Charles Rivkin - Ambassador To France

Ambassador To France

Ambassador Rivkin's service in France comes at one of the bilateral relationship's strongest moments in recent history. In a speech delivered in French on July 4, 2012, Ambassador Rivkin told Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault that France and the U.S. "can meet any challenge as long as we are together." The occasion marked the first time in recent history that a French Prime Minister has spoken at the Embassy’s annual Independence Day reception.

On June 3, 2012, Ambassador Rivkin took part in a mass parachute jump over the coast of Normandy to commemorate the 68th anniversary of the Allied invasion of mainland Europe during World War II. During his 12,000-foot jump, Rivkin was accompanied by members of the U.S. Army Golden Knights parachute team. An estimated crowd of 25,000 watched Rivkin land in a field near Sainte-Mère-Église amidst heavy winds, as he became the first U.S. Ambassador to France to jump from a plane in honor of the troops who fought on D-Day.

According to the Department of State Office of Inspector General’s report in May 2012, Ambassador Rivkin has put a new emphasis on support for U.S. exports of goods and services into France. The report calls Rivkin a "dynamic and visionary noncareer Ambassador," and credits him with expanding the U.S. Embassy’s public diplomacy activities, particularly through his use of social media and his appearances on French national television. Ambassador Rivkin introduced social media to Embassy Paris, establishing its first ever Facebook and Twitter accounts.

Ambassador Rivkin has made youth outreach one of his key priorities and has connected the embassy to the next generation of leaders throughout France, including in disadvantaged communities often referred to as the banlieues. Ambassador Rivkin has organized a series of seminars for French youth, sometimes inviting them to meet with prominent American government officials, actors and musicians. Beginning with actor Samuel L. Jackson’s April 2010 visit with students in Bondy, an economically depressed Parisian suburb, Ambassador Rivkin has since set up seminars with Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, as well as Woody Allen, Jody Foster, will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas, Robert Zemeckis, Allen Stone, Tony Bennett, Herbie Hancock, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison and many others. "Much of the embassy's outreach is meant to dispel 'mistruths' about the United States," Ambassador Rivkin said in an interview, adding, "It's easier to hate something you don't understand." In January 2012, Ambassador Rivkin broadened his outreach efforts by creating the Washburne Award for Innovation in Diversity, recognizing one French and one American company for their best practices in fostering diversity in hiring practices.