Overview
From its ancient Viking roots to its decidedly modern way of life today, Denmark has a rich history. Positioned strategically at the entrance to the Baltic Sea, Denmark has moved from being neutral in World Wars I and II to being a vibrant trade partner, sharing many of the United States’ global goals. Denmark has recently supported US military efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq and joined with the US and other countries to maintain its liberal trade policies with the EU, OECD and WTO. Although it recently suffered destroyed diplomatic ties and death threats when a Danish newspaper printed cartoons depicting the Muslim prophet Mohammed, Denmark remains committed to free speech and human rights
Basic Information
Lay of the Land: Denmark, in northern Europe, is composed of the northern part of the peninsula of Jutland (which it shares with West Germany), and two groups of islands. To the east lies the main archipelago of some 400 islands, only about 100 of which are inhabited. On the largest of these, in the extreme east, is the capital of Copenhagen. To the west of the peninsula are the Faroe Islands and, much further, Greenland, whose status changed in 1953 from colony to a province and then, in 1979, to a sel-ruling part of Denmark. On November 25, 2008, Greenlanders voted overwhelmingly for greater autonomy. In Denmark proper, no one lives more than 33 miles from the sea. The land is highly cultivated and extremely flat. The highest mountain is 568 feet above sea level (less than half the height of the Empire State Building). Denmark is a land lacking in spectacular natural beauty, but it offers instead soft landscapes of beech trees, meadows carpeted with flowers, thatched farmhouses, and little red-roofed towns.
Population: 5.5 million
Religions: Evangelical Lutheran 83%, Muslim 3.7%, Catholic 0.6%, Jehovah's Witnesses 0.3%, Jewish 0.1%, other Christian (Baptist, Pentecostal, Mormon, Seventh-day Adventist, Methodist) 0.2%, non-religious 6.9%. Only an estimated 3% of Evangelical Lutherans attend church regularly.
Ethnic Groups: Scandinavian, Inuit, Faroese German, Turkish, Iranian, Somali.
Languages: Danish (official) 90.9%, Faroese 0.8%, German (official) 0.4%, Inuktitut 0.1%, Jutish, Scanian.
History
The earliest archeological evidence found in Denmark dates back to 130,000-110,000 BC, during the Nordic Bronze Age. From 500 BC–1 AD, the country’s earliest inhabitants began to move southward along Roman trade routes. Although the exact origins of the Danish people are unknown, they seem to derive from the Jutes, among other groups.
During the 9th-11th centuries, the Vikings occupied Denmark. The country enjoyed great power as a seafaring nation based on the Jutland Peninsula, the Island of Zealand and the southern part of what is presently Sweden. The Vikings were excellent traders along the coasts and rivers of Europe and were active in the British Isles and Western Europe.
During a series of Viking raids on nearby countries, they encountered Christianity (primarily in the form of Charlemagne’s empire). This influence served to empower the Danish monarchy, which was soon allied with the church. King Harald I made Denmark officially Christian in 965 AD, an event that was recorded on the Jelling Stones.
In the early 11th Century, King Canute brought Denmark’s power to even greater heights by uniting the country with England. This lasted for 30 years until his death, which marked the end of the Viking age.
King Valdemar II formed the Danish “Baltic Sea Empire,” which extended the country’s control from Estonia in the east to Norway in the north in 1221. Many regional laws were written during this time, including the right to property and the right of all to be equal under the law.
By the late 13th Century, royal power had diminished. The king was pressured to grant a charter and constitution to the country’s people. Struggle between the king and various noblemen continued throughout the 14th Century, but Queen Margrethe I finally succeeded in uniting Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland under the rule of the Danish crown. Alhough Sweden and Finland left the union in 1520, Norway remained until 1814. Iceland became independent in 1944.
One of the most marked changes in Danish history came about in 1536, when the Reformation was introduced. This was a widespread effort to reform the Catholic Church and remove practices such as selling indulgences, which many saw as corrupt. Denmark became a primarily Lutheran country during that time and remains so today.
In 1658, Denmark's provinces in southwestern Sweden were lost, and, after Napoleon was defeated, Norway joined Sweden in 1814. Denmark had been allied with Napoleon and had joined the league of Armed Neutrality with Russia, Sweden and Prussia to continue lucrative trading with France and the United Kingdom.
During the 1830s, liberalism became widespread in Denmark, and in 1849, the country became a constitutional monarchy. In 1864, following a war with Prussia and Austria, Denmark gave Schleswig-Holstein to Prussia and adopted a policy of neutrality that Denmark has maintained throughout the 20th century.
During World War I, Denmark remained neutral. After Germany was defeated, the Versailles powers offered to return the Schleswig-Holstein region to Denmark. But Denmark feared German retribution and insisted on a plebiscite to determine the fate of the region. On July 5, 1920, the king signed the reunion document, and the region was reunited with Denmark.
Denmark also remained neutral during World War II. The German army invaded Denmark in 1940 and occupied the country until May of 1945, when the country was liberated. There were isolated instances of resistance until 1943, and much of the Jewish population of the country was smuggled out of the country to Sweden, a country whose neutrality was honored by Germany. After the war, Denmark became a charter member of the United Nations and was one of the original signers of the North Atlantic Treaty.
In 1973, Denmark joined the European Economic Community (now known as the European Union), together with Great Britain and Ireland. Recently, Denmark has participated in major military and humanitarian operations in Cyprus, Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo, Ethiopia, Iraq and Afghanistan.
History of Denmark (Wikipedia)
History of Denmark: Primary Documents (Euro Docs)
History of Denmark (by Knud J.V. Jespersen, Gyldendal Leksikon)
Factsheet Denmark (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark) (PDF)
History of U.S. Relations with Denmark
Danes were some of the earliest settlers and explorers in the United States. Eric the Red led a Viking crew to Newfoundland in the 11th Century, making him the first European on American shores. Other early explorers included Vitus Bering, who was the first European to discover Alaska in 1728, and in whose honor the Bering Strait was named. Other Danes sought a more temperate atmosphere and settled what is today called the Virgin Islands in the 17th Century.Tthey sold the islands to the US in 1917 for $25 million.
Immigration was little more than a trickle before 1850, but picked up steam and peaked in 1882 when 11,618 Danes arrived in the United States. A significant share of immigrants came as a result of Mormon proselytizers, who arrived in Denmark in 1850, only a few months after Danes were granted religious freedom.
Approximately 17,000 Mormon Danes emigrated between 1849 and 1904 and constituted the second largest foreign group of adherents to the Utah-based church, after the British. Another source of emigration was the Schleswig area of Jutland, which was annexed by Prussia in 1864. About 50,000 dissatisfied Danes from this territory emigrated to the US between 1864 and 1920, although many of them were classified as German.
The largest impetus for emigration was the population boom, echoed throughout Europe, during the 19th Century. Denmark’s economy couldn’t support the surplus population (from 900,000 in 1800 to 2.5 million in 1910), and a large wave of economically motivated immigrants made their way to America. Danish immigrants congregated in the Midwest, in a continuous belt of communities stretching from Wisconsin across Illinois and Minnesota into Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota.
Since the 1950s, young, highly educated Danes have settled in the major cities of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Current U.S. Relations with Denmark
According to the State Department, relations between the US and Denmark are currently excellent. Denmark has supported US military efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq and has joined with the US in the Enhanced Partnership in Northern Europe (EPINE), which is designed to strengthen policy between Nordic and Baltic states.
In 2004, the Danish and Greenland Home Rule governments allowed the early warning radar to be updated in connection with the US ballistic missile defense system. This will be done at the US Air Force base in Thule, Greenland.
President George W. Bush visited Copenhagen in July 2005, and Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen met with President Bush at Camp David in June 2006 and in Crawford, Texas in March 2008.
Overall, Denmark’s trade goals have coincided with those of the US. Denmark maintains a liberal trade policy in the EU, OECD and WTO. The US is the nation’s largest non-European trade partner, accounting for approximately 5% of the country’s trade. Furthermore, Denmark’s stance on environmental and agricultural issues, as well as its strategic position in the Baltic Sea, have made it a popular target for investors and US agencies dealing in that region.
American culture continues to be popular in Denmark and more than 311,000 American tourists visit Denmark each year.
According to the 2000 US census, 1,430,897 Americans identified themselves as being of Danish origin.
In 2005, 122,892 Americans visited Denmark. Tourism has grown in sporadic bursts but has nearly doubled since 2002, when 65,582 Americans went to Denmark.
In 2006, 185,337 Danes visited the US. The number of tourists has grown steadily since 2002, when 118,716 Danes came to the United States.
The U.S.-Danish Relationship (Interview with Daniel Fried)
Where Does the Money Flow
US imports from Denmark during the years 2006 through 2007 increased as follows: food oils and oilseeds moved up from $5.7 million to $8.3 million; soft beverages, processed coffee and other drinks went up from $27.6 million to 31.6 million; finished textile industrial supplies increased from $7.9 million to $14.5 million and artwork, antiques, stamps, and other collectibles moved up from $21.7 million to $26.3 million.
On the decline were medicinal, dental and pharmaceutical preparations, which decreased from $1.2 billion to $1.1 billion (which is up from $691,065 in 2003); records, tapes, and disks went down from $3.2 million to $2.8 million; fuel oil down from $154 million to $106.8 million (which is up from $49 million in 2003); and steelmaking and ferroalloying materials (unmanufactured) down from $36.6 million to $0.
US exports to Denmark increased in the following sectors: sorghum, barley and oats increased from $0 to $33.7 million; nonferrous metals increased from $9.7 million to $21.9 million (which was up from just $3.9 million in 2003); measuring, testing and control instruments up from $51.7 million to $69.1 million; and medicinal equipment increased from $189 million to $224.7 million.
US exports declining from 2006 to 2007 included wheat, which fell from $407,000 to $0; fuel oil declined from $91 million to $16.2 million; computer accessories decreased from $118.7 million to $94.5 million; and TVs and VCRs moved down from $10.5 million to $9.4 million (which still represented an increase from $3.7 million in 2003).
The US authorized $526.7 million of defense articles and services to Denmark in 2007. Currently, the US does not give aid to Denmark.
Trade in Goods (Imports, Exports and Trade Balance) with Denmark (U.S. Census Bureau)
Doing Business in Denmark (BuyUSA.gov)
Controversies
Cartoons Depicting Mohammed Stirs Outrage & Controversy Among Muslims
Twelve cartoons, one of which depicted the Muslim prophet Mohammed with a turban shaped like a bomb with a burning fuse, drew a firestorm of controversy when they first appeared in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on September 30, 2005. The newspaper’s editors said they never meant to insult Muslims, but they refused to apologize. The editors claimed that the cartoons were meant to stimulate debate on the climate of self-censorship that has existed when discussing Islam. The Muslim religion prohibits any depictions of their prophet, even those that are respectful in nature. In response to the cartoons, many Muslim leaders left Denmark. Libya closed its embassy, as did Saudi Arabia. An Arabic boycott of Danish goods was hastily arranged in Kuwait and neighboring countries. The Danish government expressed its regrets, but cited the country’s freedom of the press and vowed not to intervene. Hezbollah urged Denmark and Norway to apologize. Palestinians burned Danish flags in the West Bank. President George W. Bush expressed his full support for Denmark and its decisions.
Danish Papers Reprint Muhammad Cartoon (by Jan M. Olsen, Associated Press)
'Plot' to kill Denmark cartoonist (Al-Jazeera)
Denmark still reeling from cartoon controversy (by Mark Colvin, ABC News Australia)
Prominent imam to leave Denmark after caricatures crisis (Associated Press)
Iran cuts trade with Denmark after cartoon controversy (ABC News Australia)
Libya closes Denmark embassy over drawings (by Khaled Al-Deeb, Associated Press)
Danish Officials Attacked For Misleading Country into War
In May 2004, Danish government officials came under attack from opposition parties and the media when it came to light that many had exaggerated or misused intelligence claims leading the nation into war in Iraq, alongside the US. The government denied that it had misled Parliament and the Danish people. One Danish Defense Intelligence Service analyst, Frank Soholm Gevil, was fired for disclosing the information. Gevil said that he felt pressure to submit reports that confirmed US and British intelligence, and he faced criminal charges going forward. Although Prime Minster Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s credibility took a hit, most Danes, at the time, favored military intervention in Iraq. By August 2005, a plurality of Danes wanted their troops withdramn from Iraq, which they in December 2007.
Danish Leaders Beset on War Data ( by Keith B. Richburg, Washington Post)
Human Rights
According to the State Department, the Danish government generally respects the human rights of its citizens, and the law and judiciary provide effective means of dealing with individual instances of abuse. Reports of religious and ethnic discrimination against minority groups have remained relatively constant over the past several years, while domestic violence against women and trafficking in women and children continued to be reported.
In 2007, there were isolated incidents of societal abuses and discrimination, including anti-immigrant (mainly Muslim and African) graffiti, desecration of ethnic minority gravesites, and low level assaults, as well as some denial of service and hiring on racial grounds. Societal discrimination against religious minorities was difficult to distinguish from discrimination against ethnic minorities. The government criticized the incidents, investigated several and brought some cases to trial.
Violence against women, including spousal abuse, remained a problem. During the year the Institute for Public Health and the National Organization of Women's Shelters estimated that 64,000 women in Denmark were exposed to domestic violence or the threat of domestic violence annually and that, in 2006, 29,000 children aged 15 or younger were living in homes where the mother was exposed to violence. The National Organization of Shelters for Battered Women and Their Children reported that in 2006 shelters provided a safe haven for 4,242 women and children, in an increase over the previous year; 43% of the women supported were noncitizens, which was also a proportional increase over the previous year.
In 2006 there were 85 cases reported of racial discrimination or racially motivated violence; however, some incidents went unreported. Reported cases involved graffiti, vandalism, theft, and racist Internet and written messages. According to police, the victims were “Jews and people of an ethnic origin other than Danish” (usually meaning both African and Middle Eastern ethnic groups). Minority group members were also sometimes the perpetrators of the incidents. The government effectively investigated and dealt with cases of racially motivated violence.
According to Amnesty International, a letter to Minister for Justice Lene Espersen of June 2008 outlined the organization’s concerns about comments he had made in a Danish news article of May 10, 2008. The letter suggests that the Danish government was contemplating the use of diplomatic assurances to return or otherwise send foreign nationals to states where they might face torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Other groups, such as Human Right Watch, have also opposed this practice, saying it provides too much latitude for misuse of power.
Denmark and diplomatic assurances against grave violations of human rights (Amnesty International)
No Guidelines on Empty ‘No Torture’ Promises (Human Rights Watch)
Past Ambassadors
Henry Wheaton
Appointment: Mar 3, 1827
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 20, 1827
Termination of Mission: Presented recall on or shortly before May 29, 1835
Jonathan F. Woodside
Appointment: Mar 3, 1835
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 1, 1835
Termination of Mission: Paid farewell calls on Jun 29, 1841
Isaac Rand Jackson
Appointment: May 20, 1841
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 12, 1841
Termination of Mission: Died at post, Jul 27, 1842
William W. Irwin
Appointment: Mar 3, 1843
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 19, 1843
Termination of Mission: Presented recall on Jun 12, 1847
Robert P. Flenniken
Appointment: Jan 11, 1847
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 12, 1847
Termination of Mission: Presented recall about Sep 15, 1849
Walter Forward
Appointment: Nov 8, 1849
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 15, 1850
Termination of Mission: Recalled on Sep 10, 1851
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Feb 19, 1850. No record has been found of presentation of letter of recall or departure from post.
Andrew J. Ogle
Appointment: Jan 22, 1852
Note: Did not proceed to post.
Miller Grieve
Appointment: Aug 30, 1852
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 15, 1852
Termination of Mission: Left post on or after Jun 23, 1853
Henry Bedinger
Appointment: May 24, 1853
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 13, 1853
Termination of Mission: Promoted to Minister Resident
Note: Nominated on Feb 25, 1856, to be Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary; nomination withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it. Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Feb 8, 1854.
Henry Bedinger
Appointment: Jun 29, 1854
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 23, 1854
Termination of Mission: Presented recall on Aug 10, 1858
James M. Buchanan
Appointment: May 11, 1858
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 10, 1858
Termination of Mission: Presented recall on May 10, 1861
Note: James M. Buchanan was the cousin of President James Buchanan (1857-1861), and received his appointment during his cousin's administration.
Bradford R. Wood
Appointment: Mar 22, 1861
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 18, 1861
Termination of Mission: Presented recall on Nov 15, 1865
Samuel J. Kirkwood
Appointment: Mar 11, 1863
Note: Declined appointment.
George H. Yeaman
Appointment: Aug 25, 1865
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 20, 1865
Termination of Mission: Presented recall, Nov 7, 1870
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Jan 22, 1866.
C. C. Andrews
Appointment: Apr 16, 1869
Note: Took oath of office, but did not proceed to post.
Michael J. Cramer
Appointment: Sep 9, 1870
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 7, 1870
Termination of Mission: Presented recall, Oct 2, 1876
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Feb 4, 1871.
Michael J. Cramer
Appointment: Aug 15, 1876
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 2, 1876
Termination of Mission: Presented recall, Aug 12, 1881
Adam Badeau
Note: Not commissioned; nomination withdrawn before the Senate acted upon it.
Charles Payson
Appointment: Jun 30, 1881
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 12, 1881
Termination of Mission: Left post, Feb 23, 1882
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Oct 29, 1881.
J. P. Wickersham
Appointment: May 1, 1882
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 13, 1882
Termination of Mission: Promoted to Minister Resident/Consul General
J.P. Wickersham
Appointment: Jul 13, 1882
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 21, 1882
Termination of Mission: Notified the Government of Denmark from Paris, Sep 8, 1882.
Wickham Hoffman
Appointment: Feb 27, 1883
Presentation of Credentials: May 4, 1883
Termination of Mission: Presented recall, Jun 1, 1885
Rasmus B. Anderson
Appointment: Apr 2, 1885
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 1, 1885
Termination of Mission: Presented recall, Aug 28, 1889
John A. Enander
Appointment: Mar 13, 1889
Note: Took oath of office, but did not proceed to post.
Clark E. Carr
Appointment: May 16, 1889
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 28, 1889
Termination of Mission: Promoted to Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Jan 9, 1890.
Clark E. Carr
Appointment: Jul 30, 1890
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 22, 1890
Termination of Mission: Presented recall, Jul 14, 1893
John E. Risley
Appointment: Mar 27, 1893
Presentation of Credentials: Jul 14, 1893
Termination of Mission: Presented recall, Dec 11, 1897
Laurits S. Swenson
Appointment: Oct 4, 1897
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 11, 1897
Termination of Mission: Presented recall, May 27, 1905
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Dec 18, 1897.
Thomas J. O'Brien
Appointment: Mar 8, 1905
Presentation of Credentials: May 27, 1905
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jun 5, 1907
Maurice Francis Egan
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 10, 1907
Termination of Mission: Sep 6, 1907 Left post, Dec 16, 1917
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Dec 12, 1907.
Norman Hapgood
Appointment: Apr 16, 1919
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 17, 1919
Termination of Mission: Left post, Dec 9, 1919
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate.
Joseph C. Grew
Appointment: Apr 7, 1920
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 9, 1920
Termination of Mission: Left post, Oct 14, 1921
John Dyneley Prince
Appointment: Sep 24, 1921
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 23, 1921
Termination of Mission: Presented recall, Mar 30, 1926
H. Percival Dodge
Appointment: Feb 23, 1926
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 24, 1926
Termination of Mission: Left post, Mar 1, 1930
Ralph H. Booth
Appointment: Jan 22, 1930
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 13, 1930
Termination of Mission: Relinquished charge, May 11, 1931
Frederick W. B. Coleman
Appointment: Sep 23, 1931
Presentation of Credentials: Feb 10, 1932
Termination of Mission: Appointment terminated, May 1, 1933
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Dec 17, 1931.
Ruth Bryan Owen
Appointment: Apr 13, 1933
Presentation of Credentials: May 29, 1933
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jun 27, 1936
Note: A commission of the same date as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Denmark and Iceland was canceled.
Alvin Mansfield Owsley
Appointment: May 28, 1937
Presentation of Credentials: Jul 16, 1937
Termination of Mission: Left post, May 15, 1939
Ray Atherton
Appointment: Aug 7, 1939
Presentation of Credentials: [Sep 8, 1939]
Termination of Mission: German forces occupied Copenhagen, Apr 9, 1940; Atherton left post, Jun 5, 1940
Note: Formally received on Sep 8, 1939. Atherton was still holding office as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Denmark when he was recommissioned as such on Jul 8, 1943, in connection with additional appointments as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Canada and Luxembourg, resident at Ottawa. R. Borden Reams was serving as Chargé d'Affaires ad interim when the Legation in Copenhagen was closed, Dec 20, 1941.
Note: The mission at Copenhagen was reopened as a Legation Jun 16, 1945, with Minister Davis in charge pending presentation of his letter of credence.
Monnett B. Davis
Appointment: Jun 8, 1945
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 21, 1945
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jan 10, 1946
Josiah Marvel, Jr.
Appointment: Mar 13, 1946
Presentation of Credentials: Apr 23, 1946
Termination of Mission: Promoted to Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Josiah Marvel, Jr.
Appointment: Feb 27, 1947
Presentation of Credentials: Mar 18, 1947
Termination of Mission: Left post, Mar 4, 1949
Eugenie Anderson
Appointment: Oct 20, 1949
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 22, 1949
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jan 19, 1953
Robert D. Coe
Appointment: Jul 29, 1953
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 25, 1953
Termination of Mission: Relinquished charge, Jun 1, 1957
Val Peterson
Appointment: Jun 26, 1957
Presentation of Credentials: Aug 22, 1957
Termination of Mission: Left post, Feb 21, 1961
William McCormick Blair, Jr.
Appointment: Mar 29, 1961
Presentation of Credentials: May 9, 1961
Termination of Mission: Left post, May 17, 1964
Katharine Elkus White
Appointment: Apr 8, 1964
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 2, 1964
Termination of Mission: Left post, Sep 9, 1968
Angier Biddle Duke
Appointment: Sep 26, 1968
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 3, 1968
Termination of Mission: Left post, May 1, 1969
Guilford Dudley, Jr.
Appointment: May 13, 1969
Presentation of Credentials: Jun 18, 1969
Termination of Mission: Left post, Nov 2, 1971
Fred J. Russell
Appointment: Nov 5, 1971
Presentation of Credentials: Dec 9, 1971
Termination of Mission: Left post, Nov 4, 1972
Philip K. Crowe
Appointment: Jul 16, 1973
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 13, 1973
Termination of Mission: Left post, Sep 27, 1975
John Gunther Dean
Appointment: Oct 23, 1975
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 6, 1975
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jul 18, 1978
Warren Demian Manshel
Appointment: Jun 22, 1978
Presentation of Credentials: Jul 31, 1978
Termination of Mission: Left post, Mar 6, 1981
John Langeloth Loeb, Jr.
Appointment: Jul 30, 1981
Presentation of Credentials: Oct 13, 1981
Termination of Mission: Left post, Sep 17, 1983
Terence A. Todman
Appointment: Oct 3, 1983
Presentation of Credentials: Nov 17, 1983
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jan 8, 1989
Keith Lapham Brown
Appointment: Nov 22, 1988
Presentation of Credentials: Jan 8, 1989
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jan 16, 1992
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Aug 3, 1989.
Richard B. Stone
Appointment: Nov 21, 1991
Presentation of Credentials: Feb 10, 1992
Termination of Mission: Left post, Oct 14, 1993
Edward Elliott Elson
Appointment: Nov 22, 1993
Presentation of Credentials: Jan 18, 1994
Termination of Mission: Left post Jun 25, 1998
Richard Nelson Swett
Appointment: Jun 29, 1998
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 8, 1998
Termination of Mission: Left post Jul 6 2001
Stuart A. Bernstein
Appointment: Aug 3, 2001
Presentation of Credentials: Sep 3, 2001
Termination of Mission: Left post, Jan. 16, 2005
Denmark's Ambassador to the U.S.
Taksoe-Jensen, Peter
Peter Taksoe-Jensen took over as Denmark’s ambassador to the United States in September 2010.
Born in 1959 in Copenhagen, Taksoe-Jensen received a law degree from the University of Copenhagen.
He served in the Danish Ministry of Justice from 1986-1987, before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He headed one of the foreign ministry’s sections until he was posted to the Royal Danish Embassy in Vienna, Austria (1989-1992) as first secretary.
Returning to Denmark, Taksoe-Jensen was made head of section at the Department for Security Policy (1992-95).
For most of the remainder of the 1990s, he was head of section (1995-1999) and counselor (1999) for the Permanent Representation of Denmark to the European Union.
He spent 1999-2003 as head of section at the Department for Legal Service, and then served as undersecretary for legal affairs and head of the Legal Service (2003-2008).
Prior to becoming ambassador to the U.S., Taksoe-Jensen served as assistant secretary-general for legal affairs at the United Nations.
His other activities include being a member of the Commission on the Law on Archives, established by the Danish Minister for Culture (2002-2003), member of the Commission on Jurisdiction, established by the Danish Minister for Justice (2004-2008), and chairman of the Danish Governments Commission on the Red Cross (2007-2008). He also has lectured for numerous courses on EU law, policies and negotiations, and procedures and techniques (1999-2008).
Biography (Washington Diplomat)
Meet the Ambassador (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark)
- Table of Contents
- News
- Overview
- Basic Information
- History
- Newspapers
- History of U.S. Relations with Denmark
- Current U.S. Relations with Denmark
- Where Does the Money Flow
- Controversies
- Human Rights
- Debate
- Past Ambassadors
- Ambassador to the U.S.
- Embassy Web Site in the U.S.
- Comments
- Leave a Comment
U.S. Ambassador to Denmark
Fulton, Laurie
A major fundraiser for President Barack Obama, Laurie S. Fulton has spent most of her career in Washington, DC, first in the U.S. Senate, where she met her first husband, Tom Daschle, and later as a partner in the powerful legal firm of Williams & Connolly.
Fulton was born on July 2, 1949, in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as Laurie Klinkel. Her great- grandfather served in the Danish parliament from 1918 to 1940. Her maternal grandfather immigrated to the United States prior to World War I, and her mother, Norma Klinkel, served as vice-chairman of the South Dakota Democratic Party (1966-1967) and as the first female commissioner on the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission (1975 to 1981). Fulton became active in politics as a teenager, working for George McGovern’s campaigns in 1968 (Senate race) and 1972 (for president).
She received her Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, in 1971 from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Fulton then went to work for U.S. Senator James Abourezk (D-SD) from 1973-1977. During that time, she met her first husband, Tom Daschle, who also worked for Abourezk and who decided to run for Congress himself. Fulton helped with Daschle’s successful campaign in 1978 and worked for her husband until 1981. They divorced in 1983.
After that she went to work for Peace Links, a national anti-war organization founded by congressional wives, becoming its executive director. She also headed up a “security information exchange” known as Access (1986-1988). Fulton returned to the U.S. Senate in 1987, serving in support of the Committee on Environment and Public Works until 1989. She also went back to school at this time and earned her J.D., magna cum laude, in 1989 from Georgetown University, where she was managing editor of the American Criminal Law Review.
Fulton eventually joined the firm of Williams & Connolly LLP, a high-powered Washington, DC, operation that represented President Bill Clinton during his impeachment ordeal. Fulton became a partner and handled civil litigation, internal investigations and white collar criminal defense. Her cases included federal criminal antitrust, bank gratuities, fraud, false statements, theft of government property and trade-control matters, and her client list included heavyweights like Bechtel, General Electric, Archer Daniels Midland, Merck and Company, and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
In 2004, President George W. Bush appointed Fulton to serve on the board of directors of the United States Institute of Peace and she served until 2008.
Fulton has served on the boards of Peace Links (1989-2000) and Bright Beginnings, Inc., which provides pre-school services for homeless children in Washington, D.C. (2000-present), as well as on the Girl Scouts Women’s Advisory Board. Fulton was co-chair of the Criminal Litigation Committee of the Section of Litigation of the American Bar Association from 2007-2008.
During the 2008 presidential campaign, Fulton was one of Obama’s key bundlers, putting together contributions that totaled somewhere between $100,000 and $200,000, according to OpenSecrets.org and the Associated Press. She reportedly has contributed at least $48,900 to Democrats since 1992, including $4,850 to Obama.
Fulton and Daschle have three adult children.
Biography (Williams & Connolly LLP)
President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts (White House press release)
From Canistota to Copenhagen, the Laurie Fulton Trail (by Kevin Woster, Rapid City Journal)
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