Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs
The Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs is a position within the United States Department of State that leads the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs charged with implementing American foreign policy in Europe and Eurasia, and with advising the Under Secretary for Political Affairs on matters relating to diplomatic missions within that area.
| United States Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs | |
|---|---|
 Seal of the United States Department of State | |
 Flag of an Assistant Secretary of State | |
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| Reports to | Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs |
| Nominator | President of the United States |
| Inaugural holder | George Walbridge Perkins Jr. |
| Formation | August 1949 |
| Website | Official website |
Originally, the Department of State first established a Division of Western European Affairs in 1909, which handled European states primarily bordering on the Atlantic Ocean and their colonies. The Division of Near Eastern Affairs handled relations with most Central, Eastern, and Southern European countries until after World War I. During the interwar period, responsibility for much of Central and Eastern Europe shifted to the Division of European Affairs, although Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus were handled as part of the Near East until April 18, 1974. Following World War II, the department completed the transfer of responsibility for the former colonies of European nations, except Canada, to the Bureaus of Near Eastern, South Asian, African Affairs, and Far Eastern Affairs.
The Department of State later established the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs in 1949. This came after the Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of Government, also known as the Hoover Commission, recommended that certain offices be upgraded to bureau level after Congress had increased the number of Assistant Secretaries of State from six to ten. On September 14, 1983, an administrative action changed the title of the incumbent to Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs. On January 12, 1999, the title was changed back to Assistant Secretary for European Affairs.
Officeholders
edit| # | Name | Assumed office | Left office | President served under |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assistant Secretaries of State for European Affairs | ||||
| 1 | George Walbridge Perkins, Jr. | August 1, 1949 | January 31, 1953 | Harry S. Truman |
| 2 | Livingston T. Merchant | March 16, 1953 | May 6, 1956 | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| - | James Williams Riddleberger | [1] | ||
| 3 | Charles Burke Elbrick | February 14, 1957 | November 16, 1958 | |
| 4 | Livingston T. Merchant | November 18, 1958[2] | August 20, 1959 | |
| - | Walter C. Dowling | [3] | ||
| 5 | Foy D. Kohler | December 11, 1959[4] | August 19, 1962 | Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy |
| 6 | William R. Tyler | September 2, 1962 | May 18, 1965 | John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson |
| 7 | John M. Leddy | June 16, 1965 | February 19, 1969 | Lyndon B. Johnson |
| 8 | Martin J. Hillenbrand | February 20, 1969 | April 30, 1972 | Richard Nixon |
| 9 | Walter John Stoessel Jr. | August 9, 1972 | January 7, 1974 | |
| 10 | Arthur A. Hartman | January 8, 1974 | June 8, 1977 | Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford |
| 11 | George S. Vest | June 16, 1977 | April 14, 1981 | Jimmy Carter |
| 12 | Lawrence Eagleburger | May 14, 1981 | January 26, 1982 | Ronald Reagan |
| Assistant Secretaries of State for European and Canadian Affairs | ||||
| 13 | Richard R. Burt | February 18, 1983[5] | July 18, 1985 | Ronald Reagan |
| 14 | Rozanne L. Ridgway | July 19, 1985 | June 30, 1989[6] | |
| 15 | Raymond G. H. Seitz | August 8, 1989 | April 30, 1991 | George H. W. Bush |
| 16 | Thomas Niles | October 3, 1991 | April 1, 1993 | |
| 17 | Stephen A. Oxman | April 2, 1993 | August 15, 1994 | Bill Clinton |
| 18 | Richard Holbrooke | September 13, 1994 | February 21, 1996 | |
| 19 | John C. Kornblum | July 3, 1996 | August 1, 1997 | |
| 20 | Marc Grossman | August 5, 1997 | May 31, 2000 | |
| Assistant Secretaries of State for European Affairs | ||||
| 20 | Marc Grossman | August 5, 1997 | May 31, 2000 | Bill Clinton |
| 21 | James F. Dobbins | January 4, 2001[7] | June 1, 2001[8] | Bill Clinton and George W. Bush |
| 22 | A. Elizabeth Jones | June 1, 2001 | February 28, 2005 | George W. Bush |
| Assistant Secretaries of State for European and Eurasian Affairs | ||||
| 22 | A. Elizabeth Jones | June 1, 2001 | February 28, 2005 | George W. Bush |
| 23 | Daniel Fried | May 5, 2005 | January 20, 2009 | |
| 24 | Philip H. Gordon | May 15, 2009 | March 11, 2013 | Barack Obama |
| 25 | Victoria Nuland | September 18, 2013 | January 20, 2017 | |
| - | John A. Heffern (acting) | January 20, 2017 | August 23, 2017 | Donald Trump |
| 26 | A. Wess Mitchell | October 12, 2017 | February 15, 2019 | |
| - | Michael Murphy (Senior Bureau Official)[9] | February 18, 2019 | March 18, 2019 | |
| - | Philip T. Reeker (acting) | March 18, 2019 | July 31, 2021[10] | Donald Trump |
| - | Joe Biden | |||
| - | Maureen Cormack (acting) | August 2, 2021 | September 28, 2021[11] | Joe Biden |
| 27 | Karen Donfried | September 30, 2021[12] | March 31, 2023 | |
| - | Dereck J. Hogan (acting) | April 1, 2023 | July 10, 2023 | |
| - | Yuri Kim (acting) | July 10, 2023 | October 5, 2023 | |
| 28 | James C. O'Brien | October 5, 2023 | Incumbent | |
References
edit- ^ Appointed on October 15, 1956; declined appointment.
- ^ Initially commissioned during Senate recess; after confirmation by Senate, re-commissioned on January 29, 1959.
- ^ Appointed August 26, 1959, but never took oath of office.
- ^ Initially commissioned during Senate recess; after confirmation by Senate, re-commissioned on January 27, 1960.
- ^ He was first nominated on May 10, 1982, but the Senate did not act on this first nomination.
- ^ The State Department's website [1] gives the date as June 30, 1985, but given the context, this appears to be a typo for 1989.
- ^ He had previously been nominated on September 26, 2000, but the Senate did not act on that nomination.
- ^ Department Of State. The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs. "Dobbins, James". 2001-2009.state.gov. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
- ^ "Technical Difficulties".
- ^ "Philip T. Reeker". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
- ^ "Maureen E. Cormack". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
- ^ "Technical Difficulties".