Arthur Gardner (1889–1967) was a United States foreign diplomat and American ambassador to Cuba 1953-1957.
As the ambassador to Cuba, he actively obstructed release of information from the embassy to Washington that was adversely critical to Batista.
Pressure also came to bear that Gardner's inability to communicate to the US the terrorist nature of Fidel Castro, blinded him to the perceived atrocities taking place by the 26 of July movement all over the island and the significance of the uprising.
Gardner's position came to be viewed as a liability, and his continuing as ambassador was portrayed as an obstacle to improving relations between the countries during a possible transition from Batista to a democratically elected president.
Following the Cuban revolution of 1959, Gardner testified that he felt that Washington had "pulled the rug out" from under Batista.