Biden selects U.K. ambassador
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will nominate Jane Hartley, a former ambassador to France, to serve as ambassador to Britain, according to two people with knowledge of the decision.
The ambassadorship to the Court of St. James’s, along with the one to Paris, is considered among the most prestigious postings for an American president to fill. Of the two plum spots — each with a lovely mansion in the heart of two of Europe’s great cities — the London position is usually considered the more consequential job because of the close diplomatic, military and historical relationship between the United States and Britain.
But Mr. Biden’s team struggled for months to find the right person for the job, and it had considered a wide range of prominent people, including former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg and former Secretary of State Colin Powell. The White House had also approached career Foreign Service officers.
At one point, the White House had discussed selecting a Black person for the role. There has never been a
Black U.S. ambassador to Britain, and the historic nature of the pick would come after Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, gave public accounts of racism from within Britain’s royal family, which the family has denied.
A White House official said no ambassador decision is final until it is announced. Ms. Hartley could not immediately be reached for comment.
The White House on Friday did announce that Mr. Biden will nominate former Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., to serve as ambassador to New Zealand.
Mr. Udall served two terms in the Senate and five terms in the House of Representatives. A prominent advocate for the environment and Native Americans, Mr. Udall had been a contender to serve as secretary of the interior, a posting his father held in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Mr. Biden selected Rep. Deb Haaland, D-N.M., for the job instead.
Ms. Hartley, who was a major fundraiser for President Barack Obama, was a significant fundraising “bundler” for Mr. Biden’s campaign, although not in the upper echelon.
People close to Mr. Biden were surprised by the pick given the president’s extensive list of close friends and longtime supporters, but they noted that Ms. Hartley supported Mr. Biden’s campaign before the Iowa caucus and did not abandon the effort when he was struggling, as some other donors did.
Ms. Hartley served as chief executive of the Observatory Group, an economic and political advisory firm, and worked at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and in the Carter White House. She is married to Ralph Schlosstein, the chief executive of Evercore, an investment bank.