United States Under Secretary of State

This article is about a US government office. For the UK government office, see Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State.

The Under Secretary of State, from 1919 to 1972, was the second-ranking official at the United States Department of State (immediately beneath the United States Secretary of State), serving as the Secretary's principal deputy, chief assistant, and Acting Secretary in the event of the Secretary's absence. Prior second-ranking positions had been the Chief Clerk, the Assistant Secretary of State, and the Counselor. Prior to 1944, a number of offices in the Department reported directly to the Under Secretary. In July 1972, the position of Deputy Secretary superseded that of Under Secretary of State.

In modern times, Under Secretaries of State rank above the Assistant Secretaries of State and below the Deputy Secretaries of State. The Counselor of the United States Department of State, who advises the Secretary of State, holds a rank equivalent to Under Secretary.

The following is a list of current offices bearing the title of "Under Secretary of State":

• Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
• Under Secretary of State for Management
• Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment
• Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs
• Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs
• Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights

Under Secretaries of State, 1919–1972

Name	Home state	Term of office	President(s) served under
Frank Lyon Polk	New York	July 1, 1919–June 15, 1920	Woodrow Wilson
Norman H. Davis	New York	June 15, 1920–March 7, 1921	Woodrow Wilson and Warren G. Harding
Henry P. Fletcher	Pennsylvania	March 8, 1921–March 6, 1922	Warren G. Harding
William Phillips	Massachusetts	April 26, 1922–April 11, 1924	Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge
Joseph C. Grew	New Hampshire	April 16, 1924–June 30, 1927	Calvin Coolidge
Robert E. Olds	Minnesota	July 1, 1927–June 30, 1928	Calvin Coolidge
J. Reuben Clark, Jr.	Utah	August 31, 1928–June 19, 1929	Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover
Joseph P. Cotton	New York	June 20, 1929–March 10, 1931	Herbert Hoover
William R. Castle, Jr.	District of Columbia	April 2, 1931–March 5, 1933	Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt
William Phillips	Massachusetts	March 6, 1933–August 23, 1936	Franklin Roosevelt
Sumner Welles	Maryland	May 21, 1937–September 30, 1943	Franklin Roosevelt
Edward R. Stettinius, Jr.	Virginia	October 4, 1943–November 30, 1944	Franklin Roosevelt
Joseph C. Grew	New York	December 20, 1944–August 15, 1945	Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman
Dean G. Acheson	Maryland	August 16, 1945–June 30, 1947	Harry Truman
Robert A. Lovett	New York	July 1, 1947–January 20, 1949	Harry Truman
James E. Webb	North Carolina	January 28, 1949–February 29, 1952	Harry Truman
David K. E. Bruce	Virginia	April 1, 1952–January 20, 1953	Harry Truman
Walter B. Smith	District of Columbia	February 9, 1953–October 1, 1954	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Herbert Hoover, Jr.	California	October 4, 1954–February 5, 1957	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Christian A. Herter	Massachusetts	February 21, 1957–April 22, 1959	Dwight D. Eisenhower
C. Douglas Dillon	New Jersey	June 12, 1959–January 4, 1961	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Chester Bowles	Connecticut	January 25–December 3, 1961	John F. Kennedy
George W. Ball	District of Columbia	December 4, 1961–September 30, 1966	John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson
Nicholas deB. Katzenbach	New Jersey	October 3, 1966–January 20, 1969	Lyndon B. Johnson
Elliot L. Richardson	Massachusetts	January 23, 1969–June 23, 1970	Richard Nixon
John N. Irwin II	New York	September 21, 1970–July 12, 1972	Richard Nixon

External links

• The Department of State's list of Under Secretaries in the period that it was the second-ranking position.
• The Department of State's list of former and current positions.