Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs

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 to	Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
Nominator	President of the United States
Inaugural holder	William Walton Butterworth
Formation	1949
Website	Official website

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.

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

"Assistant Secretaries of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs". Retrieved September 21, 2007.
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."
Initially commissioned during a recess of the Senate. He was later confirmed and re-commissioned on March 5, 1962.
Godley was never commissioned and President Nixon withdrew his nomination before the Senate acted upon it.
https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/holdridge-john-herbert
Nomination withdrawn.
politico.com: Career diplomat Thornton to leave State Department

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[a-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] ttps://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/people/holdridge-john-herbert

[6] Nomination withdrawn.

[7] tico.com: Career diplomat Thornton to leave State Department

United States Assistant Secretaries of State (and Equivalent Ranks)
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs	African Affairs East Asian and Pacific Affairs European and Eurasian Affairs International Organization Affairs Near Eastern Affairs South and Central Asian Affairs Western Hemisphere Affairs
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment	Economic and Business Affairs Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Energy Resources Chief Economist of the Department
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security	Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance International Security and Nonproliferation Political-Military Affairs
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs	Educational and Cultural Affairs Global Public Affairs
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Management	Administration Consular Affairs Diplomatic Security Chief Information Officer of the Department Chief Medical Officer and Designated Agency Safety and Health Official Comptroller of the Department and Director of Global Financial Services Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Global Talent Director of Budget and Planning Director of Overseas Buildings Operations Director, Foreign Service Institute Director, Office of Foreign Missions, with the rank of Ambassador
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights	Conflict and Stabilization Operations Coordinator for Counterterrorism, with rank and status of Ambassador-at-Large Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Population, Refugees, and Migration Director, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking (Ambassador-at-Large) Global Criminal Justice (Ambassador-at-Large)
Reporting directly to the Secretary	Intelligence and Research Legislative Affairs Special Assistant to the Secretary and Executive Secretary of the Department Inspector General Legal Adviser Director, Policy Planning Staff Director, Office of Foreign Assistance Director, Office of Civil Rights and Chief Diversity Officer Chief of Protocol of the United States, with the rank of Ambassador Global Women's Issues (Ambassador-at-Large) Coordinator of United States Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS Globally (Ambassador-at-Large)