Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs

Last updated
United States
Assistant Secretary of State
for European and Eurasian Affairs
U.S. Department of State official seal.svg
Seal of the United States Department of State
James C. O'Brien, State Department Sanctions Coordinator.jpg
Incumbent
James C. O'Brien
since October 5, 2023
Reports to Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
Nominator President of the United States
Inaugural holder George Walbridge Perkins Jr.
FormationAugust 1949
Website Official website

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.

Contents

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

NameAssumed officeLeft office President served under
Assistant Secretaries of State for European Affairs
George Walbridge Perkins, Jr. August 1, 1949January 31, 1953 Harry S. Truman
Livingston T. Merchant March 16, 1953May 6, 1956 Dwight D. Eisenhower
James Williams Riddleberger [1]
Charles Burke Elbrick February 14, 1957November 16, 1958
Livingston T. Merchant November 18, 1958 [2] August 20, 1959
Walter C. Dowling [3]
Foy D. Kohler December 11, 1959 [4] August 19, 1962Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy
William R. Tyler September 2, 1962May 18, 1965John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson
John M. Leddy June 16, 1965February 19, 1969Lyndon B. Johnson
Martin J. Hillenbrand February 20, 1969April 30, 1972 Richard Nixon
Walter John Stoessel Jr. August 9, 1972January 7, 1974
Arthur A. Hartman January 8, 1974June 8, 1977Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford
George S. Vest June 16, 1977April 14, 1981 Jimmy Carter
Lawrence Eagleburger May 14, 1981January 26, 1982 Ronald Reagan
Assistant Secretaries of State for European and Canadian Affairs
Richard R. Burt February 18, 1983 [5] July 18, 1985Ronald Reagan
Rozanne L. Ridgway July 19, 1985June 30, 1989 [6]
Raymond G. H. Seitz August 8, 1989April 30, 1991 George H. W. Bush
Thomas Niles October 3, 1991April 1, 1993
Stephen A. Oxman April 2, 1993August 15, 1994 Bill Clinton
Richard Holbrooke September 13, 1994February 21, 1996
John C. Kornblum July 3, 1996August 1, 1997
Marc Grossman August 5, 1997January 12, 1999
Assistant Secretaries of State for European Affairs
Marc Grossman January 12, 1999May 31, 2000Bill Clinton
James F. Dobbins January 4, 2001 [7] June 1, 2001 [8] Bill Clinton and George W. Bush
A. Elizabeth Jones June 1, 2001August 8, 2001George W. Bush
Assistant Secretaries of State for European and Eurasian Affairs
A. Elizabeth Jones August 8, 2001February 28, 2005George W. Bush
Daniel Fried May 5, 2005January 20, 2009
Philip Gordon May 15, 2009March 11, 2013 Barack Obama
Victoria Nuland September 18, 2013January 20, 2017
John A. Heffern (acting)January 20, 2017August 23, 2017 Donald Trump
A. Wess Mitchell October 12, 2017February 15, 2019
Michael Murphy (Senior Bureau Official) [9] February 18, 2019March 18, 2019
Philip T. Reeker (acting)March 18, 2019July 31, 2021 [10] Donald Trump
Joe Biden
Maureen Cormack (acting)August 2, 2021September 28, 2021 [11] Joe Biden
Karen Donfried September 30, 2021 [12] March 31, 2023
Dereck J. Hogan (acting)April 1, 2023July 10, 2023
Yuri Kim (acting)July 10, 2023October 5, 2023
James C. O'Brien October 5, 2023Incumbent

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References

  1. ↑ Appointed on October 15, 1956; declined appointment.
  2. ↑ Initially commissioned during Senate recess; after confirmation by Senate, re-commissioned on January 29, 1959.
  3. ↑ Appointed August 26, 1959, but never took oath of office.
  4. ↑ Initially commissioned during Senate recess; after confirmation by Senate, re-commissioned on January 27, 1960.
  5. ↑ He was first nominated on May 10, 1982, but the Senate did not act on this first nomination.
  6. ↑ The State Department's website gives the date as June 30, 1985, but given the context, this appears to be a typo for 1989.
  7. ↑ He had previously been nominated on September 26, 2000, but the Senate did not act on that nomination.
  8. ↑ Department Of State. The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs. "Dobbins, James". 2001-2009.state.gov. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  9. ↑ "Technical Difficulties".
  10. ↑ "Philip T. Reeker". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
  11. ↑ "Maureen E. Cormack". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
  12. ↑ "Technical Difficulties".
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