Rufus Gifford

Rufus Gifford
United States Ambassador to Denmark
In office
September 13, 2013 – January 20, 2017
President Barack Obama
Preceded by Laurie Fulton
Succeeded by Carla Sands
Personal details
Born John Rufus Gifford
(1974-08-05) August 5, 1974
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s)
Stephen DeVincent (m. 2015)
Relatives Charles K. Gifford (Father)
Education Brown University (BA)
Awards

John Rufus Gifford (born August 5, 1974) is a former U.S. Ambassador, reality TV star and a candidate for U.S. Congress in Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district. He served as the United States Ambassador to Denmark from 2013 to 2017,[1] and was the Finance Director for Barack Obama's presidential re-election campaign in 2012.[2]

Early life

Gifford grew up in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts.[3] He graduated from St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire in 1992 and he received his B.A. from Brown University in Rhode Island.[2]

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, and appeared as an actor in Garfield The Movie and The Hiding Place.[4]

Political career

Gifford started in Democratic politics by working on John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign, and subsequently started his own consulting business and advised numerous Democratic officials and advocated for progressive causes across the country.

He first met Barack Obama in January 2007, at a party hosted by Ted Kennedy. Prior to the meeting, Gifford had been offered a job on Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, but he turned it down and instead took the same job for Obama's campaign.[5]

After Obama took office, he served as Finance Director for the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C. before moving to Chicago as a senior staff member of President Obama's 2012 re-election campaign. As National Finance Director for the re-election campaign he was ultimately responsible for the record-setting billion-dollar budget.[6]

Gifford is openly gay, and commentators from GQ, Huffington Post and L.A. Weekly referred to him as Barack Obama's informal "ambassador to the gay community."[7][8] He is a Federal Club Member of the Human Rights Campaign and a Partner in Conservation for the World Wildlife Fund.

On August 1, 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.[9] He was sworn into the role on August 15, 2013, and presented his credentials to the Queen of Denmark on September 13, 2013.[2]

In this capacity as 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,[10] 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,[11] winning the Big Character award at the 2015 TV-Prisen award-show.[12][13][14]

Gifford was an integral part of bringing the American art form of Long Form Improvisation to Denmark. In September 2016 he was in the[15] 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."

On January 16, 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.[16]

On November 13, 2017, Gifford announced on Twitter that he was running for congress in Massachusetts's 3rd congressional district in the coming United States House of Representatives elections in Massachusetts, 2018.

Family

Gifford married his husband, Dr. Stephen DeVincent, a veterinarian, on October 10, 2015 in a ceremony at Copenhagen City Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark.[17] They live in Concord, Massachusetts.[3] In 2016, Gifford co-wrote a cookbook with his husband, called The Ambassador's Kitchen.[18]

Gifford is the son of Charles K. Gifford, a banker who is the chairman emeritus of Bank of America.[19][20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Revesz, Rachel (January 20, 2017). "Donald Trump has fired all foreign US ambassadors with nobody to replace them". The Independent. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 "Ambassador Rufus Gifford". Embassy of the United States, Copenhagen. US State Department. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
  3. 1 2 https://www.boston.com/news/politics/2018/03/18/rufus-gifford-congress-massachusetts-denmark
  4. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0317547/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t9
  5. ↑ https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-gay-us-ambassador-rufus-gifford-got-married-and-became-a-social-media-star
  6. ↑ Bendery, Jennifer (2011-11-10). "Rufus Gifford: The Man Behind Obama's Historic Fundraising Machine". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  7. ↑ McDonald, Patrick Range (January 30, 2008). "Obama's Gay Gold Mine". LA Weekly. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
  8. ↑ Cogan, Marin (May 11, 2012). "The Most (And Least) Powerful People in Politics This Week". GQ. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
  9. ↑ "PN561 — John Rufus Gifford — Department of State". U.S. Congress. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
  10. ↑ CNN, John D. Sutter,. "Denmark's reality TV star is the anti-Trump". CNN. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
  11. ↑ "Jeg er Ambassadøren fra Amerika". Facebook. U.S. Embassy Denmark. Retrieved October 18, 2015.
  12. ↑ Ladingkær, Lars. "Winners of the 2015 TV-Prisen Awards" (in Danish). Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  13. ↑ "TVPRISENS VINDERE 2015" (in Danish). Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  14. ↑ Obitsø, Ole. "Her er vinderne af tv-priserne 2015" (in Danish). Retrieved November 2, 2015.
  15. ↑ Dellisanti, Gabriele (19 September 2016). "First Improv Comedy Theatre Opens in Copenhagen". The Copenhagen Post. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  16. ↑ Schrøder Friis, Victor. "Rufus Gifford får Dannebrogsordenen: så bliver det ikke bedre" (in Danish). DR. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
  17. ↑ Brydum, Sunnivie (October 10, 2015). "U.S. Ambassador to Denmark Marries Dr. Stephen DeVincent". Advocate. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
  18. ↑ Eskesen, Annelise Hartmann (2 December 2016). "Portrait of Rufus Gifford". dr.dk (in Danish). Danmarks Radio. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  19. ↑ http://www.lowellsun.com/thirddistrict/ci_31951919/3rd-district-candidate-rufus-gifford-made-splash-denmark-and-danish-documentary-followed-every-step-way
  20. ↑ https://www.cbscorporation.com/directors/charles-k-gifford/
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Laurie Fulton		 United States Ambassador to Denmark
2013–2017		 Succeeded by
Carla Sands
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