Lawrence Sidney Eagleburger was an American statesman and career diplomat, who served briefly as the secretary of state under President George H. W. Bush from December 1992 to January 1993, one of the shortest terms in modern history. Previously, he had served in lesser capacities under Presidents Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan, and as deputy secretary of state to James Baker under George H. W. Bush. Eagleburger is the only career Foreign Service Officer to have served as secretary of state. He was also Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense from January to May 1973. As a career member of the United States Senior Foreign Service, he attained the rank of Career Ambassador on April 12, 1984.
Warren Minor Christopher was an American attorney, diplomat and statesman who served as the 63rd United States secretary of state from 1993 to 1997.
Richard A. Boucher is an American diplomat who was deputy secretary-general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) from 2009 until 2013. He took up post on November 5, 2009. Prior to joining OECD, he was the assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs, a position he assumed on February 21, 2006. The Bureau of South Asian Affairs was expanded to include the nations of Central Asia shortly before his confirmation.
Jeffrey David Feltman is an American diplomat and former U.S. Special Envoy for Horn of Africa, serving from April 23, 2021 to January 10, 2022. He previously served as United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs. As head of the United Nations Department of Political Affairs Feltman oversaw the UN's diplomatic efforts to prevent and mitigate conflict worldwide.
Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, AbZ is an Emirati politician appointed as the foreign minister in 2006, and additionally one of four deputy prime ministers of the United Arab Emirates in 2009. He is the ninth son of the founder of the United Arab Emirates, Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. In 2020, he was a signatory of the Abraham Accords on behalf of the UAE.
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.
Ross L. Wilson is an American diplomat who was the chargé d'affaires of the United States to Afghanistan from 2020 to 2021. He was the U.S. ambassador to Turkey from 2005 to 2008 and the U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan from 2000 to 2003, with the personal rank of minister-counselor. He also teaches part-time at Carleton College. Wilson also previously served as director of the Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council.
Yang Jiechi is a Chinese senior diplomat and retired politician. He served as director of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Foreign Affairs Commission from 2013 and 2022, State Councilor from 2013 to 2018, Minister of Foreign Affairs of China from 2007 to 2013.
Wendy Ruth Sherman is an American diplomat who served as the United States deputy secretary of state from April 2021 to July 2023. She was a professor of the practice of public leadership and director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School, a senior counselor at Albright Stonebridge Group, and a senior fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
Philip Thomas Reeker is an American diplomat and career foreign service officer with the Department of State who currently serves as the senior advisor for Caucasus negotiations. He was previously Chargé d'affaires of the United States mission to the United Kingdom from 2021 to 2022 and acting assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs from 2019 to 2021.
Stephen D. Mull is a Senior Foreign Service officer who was most recently the Acting Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs. He previously served as United States Ambassador to Poland, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs and United States Ambassador to Lithuania.
Evan Maureen Ryan is an American public servant who served as White House cabinet secretary in the administration of Joe Biden. She previously served as Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) in the Obama administration (2013–2017) and was assistant for intergovernmental affairs and public liaison for then-Vice President Joe Biden.
Antony John Blinken is an American lawyer and diplomat who served as the 71st United States secretary of state from 2021 to 2025. He previously served as deputy national security advisor from 2013 to 2015 and deputy secretary of state from 2015 to 2017 under President Barack Obama. Blinken was previously national security advisor to then–Vice President Joe Biden from 2009 to 2013.
Gina Kay Abercrombie-Winstanley (born 1957) is an American diplomat who served as U.S. ambassador to Malta from 2012 to 2016. She was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed on March 29, 2012. She was sworn in on April 18, 2012, and presented her credentials to George Abela, President of Malta, on May 2, 2012. On April 12, 2021, she was sworn in to serve as chief diversity and inclusion officer for the United States Department of State.
James Brendan Foley is a retired American foreign service officer. He served as the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Haiti from May 27, 2003 to August 14, 2005, and as the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Croatia from August 12, 2009 to August 19, 2012. As Ambassador to Haiti, Foley participated in the late-night negotiations between Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide and U.S. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell leading to Aristide's February 29, 2004 resignation and acceptance of a U.S. offer to fly him into exile.
Daniel Bennett Smith is an American diplomat who served as the director of the Foreign Service Institute and acting United States Secretary of State at the presidential transition of Joe Biden. He has held the rank of career ambassador since September 2018. He previously served as Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research at the United States Department of State, assuming that post on February 14, 2014. He is considered a veteran diplomat by the U.S. diplomatic community.
Donald Mayer Blinken was an American businessman and diplomat. A co-founder of the private equity firm Warburg Pincus, he was the chairman of the board of the State University of New York from 1978 to 1990. He also served as the United States Ambassador to Hungary from 1994 to 1997. His son, Antony Blinken, is the seventy-first United States Secretary of State, serving in the cabinet of President Joe Biden.
Elizabeth Marie Allen is an American political advisor who served as under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs in the Biden administration. She had previously served in his administration as assistant secretary of state for global public affairs. She was White House deputy communications director during the Obama administration. Allen resigned from the State Department on August 2, 2024, to take up a role as chief of staff to Tim Walz, the then-unannounced running mate of Democratic presidential candidate and incumbent Vice President Kamala Harris.
