Jane Hartley

Jane D. Hartley
Nationality	American
Occupation	Diplomat, businesswoman
Title	U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom
Known for	U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom (2022–2025), U.S. Ambassador to France and Monaco (2014–2017)

Jane D. Hartley is an American diplomat, businesswoman, and civic leader who served as the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 2022 to 2025 and previously as the United States Ambassador to France and Monaco from 2014 to 2017. Appointed to both ambassadorial posts by Democratic presidents — Barack Obama to France and Joe Biden to the United Kingdom — Hartley brought to the diplomatic arena a career that spanned the public and private sectors, including roles in economic policy, media, and political fundraising. Her tenure as ambassador to the United Kingdom coincided with a period of significant transatlantic cooperation on issues including security, climate change, and the economic consequences of the Northern Ireland Protocol. In June 2025, Hartley was elected board chair of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, one of the oldest and most prominent international affairs think tanks in the United States. Throughout her diplomatic career, Hartley emphasized the depth and durability of the alliances between the United States and its European partners, describing the U.S.–U.K. bond in particular as "the essential relationship."

Early Life

Jane Hartley grew up in the United States and has spoken publicly about echoes of her early life experiences informing her diplomatic work. In a 2024 interview with the Financial Times, she discussed personal elements of her background, including the influence of her upbringing on her career in public service and international affairs. Details regarding her precise date and place of birth have not been widely reported in major published sources, though the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace described her as "a former diplomat with a long history in the public and private sectors" upon her election as board chair in 2025.

Hartley's career trajectory — moving from roles in government economic policy to the private sector and eventually to high-level diplomacy — suggests a formative background that emphasized education and civic engagement. In her various public appearances and interviews, she has reflected on how personal experiences, including family, shaped her worldview and approach to transatlantic relations.

Career

Early Career in Government and the Private Sector

Before entering diplomatic service, Jane Hartley built a career that encompassed both government and private-sector roles. She held positions related to economic policy in the U.S. government and later transitioned to the business world, where she was involved in media and economic advisory work. The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace noted her "long history in the public and private sectors" when announcing her election as board chair.

Hartley was also a significant figure in Democratic Party politics and fundraising. Multiple news outlets, including The Guardian and Bloomberg, reported that her ambassadorial appointments followed a bipartisan tradition of selecting prominent party donors and loyalists for prestigious diplomatic posts. The Guardian described the nomination as continuing "a practice by both parties in recent decades of appointing wealthy donors to prestigious" ambassadorial positions.

U.S. Ambassador to France and Monaco (2014–2017)

Jane Hartley was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as the United States Ambassador to France and Monaco, and she held the position from 2014 to 2017. Her tenure in Paris placed her at the center of the Franco-American relationship during a consequential period in European and transatlantic affairs.

After leaving the post, Hartley continued to speak publicly about the French-American relationship and its future trajectory. In September 2017, she sat down with the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs to discuss the state of Franco-American ties and the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead for the bilateral relationship. During this interview, conducted at Georgetown University, Hartley reflected on her experiences in the role and the importance of sustained diplomatic engagement between the two nations.

Her service in France also provided a personal connection that would later inform her subsequent ambassadorial role. In a 2024 interview with the Financial Times, Hartley discussed how her time as ambassador in Paris contained "echoes" that resonated with her later life and work in London. Former President Obama reportedly expressed envy of the official ambassadorial residence in London, Winfield House, during interactions with Hartley, an anecdote she shared during the same interview.

Nomination as U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom

In July 2021, reports emerged that President Joe Biden had selected Jane Hartley to serve as the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom. The Financial Times was among the first to report the decision, citing people familiar with the matter and describing Hartley as "a Democratic fundraiser and former ambassador to France."

The formal nomination was announced by the White House in January 2022. The nomination attracted media attention in part because it followed what both The Guardian and Bloomberg described as a long-standing bipartisan tradition of appointing major political donors and party supporters to prominent ambassadorial posts, particularly the Court of St James's. Bloomberg reported that Biden's selection of Hartley continued the pattern of choosing "party donors and loyalists" for the London posting, one of the most coveted in American diplomacy. The Guardian noted that Hartley was a "wealthy Democratic donor" and that the practice of such appointments had been common across "recent decades" regardless of party.

Hartley's nomination was subsequently confirmed by the United States Senate, and she assumed the role of U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom in 2022.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom (2022–2025)

As U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Hartley oversaw the bilateral relationship during a period marked by several significant geopolitical and economic developments, including the ongoing repercussions of Brexit, the Northern Ireland Protocol negotiations, and transatlantic security cooperation.

Security and Defense Cooperation

Hartley placed significant emphasis on the security dimension of the U.S.–U.K. relationship during her tenure. In a November 2022 opinion piece published in the Financial Times, she wrote that "US-UK security co-operation is unparalleled — and must remain so," addressing topics including climate collaboration and the challenges posed by the Northern Ireland Protocol. In the piece, Hartley argued that the challenges surrounding the Northern Ireland Protocol "must be resolved" and that the broader security partnership between Washington and London should be preserved and strengthened.

The "Essential Relationship"

In a wide-ranging June 2024 interview with Financial Times editor Gillian Tett, Hartley articulated her view of the U.S.–U.K. alliance, stating: "I call it the essential relationship." The interview covered a range of topics, from the formal aspects of transatlantic diplomacy to more personal subjects, including Hartley's habit of taking night walks with her dog and the anecdote about Barack Obama's admiration for the ambassadorial residence in London. The phrase "essential relationship" reflected Hartley's diplomatic framing of the alliance — distinct from the more commonly used "special relationship" — and signaled her view that the bond between the two countries was rooted in practical necessity as much as in historical sentiment.

Northern Ireland Protocol

Throughout her ambassadorship, one of the recurring diplomatic challenges was the status of the Northern Ireland Protocol and its implications for trade, political stability in Northern Ireland, and the broader U.S.–U.K. relationship. Hartley publicly called for resolution of the Protocol's challenges, as reflected in her November 2022 Financial Times article, in which she stated that the issues "must be resolved." The United States, under both the Biden administration and through Congressional interest, maintained a close watch on developments in Northern Ireland, and Hartley served as a key interlocutor on the issue during her time in London.

Climate and Economic Collaboration

Hartley also addressed climate change and economic collaboration as central pillars of the U.S.–U.K. partnership. In her November 2022 Financial Times piece, she listed climate as one of the major areas of bilateral cooperation alongside security. Her emphasis on these issues reflected the Biden administration's broader foreign policy priorities, which sought to integrate climate action into diplomatic and economic agendas with key allies.

Post-Ambassadorial Career

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

In June 2025, following her departure from the ambassadorial post, Jane Hartley was elected board chair of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a leading global think tank focused on international affairs and policy research. The Carnegie Endowment announced the appointment on June 24, 2025, describing Hartley as "a former diplomat with a long history in the public and private sectors." The role placed Hartley at the helm of one of the oldest international affairs institutions in the United States, founded in 1910, and signaled her continued engagement with foreign policy and global governance issues after leaving government service.

Personal Life

Jane Hartley has shared limited details about her personal life in public forums, though some aspects have been discussed in interviews. In her June 2024 Financial Times interview, she mentioned her habit of taking night walks with her dog near the ambassadorial residence in London, offering a glimpse into her daily life during her tenure as ambassador. She also discussed personal reflections and "echoes of her life" in the same interview, though specific details about her family, spouse, or children have not been prominently reported in the available published sources.

Hartley's mother, Dorothy Jane Hartley, passed away on July 1, 2023, at the age of 97.

Recognition

Jane Hartley's diplomatic career has been recognized through her appointments to two of the most prominent ambassadorial posts in U.S. diplomacy — France and the United Kingdom. Both positions are among the most coveted in the American foreign service and are typically reserved for individuals with significant stature in public life or political circles.

Her election as board chair of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in 2025 represented a further form of recognition of her contributions to international affairs and diplomacy. The Carnegie Endowment is one of the most established and influential foreign policy institutions in the world, and the board chair position carries considerable prestige within the international affairs community.

Hartley's public writings and speeches, including her Financial Times contributions on U.S.–U.K. security cooperation and her interview discussing the "essential relationship," have been cited as significant articulations of American diplomatic priorities during her tenure. Her appearance at Georgetown University to discuss the Franco-American relationship after her service in Paris further demonstrated her role as a public voice on transatlantic affairs.

Legacy

Jane Hartley's diplomatic career is notable for her service as ambassador to two of the United States' closest and most historically significant allies — France and the United Kingdom. Her dual ambassadorial tenures placed her in a small group of American diplomats to have served in both Paris and London, two posts that have long been considered among the most important in U.S. foreign relations.

Her framing of the U.S.–U.K. alliance as "the essential relationship" offered a distinctive rhetorical contribution to the discourse surrounding transatlantic ties, complementing and in some respects updating the more traditional "special relationship" terminology that has characterized Anglo-American diplomacy since the era of Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Hartley's ambassadorship to the United Kingdom coincided with a complex period in British politics and transatlantic relations, including the aftermath of Brexit, the challenges of the Northern Ireland Protocol, and the need for coordinated Western responses to global security threats. Her public advocacy for resolving the Protocol's challenges and her emphasis on the "unparalleled" nature of U.S.–U.K. security cooperation reflected the Biden administration's approach to managing the alliance during a period of transition.

Her subsequent election as board chair of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in 2025 suggested a continued role in shaping foreign policy discourse and institutional governance beyond her government service. The appointment positioned her to influence the direction of one of the world's foremost international affairs research institutions during a period of significant global change.

Hartley's career trajectory — from government economic policy roles to the private sector, political fundraising, high-level diplomacy, and think tank leadership — illustrates a pattern common among American diplomatic appointees, in which public and private sector experience intersects with political engagement to create pathways to ambassadorial service.