has been Mrs Denise Campbell Bauer.

The Embassy of the United States in Paris until 1932

Since its establishment in France, the Embassy has changed address a dozen times. A Congressional decree in 1926 authorized the acquisition in 1928 of the property at the north-west corner of Place de la Concorde. This was the site of the Hôtel Grimod de La Reynière. Poorly maintained and repeatedly altered by disfiguring additions, particularly in the 19th century, it was demolished in 1932.
Shortly afterwards, the commission appointed the New York architectural firm Delano & Aldrich to design a building in harmony with the architectural style given to the square by Louis XV's architect, Jacques-Ange Gabriel.
The new building would be a visual response to the Hôtel Saint-Florentin, located on the opposite side of the square, in the northeast corner, and owned by the Rothschild family. It had been requisitioned during the war to house the German navy, then returned after the war and leased to the U.S. government in 1948.

The new Embassy of the United States built in 1932

In 1932, during his speech at the laying of the foundation stone, Ambassador Walter Evans Edge saw this architectural complementarity as a symbol of Franco-American harmony: "When this building is completed, it will complete the projects of Jacques-Ange Gabriel, the architect of Louis XV, thus contributing to the symmetry and perfection of the romantic heart of Paris, the Place de la Concorde. May he also [...] contribute to the perfection and symmetry of Franco-American relations."
All the services directly dependent on the Embassy and Consulate are grouped together at 2 Avenue Gabriel, having also used the Hôtel Saint Florentin (where Talleyrand died in 1838), which the United States purchased in 1950. It is still home to the George C. Marshall Center, which has been co-located with the Jones Day law firm since 2008.
By 2021, the embassy will have nearly 600 employees. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, it received 3,000 visits from Americans a year, including 100 to 150 from VIPs.
Since 2005, the embassy has been topped by a not particularly aesthetic telecommunications spy station belonging to the Special Collection Service, like many other US embassies around the world.

Diplomatic relations between France and the United States

Diplomatic relations between the two countries have continued uninterrupted since Benjamin Franklin. Even during the many changes of French regime (the five French Republics, the two Empires, the Restoration, the Bourbon Monarchy and the July Monarchy), except between November 1942 and October 1944.

After the creation of the Vichy government (the vote of full powers to Marshal Pétain on July 10, 1940), the United States recognized the Vichy government and even gave the Marshal a car (a Pontiac) for his day-to-day travel.
Ambassador William D. Leahy (1941-1942) was recalled in May 1942, and the U.S. Embassy was placed under the direction of Somerville Pinkney Tuck, with the rank and function of chargé d'affaires, until November 8, 1942. On that date, following the landing of US forces in North Africa, diplomatic relations between the two countries were interrupted,

During this period, the United States made no official contact or recognition with the structures under General de Gaulle's command from 1940 to 1944. We know that President Roosevelt preferred the more docile General Giraud.
Diplomatic relations between France and the United States were not re-established until October 23, 1944. The presentation of credentials to the new US ambassador to France, Jefferson Caffery, will be made to General de Gaulle, then President of the Provisional Government of the French Republic.

Various sites property of the U.S. federal government.

• Hôtel de Pontalba - residence of the U.S. Ambassador to France (41, rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, 8th arrondissement, Paris)
• Permanent Delegation of the United States to the OECD (12, avenue Raphaël, 16th arrondissement, Paris)
• American Center for Art and Culture (34, avenue de New-York, 16th arrondissement, Paris)
• American Library in Paris (10, rue du Général-Camou, 7th arrondissement, Paris)
• United States Foundation in the Cité internationale universitaire de Paris (15, boulevard Jourdan, 14th arrondissement, Paris)
• Hôtel Saint Florentin (2 rue St Florentin - 1st arrondissement) is also owned by the U.S. federal government. Until spring 2007, it housed the Consular Section, the Public Affairs Section, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Office of Military Cooperation (ODC) which are now at no. 2, avenue Gabriel. Today, it houses the George C. Marshall Center and, since 2008, the Jones Day law firm.