The United States order of precedence is an advisory document maintained by the Ceremonials Division of the Office of the Chief of Protocol of the United States which lists the ceremonial order,or relative preeminence,for domestic and foreign government officials at diplomatic,ceremonial,and social events within the United States and abroad. The list is used to mitigate miscommunication and embarrassment in diplomacy,and offer a distinct and concrete spectrum of preeminence for ceremonies. Often the document is used to advise diplomatic and ceremonial event planners on seating charts and order of introduction. Former presidents,vice presidents,first ladies,second ladies,and secretaries of state and retired Supreme Court justices are also included in the list.
Assistant Secretary of State (A/S) is a title used for many executive positions in the United States Department of State,ranking below the under secretaries. A set of six assistant secretaries reporting to the under secretary for political affairs manage diplomatic missions within their designated geographic regions,plus one assistant secretary dealing with international organizations and one equivalent as the coordinator/ambassador at large for counterterrorism. Assistant secretaries usually manage individual bureaus of the Department of State. When the manager of a bureau or another agency holds a title other than assistant secretary,such as "director",it can be said to be of "assistant secretary equivalent rank". Assistant secretaries typically have a set of deputies,referred to as deputy assistant secretaries (DAS).
Tracey Ann Jacobson is an American diplomat and a former United States ambassador to Turkmenistan,Tajikistan,Kosovo and Ethiopia. She served as the Acting Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs from January 2017 through October 2017. She retired then returned to active duty in 2021 as the State Department's Director of the Afghanistan Task Force,and then as Chargéd’Affaires,ad interim,at the Embassy in Addis Ababa,Ethiopia. In January 2024,she was nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as the United States ambassador to Iraq.
Thomas C. Hubbard is a diplomat and former U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines (1996–2000) and South Korea (2001–04). He is currently a Senior Director for Asia at McLarty Associates and Chairman of The Korea Society.
The Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy,Human Rights,and Labor is the head of the Bureau of Democracy,Human Rights,and Labor within the United States Department of State. The Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy,Human Rights,and Labor reports to the Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security,Democracy,and Human Rights.
Jonathan Don Farrar was the United States Ambassador to the Republic of Panama from 2012 to 2015. He was previously the Chief of Mission of the United States Interests Section in Havana,Cuba,from July 2008 to September 2011.
Robert Porter Jackson is a retired American foreign service officer and diplomat. He was a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor.
Thomas O. Melia currently serves as Washington director at PEN America. Previously,he served in the Obama Administration as USAID's Assistant Administrator for Europe and Eurasia (2015–2017) and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Democracy,Human Rights,and Labor at the United States Department of State (2010–2015). Melia also served as Executive Director of Democracy International,an organization that designs,implements,and evaluates democracy and governance programs around the world. Additionally,he was the Deputy Executive Director of Freedom House,a human rights organization.
William Edward "Bill" Todd was appointed in May 2019 as Deputy Under Secretary for Management. He also served as the Acting Under Secretary of State for Management from February 2018 to May 2019. He retired from the Department of State in May 2021.
Jacques Paul Klein is a retired United States diplomat,who served as head of three United Nations peacekeeping missions:the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES) from January 17,1996,to August 1,1997,the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH) from July 16,1999,to December 31,2002,and the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) from July 17,2003,to July 20,2005.
Glyn Townsend Davies is a senior advisor at ASG,a strategy and commercial diplomacy firm. A career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service,he served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations International Organizations in Vienna from 2009 to 2011,as Special Representative for North Korea Policy from 2011 to 2014,and as Ambassador to Thailand from 2015 to 2018.
Robert Frank Godec is an American diplomat who has served as the United States ambassador to Thailand since October 2022. He formerly served as the United States ambassador to Kenya from 2013 to 2019 and the United States ambassador to Tunisia from 2006 to 2009. He also served as acting assistant secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs from January to September 2021.
Kelly Colleen Degnan is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service,class of Minister-Counselor,who served as the United States Ambassador to Georgia from 2020 to 2023. Prior to that she served as the Political Advisor to the Commander of United States Naval Forces Europe / United States Naval Forces Africa. Previously,she was the Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) to the U.S. Mission to Italy and San Marino in Rome,Italy. In September 2019,she was nominated to be the next U.S. Ambassador to Georgia.
Erica Jean Barks-Ruggles is a diplomat and former United States Ambassador to Rwanda. She was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the Senate in November 2014. On July 14,2023,she was appointed as the Head of the U.S. Mission to UNESCO.
Francisco "Paco" Palmieri is an American diplomat who previously served as Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs,leading the State Department’s efforts to advance U.S. foreign policy goals in the region from January 2017 to November 2018. Palmieri managed the successful 2018 Summit of the Americas in Peru,U.S. engagement with the Lima Group unifying 15 Western Hemisphere democracies in a multilateral diplomatic response to the crisis in Venezuela,the reorientation of U.S. foreign assistance in support of the Colombia peace process,the formulation and adoption of a new comprehensive U.S. political and economic Caribbean 2020 strategy,the launch of the renegotiation of the 50-year old Columbia River Treaty with Canada,and the multi-agency response to the ongoing migration challenges emanating from Central America. He also was responsible for the daily management of the Bureau’s 53 overseas U.S. diplomatic missions,12,000 employees,and implementation of the Hemisphere’s $1.58 billion foreign assistance and $290 million operating budgets. He recently served as the Civilian Deputy and Foreign Policy Advisor to Admiral Craig S. Faller at United States Southern Command,succeeding former Ambassador Jean Elizabeth Manes in July 2021.
W. Patrick Murphy is a career U.S. diplomat. A Senior Foreign Service Officer,he served as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs from 2018 to 2019,fulfilling the duties of Acting Assistant Secretary,and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Southeast Asia and Multilateral Affairs,2016–2018. He previously served as Chargéd'affaires and Deputy Chief of Mission in the Kingdoms of Thailand and Lesotho. He was nominated on January 16,2019 to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Kingdom of Cambodia.
Robert Stuart Gilchrist is an American diplomat who has served as the principal deputy assistant secretary of state for democracy,human rights,and labor since September 2023. He served as the United States ambassador to Lithuania from February 2020 to August 2023. He is a career Foreign Service Officer with the rank of minister counselor. He was appointed by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the United States Senate on December 20,2019. Gilchrist was the fifth US ambassador from the LGBT community nominated to serve by the Trump administration.
Joseph S. Pennington is a former American diplomat who is a Career Member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister-Counselor and is the Senior Advisor to the Ambassador on U.S. Assistance to Ukraine. When Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch was recalled in the spring of 2019,and incoming Deputy Chief of Mission Kristina Kvien not to arrive in Kyiv on May 28,Pennington continued to serve as chargéd'affaires and acting deputy chief through the transition period. It has been reported that Pennington was one of two Embassy officials who were briefed on a meeting in which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he felt pressure from the Trump Administration to investigate Hunter Biden.
Uzra Zeya is an American diplomat who has served as the Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security,Democracy,and Human Rights in the Biden Administration since July 2021.
Elizabeth Moore Aubin is an American diplomat and State Department official who has served as U.S. ambassador to Algeria since February 9,2022. She previously served as acting principal deputy assistant secretary and deputy assistant secretary for regional multilateral affairs from January 20,2021 to June 7,2021. In June 2024,Aubin was nominated to serve as the United States ambassador to Cameroon.
