Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs

The Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs is the head of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs within the United States Department of State. The Assistant Secretary guides operation of the U.S. diplomatic establishment in the countries of the Asia-Pacific region and advises the Secretary of State and the Under Secretary for Political Affairs on matters relating to the area.

United States
Assistant Secretary of State
for East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent
Sung Kim
(Acting)

since January 20, 2021
Reports toUnder Secretary of State for Political Affairs
NominatorPresident of the United States
Inaugural holderWilliam Walton Butterworth
Formation1949
WebsiteOfficial website

The Department of State established the position of Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs in 1949, after the Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of Government recommended that certain offices be upgraded to bureau level and after Congress increased the number of Assistant Secretaries of State from six to ten. On November 1, 1966, the Department by administrative action changed the incumbent's designation to Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. The Division of Far Eastern Affairs, established in 1908, was the first geographical division to be established in the Department of State.[1]

List of Assistant Secretaries of State for Far Eastern Affairs, 1949–1966

Name Assumed office Left office President served under
William Walton Butterworth[2] September 29, 1949 July 4, 1950 Harry S. Truman
Dean Rusk March 28, 1950 December 9, 1951 Harry S. Truman
John Moore Allison February 1, 1952 April 7, 1953 Harry S. Truman
Walter S. Robertson April 8, 1953 June 30, 1959 Dwight D. Eisenhower
J. Graham Parsons July 1, 1959 March 30, 1961 Dwight D. Eisenhower
Walter P. McConaughy April 24, 1961 December 3, 1961 John F. Kennedy
W. Averell Harriman December 4, 1961[3] April 3, 1963 John F. Kennedy
Roger Hilsman May 9, 1963 March 15, 1964 John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson

List of Assistant Secretaries of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, 1966–present

Name Assumed office Left office President served under
William Bundy March 16, 1964 May 4, 1969 Lyndon B. Johnson
Marshall Green May 5, 1969 May 10, 1973 Richard Nixon
G. McMurtrie Godley [4] Richard Nixon
Robert S. Ingersoll January 8, 1974 July 9, 1974 Richard Nixon
Philip Habib September 27, 1974 June 30, 1976 Gerald Ford
Arthur W. Hummel, Jr. July 12, 1976 March 14, 1977 Gerald Ford
Richard Holbrooke March 31, 1977 January 13, 1981 Jimmy Carter
John H. Holdridge May 28, 1981 December 9, 1982[5] Ronald Reagan
Paul Wolfowitz December 22, 1982 March 12, 1986 Ronald Reagan
Gaston J. Sigur, Jr. March 12, 1986 February 21, 1989 Ronald Reagan
Richard Armitage [6] George H. W. Bush
Richard H. Solomon June 23, 1989 July 10, 1992 George H. W. Bush
William Clark, Jr. July 10, 1992 April 23, 1993 George H. W. Bush
Winston Lord April 23, 1993 February 18, 1997 Bill Clinton
Stanley O. Roth August 5, 1997 January 20, 2001 Bill Clinton
James A. Kelly May 1, 2001 January 31, 2005 George W. Bush
Christopher R. Hill April 8, 2005 April 21, 2009 George W. Bush and Barack Obama
Kurt M. Campbell June 2, 2009 February 8, 2013 Barack Obama
Daniel R. Russel July 12, 2013 March 8, 2017 Barack Obama and Donald Trump
Susan Thornton (acting) March 9, 2017 July 2018[7] Donald Trump
W. Patrick Murphy (acting) July 2018 June 2019 Donald Trump
David R. Stilwell June 20, 2019 January 20, 2021 Donald Trump
Sung Kim (acting) January 20, 2021 Joe Biden

References

  1. "Assistant Secretaries of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs". Retrieved September 21, 2007.
  2. Butterworth was initially appointed as "Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs." On March 20, 1950, his title was changed to "Assistant Secretary of State for Japanese Affairs."
  3. Initially commissioned during a recess of the Senate. He was later confirmed and re-commissioned on March 5, 1962.
  4. Godley was never commissioned and President Nixon withdrew his nomination before the Senate acted upon it.
  5. https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/holdridge-john-herbert
  6. Nomination withdrawn.
  7. politico.com: Career diplomat Thornton to leave State Department
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