John RUFUS GIFFORD, is an American politician, diplomat, and reality television personality, who currently serves as the chief of protocol of the United States. Between 2013 and 2017, he was the United States Ambassador to Denmark.
Gifford is the
son of Charles K. Gifford, a banker who is the chairman emeritus of Bank
of America. He grew up in Manchester-by-the-Sea,
After college, Gifford moved to Hollywood and served as an assistant to producer John Davis. During his time there, he became the associate producer for Daddy Day Care, Life or Something Like It, and Dr. Dolittle 2, and appeared as an actor in the films Garfield: The Movie and The Hiding Place.
In 2012, Gifford was Finance Director for Barack Obama's presidential re-election campaign. Once re-elected, Obama nominated him to be the United States Ambassador to Denmark, a post he held until the end of Obama's presidency. After returning to the United States, he was a candidate for the House of Representatives in 2018, running in Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district. Gifford lost in the Democratic primary to Lori Trahan, who would go on to win the general election.
He was Deputy Campaign Manager for Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign.
In August 2013, Gifford's nomination from President Obama to be the next United States Ambassador to the Kingdom of Denmark was confirmed by the United States Senate. He was sworn into the role on August 15, 2013, and presented his credentials to the Queen of Denmark on September 13, 2013.
In his capacity as the Ambassador, he helped modernize the transatlantic relationship through youth engagement and institution-building, among other bilateral and global issues. He outlined a diplomatic strategy that prioritized non-traditional audiences and people-to-people relationships. As part of a never-before-seen public diplomacy strategy, he was the subject of the documentary series I am the Ambassador. The documentary TV series about his life as an ambassador ran for two seasons, winning the Big Character award at the 2015 TV-Prisen award-show.
As Ambassador, he traveled to Greenland for bilateral meetings on climate change, promoted counter-extremism initiatives and Danish–American trade, and worked to maintain Danish military support in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2016, he accompanied U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx, several American mayors (including current U.S. Secretary of transportation Pete Buttigieg), as well as Danish Transport Minister Hans Christian Schmidt on a bike ride around Copenhagen to showcase its success as a "cyclist-friendly city."
Gifford was an integral part of bringing the American art form of Long Form Improvisation to Denmark. In September 2016, he was in the opening show at the first improv theatre in Denmark, Improv Comedy Copenhagen, and said, "No matter what you are doing, you always have to allow time to laugh, smile and have fun. And creating that balance is incredibly important." Gifford served as an honorary board member of the American-Danish Business Council.
In January 2017, Gifford was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog by Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II of Denmark for his "meritorious service to the Kingdom of Denmark."
Gifford is out gay, and commentators from GQ, Huffington Post, and L.A. Weekly referred to him as Barack Obama's informal "ambassador to the gay community." He
married his husband, Dr. Stephen DeVincent, a veterinarian, in October
2015 in a ceremony at Copenhagen City Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Ambassador Gifford is currently the chief of protocol of the United States for the Biden administration.
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