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.
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.[6] 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 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,[7] he was the subject of the documentary series I am the Ambassador, broadcast on the principal public service channel for youth and for several weeks was its most watched program. Its first season tracked his professional and personal life over three months in six episodes, including a conversation with Mitt Romney, a screening of an HBO film for the Danish film industry, and his own 40th birthday party.[8] When it was renewed for a second season, Gifford made the announcement himself speaking Danish in a video posted on Facebook.[9] The series won the Big Character award at the 2015 TV-Prisen [da] award-show.[10][11][12]
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 transportationAnthony Foxx, several American mayors (including later 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".[13]
Gifford was an integral part of bringing the American art form of Long Form Improvisation to Denmark. In September 2016, he appeared in the premiere performance at the first improv theatre in Denmark, Improv Comedy Copenhagen. He 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."[14][15] Gifford served as an honorary board member of the American-Danish Business Council.[16]
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".[17]
His service in Denmark ended upon the inauguration of President Donald Trump, who allowed no US ambassadors to continue to serve under his administration.[18]
In August 2019, when President Trump expressed an interest in buying Greenland from Denmark, Gifford tweeted: "Oh dear lord... as someone who loves Greenland, has been there 9 times to every corner and loves the people, this is a complete and total catastrophe."[22]
On January 24, 2020, Gifford endorsed Joe Biden for president in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries.[23][a] By the end of the month he was named to the campaign's national finance committee.[26] On April 29, 2020, it was announced that Biden was hiring Gifford to be Deputy Campaign Manager on his presidential campaign. According to the Washington Post, Gifford was to focus on "finance, external outreach and coalition building".[27] The New York Times reported this was seen as "elevating the role of the finance operation inside the campaign".[28] In March he assessed the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic posed for fundraising: "I think Biden's campaign will end up being fine. The low-dollar fundraising will be there. My big concern is Democratic National Committee fundraising and state party fundraising. Those are so reliant on major donor fundraising and on events.... People are going to want to give to their local food bank and hospital and EMT staff—as they should. So it's harder to make the argument during this time to invest in a politician. The worst thing you can do right now is to be tone-deaf in the way you are approaching fundraising."[29] As the campaign proceeded his responsibilities were both administrative, "coordinating a slew of virtual fund-raisers", and hands-on, staying "in regular touch with Wall Street donors ... and discussing campaign issues with deep-pocketed financiers".[30]
U.S Chief of Protocol
Gifford at the South Portico of the White House in 2022
In January 2021, Axios reported that Biden would tap Gifford to be Chief of Protocol of the United States.[31] He was officially nominated by Biden on May 28, 2021.[32] The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing on his nomination on July 27, 2021 and the committee reported his nomination favorably on August 4, 2021. The full Senate confirmed Gifford on December 18, 2021, via voice vote.[33] He was sworn in on January 3, 2022.
Gifford resigned as Chief of Protocol in July 2023 to assume a position on the Biden 2024 presidential campaign.[34]
Biden 2024 Finance Chair
In July 17, 2023, Biden's campaign announced Gifford's appointment as Finance Chair.[35]
Personal life
Gifford is gay, and commentators from GQ, Huffington Post, and L.A. Weekly referred to him as Barack Obama's informal "ambassador to the gay community".[36][37] He discussed coming out as gay on the Danish TV series that chronicled his life while ambassador.[8] He married his husband, Dr. Stephen DeVincent, a veterinarian, on October 10, 2015, in a ceremony at Copenhagen City Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark.[38] They live in Concord, Massachusetts.[1] In 2016, Gifford co-wrote a cookbook with his husband, called The Ambassador's Kitchen.[39] He is a Federal Club Member of the Human Rights Campaign and a Partner in Conservation for the World Wildlife Fund.[40]
^By August 2019 Gifford had made the maximum contribution to five candidates in the Democratic presidential primaries,[24] including Pete Buttigieg, whose presence in the race he called "meaningful" for the gay community.[25]
^ abc"Ambassador Rufus Gifford". Embassy of the United States, Copenhagen. US State Department. Archived from the original on October 20, 2013. Retrieved October 20, 2013.
.jpg)
