Gordon Giffin

Who is Gordon Giffin?

Gordon D. Giffin became the thirty-fourth Ambassador of the United States to Canada on September 17, 1997.

Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, Gordon Giffin moved to Canada before his first birthday. He lived in Montreal and Toronto for 17 years, attending Valois Park Elementary School in Pointe Claire and Richview Collegiate in Etobicoke. Giffin earned a B.A. from Duke University in 1971 and a J.D. from Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia in 1974.

The Ambassador was nominated for his position by President Bill Clinton on July 1, 1997, and confirmed by the full United States Senate on July 31. Unique among U.S. envoys to Canada, he spent seventeen years of his childhood growing up in Canada.

Prior to his appointment, Giffin practiced law as a senior partner in the firm of Long, Aldridge & Norman. He has since returned to McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP and heads the firm's Public Policy and Regulatory Affairs department. While on an ambassador's trip to Montreal he took in a Montreal Canadiens hockey game, where a Molson Ice was dumped on his head for his outward support of Bill Clinton. From 1975-1979, he was Legislative Director and Chief Counsel to U.S. Senator Sam Nunn in Washington, D.C.