United States Secretary of State | |
---|---|
United States Department of State | |
Appointer | President of the United States |
Inaugural holder |
|
Formation | July 27, 1789 |
Succession | Fourth |
Website | www |
This is a list of secretaries of state of the United States .
On January 10, 1780, the Congress of the Confederation created the Department of Foreign Affairs. [1]
On August 10, 1781, Congress selected Robert R. Livingston, a delegate from New York, as the first Secretary for Foreign Affairs. Livingston was unable to take office until October 20, 1781. He served until June 4, 1783, and was succeeded by John Jay on December 21, 1784, who served until March 4, 1789, when the government under the Articles of Confederation gave way to the government under the Constitution.
The office of Secretary of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Foreign Affairs were reinstated by a law signed by George Washington on July 27, 1789. John Jay retained the post on an interim basis, pending the return of Thomas Jefferson from France.
No. | Portrait | Name | State of residence | Took office | Left office |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Robert R. Livingston | New York | October 20, 1781 | June 4, 1783 | |
2 | John Jay | New York | December 21, 1784 | March 4, 1789 | |
— | John Jay Acting | New York | July 27, 1789 | September 15, 1789 |
On September 15, 1789, before Jefferson could return to take the post, Washington signed into law another act which changed the name of the office from Secretary of Foreign Affairs to Secretary of State, changed the name of the department to the Department of State, and added several domestic powers and responsibilities to both the office of secretary and the department. Thomas Jefferson took office as the first secretary of state on March 22, 1790.
Denotes an interim secretary of state |
N° | Secretary | Party | Vote [a] | Term of office | State | President(s) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Portrait | Name | Took office | Left office | Term | |||||||
– | John Jay (1745–1829) | Federalist | – | September 15, 1789 | March 22, 1790 | 188 days | New York | George Washington (1789–1797) | |||
1 | Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) [3] | Democratic- Republican | – | March 22, 1790 | December 31, 1793 | 3 years, 284 days | Virginia | ||||
2 | Edmund Randolph (1753–1813) [4] | Federalist | – | January 2, 1794 | August 20, 1795 | 1 year, 232 days | Virginia | ||||
3 | Timothy Pickering (1745–1829) [5] | Federalist | – | August 20, 1795 | December 10, 1795 [b] | 4 years, 265 days | Pennsylvania | ||||
December 10, 1795 | May 12, 1800 | ||||||||||
John Adams (1797–1801) | |||||||||||
– | Charles Lee (1758–1815) [c] [6] | Federalist | – | May 13, 1800 | June 5, 1800 | 23 days | Virginia | ||||
4 | John Marshall (1755–1835) [7] | Federalist | – | June 13, 1800 | February 4, 1801 | 264 days | Virginia | ||||
February 4, 1801 | March 4, 1801 [d] | ||||||||||
– | Levi Lincoln Sr. (1749–1820) [c] [8] | Democratic- Republican | – | March 5, 1801 | May 1, 1801 | 57 days | Massachusetts | Thomas Jefferson (1801–1809) | |||
5 | James Madison (1751–1836) [9] | Democratic- Republican | – | May 2, 1801 | March 3, 1809 | 7 years, 305 days | Virginia | ||||
6 | Robert Smith (1757–1842) [10] | Democratic- Republican | – | March 6, 1809 | April 1, 1811 | 2 years, 26 days | Maryland | James Madison (1809–1817) | |||
7 | James Monroe (1758–1831) [11] | Democratic- Republican | 30–0 | April 2, 1811 | September 30, 1814 | 5 years, 335 days | Virginia | ||||
October 1, 1814 | February 28, 1815 [b] | ||||||||||
February 28, 1815 | March 3, 1817 | ||||||||||
– | John Graham (1774–1820) [e] [12] | Democratic- Republican | – | March 4, 1817 | March 9, 1817 | 5 days | Kentucky | James Monroe (1817–1825) | |||
– | Richard Rush (1780–1859) [c] [13] | Federalist | – | March 10, 1817 | September 22, 1817 | 196 days | Pennsylvania | ||||
8 | John Quincy Adams (1767–1848) [14] | Democratic- Republican | 29–1 | September 22, 1817 | March 3, 1825 | 7 years, 162 days | Massachusetts | ||||
– | Daniel Brent (1770–1841) [e] [15] | Democratic- Republican | – | March 4, 1825 | March 7, 1825 | 3 days | Virginia | John Quincy Adams (1825–1829) | |||
9 | Henry Clay (1777–1852) [16] | Democratic- Republican | 27–14 | March 7, 1825 | March 3, 1829 | 3 years, 361 days | Kentucky | ||||
National Republican | |||||||||||
– | James Alexander Hamilton (1788–1878) [17] | Democratic | – | March 4, 1829 | March 27, 1829 | 23 days | New York | Andrew Jackson (1829–1837) | |||
10 | Martin Van Buren (1782–1862) [18] | Democratic | 25–7 | March 28, 1829 | May 23, 1831 | 2 years, 56 days | New York | ||||
11 | Edward Livingston (1764–1836) [19] | Democratic | – | May 24, 1831 | May 29, 1833 | 2 years, 5 days | Louisiana | ||||
12 | Louis McLane (1786–1857) [20] | Democratic | [f] | May 29, 1833 | June 30, 1834 | 1 year, 32 days | Delaware | ||||
13 | John Forsyth (1780–1841) [21] | Democratic | – | July 1, 1834 | March 3, 1841 | 6 years, 245 days | Georgia | ||||
Martin Van Buren (1837–1841) | |||||||||||
– | Jacob L. Martin (?–1848) [e] [22] | – | – | March 4, 1841 | March 5, 1841 | 1 day | District of Columbia | William Henry Harrison (1841) | |||
14 | Daniel Webster (1782–1852) [23] | Whig | – | March 6, 1841 | May 8, 1843 | 2 years, 63 days | Massachusetts | ||||
John Tyler (1841–1845) | |||||||||||
– | Hugh S. Legaré (1797–1843) [c] [24] | Democratic | – | May 9, 1843 | June 20, 1843 | 42 days | South Carolina | ||||
– | William S. Derrick (1802–1852) [e] [25] | – | – | June 21, 1843 | June 23, 1843 | 2 days | Pennsylvania | ||||
15 | Abel P. Upshur (1791–1844) [26] | Whig | – | June 24, 1843 | July 23, 1843 [g] | 220 days | Virginia | ||||
July 24, 1843 | February 28, 1844 | ||||||||||
– | John Nelson (1791–1860) [c] [27] | Whig | – | February 29, 1844 | March 31, 1844 | 31 days | Maryland | ||||
16 | John C. Calhoun (1782–1850) [28] | Democratic | – | April 1, 1844 | March 10, 1845 [h] | 343 days | South Carolina | ||||
17 | James Buchanan (1791–1868) [29] | Democratic | – | March 10, 1845 | March 7, 1849 [h] | 3 years, 362 days | Pennsylvania | James K. Polk (1845–1849) | |||
18 | John M. Clayton (1796–1856) [30] | Whig | – | March 8, 1849 | July 22, 1850 | 1 year, 136 days | Delaware | Zachary Taylor (1849–1850) | |||
Millard Fillmore (1850–1853) | |||||||||||
19 | Daniel Webster (1782–1852) [23] | Whig | – | July 23, 1850 | October 24, 1852 | 2 years, 93 days | Massachusetts | ||||
– | Charles Magill Conrad (1804–1878) [b] [31] | Whig | – | October 25, 1852 | November 5, 1852 | 11 days | Louisiana | ||||
20 | Edward Everett (1794–1865) [32] | Whig | – | November 6, 1852 | March 3, 1853 | 117 days | Massachusetts | ||||
– | William Hunter (1805–1886) [e] [33] | – | – | March 4, 1853 | March 7, 1853 | 3 days | Rhode Island | Franklin Pierce (1853–1857) | |||
21 | William L. Marcy (1786–1857) [34] | Democratic | – | March 7, 1853 | March 6, 1857 [h] | 3 years, 364 days | New York | ||||
22 | Lewis Cass (1782–1866) [35] | Democratic | – | March 6, 1857 | December 14, 1860 | 3 years, 283 days | Michigan | James Buchanan (1857–1861) | |||
– | William Hunter (1805–1886) [e] [33] | – | – | December 15, 1860 | December 16, 1860 | 1 day | Rhode Island | ||||
23 | Jeremiah S. Black (1810–1883) [36] | Democratic | – | December 17, 1860 | March 5, 1861 [h] | 78 days | New York | ||||
24 | William H. Seward (1801–1872) [37] | Republican | – | March 5, 1861 | March 4, 1869 | 7 years, 364 days | New York | Abraham Lincoln (1861–1865) | |||
Andrew Johnson (1865–1869) | |||||||||||
25 | Elihu B. Washburne (1816–1887) [38] | Republican | – | March 5, 1869 | March 16, 1869 | 11 days | Illinois | Ulysses S. Grant (1869–1877) | |||
26 | Hamilton Fish (1808–1893) [39] | Republican | – | March 17, 1869 | March 12, 1877 [h] | 7 years, 360 days | New York | ||||
27 | William M. Evarts (1818–1901) [40] | Republican | 44–2 | March 12, 1877 | March 7, 1881 [h] | 3 years, 360 days | New York | Rutherford B. Hayes (1877–1881) | |||
28 | James G. Blaine (1830–1893) [41] | Republican | – | March 7, 1881 | December 19, 1881 | 287 days | Maine | James A. Garfield (1881) | |||
Chester A. Arthur (1881–1885) | |||||||||||
29 | Frederick T. Frelinghuysen (1817–1885) [42] | Republican | – | December 19, 1881 | March 6, 1885 [h] | 3 years, 77 days | New Jersey | ||||
30 | Thomas F. Bayard (1828–1898) [43] | Democratic | – | March 7, 1885 | March 6, 1889 [h] | 3 years, 364 days | Delaware | Grover Cleveland (1885–1889) | |||
31 | James G. Blaine (1830–1893) [41] | Republican | – | March 7, 1889 | June 4, 1892 | 3 years, 89 days | Maine | Benjamin Harrison (1889–1893) | |||
– | William F. Wharton (1847–1919) [i] [44] | Republican | – | June 4, 1892 | June 29, 1892 | 25 days | Massachusetts | ||||
32 | John W. Foster (1836–1917) [45] | Republican | – | June 29, 1892 | February 23, 1893 | 239 days | Indiana | ||||
– | William F. Wharton (1847–1919) [i] [44] | Republican | – | February 24, 1893 | March 6, 1893 | 10 days | Massachusetts | ||||
Grover Cleveland (1893–1897) | |||||||||||
33 | Walter Q. Gresham (1832–1895) [46] | Democratic | – | March 7, 1893 | May 28, 1895 | 2 years, 82 days | Illinois | ||||
– | Edwin F. Uhl (1841–1901) [i] [47] | Democratic | – | May 28, 1895 | June 9, 1895 | 12 days | Michigan | ||||
34 | Richard Olney (1835–1917) [48] | Democratic | – | June 10, 1895 | March 5, 1897 [h] | 1 year, 268 days | Massachusetts | ||||
35 | John Sherman (1823–1900) [49] | Republican | – | March 6, 1897 | April 27, 1898 | 1 year, 52 days | Ohio | William McKinley (1897–1901) | |||
36 | William R. Day (1849–1923) [50] | Republican | – | April 28, 1898 | September 16, 1898 | 141 days | Ohio | ||||
– | Alvey A. Adee (1842–1924) [j] [51] | Independent | – | September 17, 1898 | September 29, 1898 | 12 days | New York | ||||
37 | John Hay (1838–1905) [52] | Republican | – | September 30, 1898 | July 1, 1905 | 6 years, 274 days | District of Columbia | ||||
Theodore Roosevelt (1901–1909) | |||||||||||
– | Francis B. Loomis (1861–1948) [i] [53] | Republican | – | July 1, 1905 | July 18, 1905 | 17 days | Ohio | ||||
38 | Elihu Root (1845–1937) [54] | Republican | – | July 19, 1905 | January 27, 1909 | 3 years, 192 days | New York | ||||
39 | Robert Bacon (1860–1919) [55] | Republican | – | January 27, 1909 | March 5, 1909 [h] | 37 days | New York | ||||
40 | Philander C. Knox (1853–1921) [56] | Republican | – | March 6, 1909 | March 5, 1913 [h] | 3 years, 364 days | Pennsylvania | William Howard Taft (1909–1913) | |||
41 | William Jennings Bryan (1860–1925) [57] | Democratic | – | March 5, 1913 | June 9, 1915 | 2 years, 96 days | Nebraska | Woodrow Wilson (1913–1921) | |||
42 | Robert Lansing (1864–1928) [58] | Democratic | – | June 9, 1915 | June 24, 1915 [k] | 4 years, 249 days | New York | ||||
June 24, 1915 | February 13, 1920 | ||||||||||
– | Frank Polk (1871–1943) [l] [59] | Democratic | – | February 14, 1920 | March 14, 1920 | 29 days | New York | ||||
43 | Bainbridge Colby (1869–1950) [60] | Democratic | – | March 23, 1920 | March 4, 1921 | 346 days | New York | ||||
44 | Charles Evans Hughes (1862–1948) [61] | Republican | – | March 5, 1921 | March 4, 1925 | 3 years, 364 days | New York | Warren G. Harding (1921–1923) | |||
Calvin Coolidge (1923–1929) | |||||||||||
45 | Frank B. Kellogg (1856–1937) [62] | Republican | – | March 5, 1925 | March 28, 1929 | 4 years, 23 days | Minnesota | ||||
Herbert Hoover (1929–1933) | |||||||||||
46 | Henry L. Stimson (1867–1950) [63] | Republican | – | March 28, 1929 | March 4, 1933 | 3 years, 341 days | New York | ||||
47 | Cordell Hull (1871–1955) [64] | Democratic | – | March 4, 1933 | November 30, 1944 | 11 years, 271 days | Tennessee | Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1945) | |||
48 | Edward Stettinius Jr. (1900–1949) [65] | Democratic | 68–1 | December 1, 1944 | June 27, 1945 | 208 days | Virginia | ||||
Harry S. Truman (1945–1953) | |||||||||||
– | Joseph Grew (1880–1965) [l] [66] | Independent | – | June 28, 1945 | July 3, 1945 | 5 days | New Hampshire | ||||
49 | James F. Byrnes (1882–1972) [67] | Democratic | – | July 3, 1945 | January 21, 1947 | 1 year, 202 days | South Carolina | ||||
50 | George C. Marshall (1880–1959) [68] | Independent | – | January 21, 1947 | January 20, 1949 | 1 year, 365 days | Pennsylvania | ||||
51 | Dean Acheson (1893–1971) [69] | Democratic | 83–6 | January 21, 1949 | January 20, 1953 | 3 years, 365 days | Maryland | ||||
– | H. Freeman Matthews (1899–1986) [l] [70] | Independent | – | January 20, 1953 | January 21, 1953 | 1 day | Maryland | Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953–1961) | |||
52 | John Foster Dulles (1888–1959) [71] | Republican | – | January 21, 1953 | April 22, 1959 | 6 years, 91 days | New York | ||||
53 | Christian Herter (1895–1966) [72] | Republican | 93–0 | April 22, 1959 | January 20, 1961 | 1 year, 273 days | Massachusetts | ||||
– | Livingston T. Merchant (1903–1976) [m] [73] | Independent | – | January 20, 1961 | January 21, 1961 | 1 day | District of Columbia | John F. Kennedy (1961–1963) | |||
54 | Dean Rusk (1909–1994) [74] | Democratic | – | January 21, 1961 | January 20, 1969 | 7 years, 365 days | New York | ||||
Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–1969) | |||||||||||
– | Charles E. Bohlen (1904–1974) [n] [75] | Independent | – | January 20, 1969 | January 22, 1969 | 2 days | District of Columbia | Richard Nixon (1969–1974) | |||
55 | William P. Rogers (1913–2001) [76] | Republican | – | January 22, 1969 | September 3, 1973 | 4 years, 224 days | Maryland | ||||
– | Kenneth Rush (1910–1994) [o] [77] | Republican | – | September 3, 1973 | September 22, 1973 | 19 days | Florida | ||||
56 | Henry Kissinger (1923–2023) [78] | Republican | 78–7 | September 22, 1973 | January 20, 1977 | 3 years, 120 days | District of Columbia | ||||
Gerald Ford (1974–1977) | |||||||||||
– | Philip Habib (1920–1992) [m] [79] | Independent | – | January 20, 1977 | January 23, 1977 | 3 days | California | Jimmy Carter (1977–1981) | |||
57 | Cyrus Vance (1917–2002) [80] | Democratic | Voice | January 23, 1977 | April 28, 1980 | 3 years, 96 days | New York | ||||
– | Warren Christopher (1925–2011) [o] [81] | Democratic | – | April 28, 1980 | May 2, 1980 | 4 days | California | ||||
– | David D. Newsom (1918–2008) [m] [82] | Independent | – | May 2, 1980 | May 3, 1980 | 1 day | California | ||||
– | Richard N. Cooper (1934–2020) [p] [83] | Independent | – | May 3, 1980 | May 3, 1980 | 0 days | Connecticut | ||||
– | David D. Newsom (1918–2008) [m] [82] | Independent | – | May 3, 1980 | May 4, 1980 | 1 day | California | ||||
– | Warren Christopher (1925–2011) [o] [81] | Democratic | – | May 4, 1980 | May 8, 1980 | 4 days | California | ||||
58 | Edmund Muskie (1914–1996) [84] | Democratic | 94–2 | May 8, 1980 | January 18, 1981 | 255 days | Maine | ||||
– | David D. Newsom (1918–2008) [m] [82] | Independent | – | January 18, 1981 | January 22, 1981 | 4 days | California | ||||
59 | Alexander Haig (1924–2010) [85] | Republican | 93–6 | January 22, 1981 | July 5, 1982 | 1 year, 164 days | Connecticut | Ronald Reagan (1981–1989) | |||
– | Walter J. Stoessel Jr. (1920–1986) [o] [86] | Independent | – | July 5, 1982 | July 16, 1982 | 11 days | California | ||||
60 | George Shultz (1920–2021) [87] | Republican | 97–0 | July 16, 1982 | January 20, 1989 | 6 years, 188 days | California | ||||
– | Michael Armacost (b. 1937) [m] [88] | Independent | – | January 20, 1989 | January 25, 1989 | 5 days | Maryland | George H. W. Bush (1989–1993) | |||
61 | James Baker (b. 1930) [89] | Republican | 99–0 | January 25, 1989 | August 23, 1992 | 3 years, 211 days | Texas | ||||
62 | Lawrence Eagleburger (1930–2011) [90] | Republican | – | August 23, 1992 | December 8, 1992 [o] | 150 days | Florida | ||||
Recess | December 8, 1992 | January 20, 1993 | |||||||||
– | Arnold Kanter (1945–2010) [q] [91] | Independent | – | January 20, 1993 | January 20, 1993 | 0 days | District of Columbia | ||||
– | Frank G. Wisner (b. 1938) [r] [92] | Independent | – | January 20, 1993 | January 20, 1993 | 0 days | District of Columbia | Bill Clinton (1993–2001) | |||
63 | Warren Christopher (1925–2011) [81] | Democratic | Voice | January 20, 1993 | January 17, 1997 | 3 years, 363 days | California | ||||
64 | Madeleine Albright (1937–2022) [93] | Democratic | 99–0 | January 23, 1997 | January 20, 2001 | 3 years, 363 days | District of Columbia | ||||
65 | Colin Powell (1937–2021) [94] | Republican | Voice | January 20, 2001 | January 26, 2005 | 4 years, 6 days | Virginia | George W. Bush (2001–2009) | |||
66 | Condoleezza Rice (b. 1954) [95] | Republican | 85–13 | January 26, 2005 | January 20, 2009 | 3 years, 360 days | California | ||||
– | Bill Burns (b. 1956) [m] | Independent | – | January 20, 2009 | January 21, 2009 | 1 day | District of Columbia | Barack Obama (2009–2017) | |||
67 | Hillary Clinton (b. 1947) [96] | Democratic | 94–2 | January 21, 2009 | February 1, 2013 | 4 years, 11 days | New York | ||||
68 | John Kerry (b. 1943) [97] | Democratic | 94–3 | February 1, 2013 | January 20, 2017 | 3 years, 354 days | Massachusetts | ||||
– | Tom Shannon (b. 1958) [m] [98] | Republican | – | January 20, 2017 | February 1, 2017 | 12 days | Minnesota | Donald Trump (2017–2021) | |||
69 | Rex Tillerson (b. 1952) [99] | Republican | 55–43 | February 1, 2017 | March 31, 2018 | 1 year, 58 days | Texas | ||||
– | John Sullivan (b. 1959) [o] | Republican | – | April 1, 2018 | April 26, 2018 | 25 days | Massachusetts | ||||
70 | Mike Pompeo (b. 1963) [100] | Republican | 57–42 | April 26, 2018 | January 20, 2021 | 2 years, 269 days | Kansas | ||||
– | Daniel Bennett Smith (b. 1956) [s] [101] | Independent | – | January 20, 2021 | January 26, 2021 | 6 days | Virginia | Joe Biden (2021–2025) | |||
71 | Antony Blinken (b. 1962) [102] | Democratic | 78–22 | January 26, 2021 | Incumbent | 3 years, 357 days | New York |
This is a list of United States secretaries of state by time in office. This is based on the difference between dates; if counted by number of calendar days all the figures would be one greater. Cordell Hull is the only person to have served as secretary of state for more than eight years. Daniel Webster and James G. Blaine are the only secretaries of state to have ever served non-consecutive terms. Warren Christopher served very briefly as acting secretary of state non-consecutively with his later tenure as full-fledged secretary of state. Elihu B. Washburne served as secretary of state for less than two weeks before becoming ambassador to France.
The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nations, its primary duties are advising the U.S. president on international relations, administering diplomatic missions, negotiating international treaties and agreements, protecting citizens abroad and representing the U.S. at the United Nations. The department is headquartered in the Harry S Truman Building, a few blocks from the White House, in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C.; "Foggy Bottom" is thus sometimes used as a metonym.
The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government and the head of the Department of State. The office holder is the second-highest-ranking member of the president's Cabinet, after the vice president, and ranks fourth in the presidential line of succession; first amongst cabinet secretaries.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom.
The secretary of state for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, also known as the foreign secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The role is seen as one of the most senior ministers in the UK Government and is a Great Office of State. The incumbent is a member of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom and National Security Council, and reports directly to the prime minister.
The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, making the home secretary one of the most senior and influential ministers in the government. The incumbent is a statutory member of the British Cabinet and National Security Council.
The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. CFR is based in New York City, with an additional office in Washington, D.C. Its membership has included senior politicians, secretaries of state, CIA directors, bankers, lawyers, professors, corporate directors, CEOs, and prominent media figures.
William Livingston was an American politician and lawyer who served as the first governor of New Jersey (1776–1790) during the American Revolutionary War. As a New Jersey representative in the Continental Congress, he signed the Continental Association and the United States Constitution. He is considered one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a Founding Father of New Jersey.
Robert Michael Gates is an American intelligence analyst and university president who served as the 22nd United States secretary of defense from 2006 to 2011. He was appointed by President George W. Bush and was retained by President Barack Obama. Gates began his career serving as an officer in the United States Air Force but was quickly recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Gates served for twenty-six years in the CIA and at the National Security Council, and was director of central intelligence under President George H. W. Bush from 1991 to 1993. After leaving the CIA, Gates became president of Texas A&M University and was a member of several corporate boards. Gates served as a member of the Iraq Study Group, the bipartisan commission co-chaired by James A. Baker III and Lee H. Hamilton that studied the lessons of the Iraq War.
Robert Kagan is an American historian. He is a neoconservative scholar. He is a critic of U.S. foreign policy and a leading advocate of liberal internationalism.
Sir Evan Nepean, 1st Baronet, PC FRS was a British politician and colonial administrator. He was the first of the Nepean Baronets.
William Joseph Burns is an American diplomat and the director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) during the Biden administration since March 19, 2021. He previously served as U.S. deputy secretary of state from 2011 to 2014; in 2009 he served as acting secretary of state for a day, prior to the confirmation of Hillary Clinton. Burns retired from the U.S. Foreign Service in 2014 after a 32-year career. From 2014 to 2021, he served as president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Victoria Jane Nuland is an American diplomat who served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2021 to 2024. A former member of the US Foreign Service, she served as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs from 2013 to 2017 and the 18th U.S. ambassador to NATO from 2005 to 2008. Between July 2023 and February 2024, Nuland served as acting deputy secretary of state following the retirement of Wendy Sherman.
Livingston Tallmadge Merchant was a United States official and diplomat. He twice served as United States ambassador to Canada and was Under Secretary for Political Affairs from 1959 to 1961.
The Colonial Office was a government department of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, first created in 1768 from the Southern Department to deal with colonial affairs in North America, until merged into the new Home Office in 1782. In 1801, colonial affairs were transferred to the War Office in the lead up to the Napoleonic Wars, which became the War and Colonial Office to oversee and protect the colonies of the British Empire. The Colonial Office was re-created as a separate department 1854, under the colonial secretary. It was finally merged into the Commonwealth Office in 1966.
Henry Brockholst Livingston was an American Revolutionary War officer, a justice of the New York Court of Appeals and eventually an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
George Pratt Shultz was an American economist, businessman, diplomat and statesman. He served in various positions under two different Republican presidents and is one of the only two persons to have held four different Cabinet-level posts, the other being Elliot Richardson. Shultz played a major role in shaping the foreign policy of the Ronald Reagan administration, and conservative foreign policy thought thereafter.
In the Kingdom of England, the title of Secretary of State came into being near the end of the reign of Elizabeth I, the usual title before that having been King's Clerk, King's Secretary, or Principal Secretary.
The Embassy of the United States in Beijing is the diplomatic mission of the United States in China. It serves as the administrative office of the United States Ambassador to China. The embassy complex is in Chaoyang, Beijing.