Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs

United States
Assistant Secretary of State
for European and Eurasian Affairs
United States; Assistant Secretary of State; for European and Eurasian Affairs
	Seal of the United States Department of State
	Incumbent; James C. O'Brien; since October 5, 2023
Reports to	Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
Nominator	President of the United States
Inaugural holder	George Walbridge Perkins Jr.
Formation	August 1949
Website	Official website

The Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs is a position within the United States Department of State that leads the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs charged with implementing American foreign policy in Europe and Eurasia, and with advising the Under Secretary for Political Affairs on matters relating to diplomatic missions within that area.

Originally, the Department of State first established a Division of Western European Affairs in 1909, which handled European states primarily bordering on the Atlantic Ocean and their colonies. The Division of Near Eastern Affairs handled relations with most Central, Eastern, and Southern European countries until after World War I. During the interwar period, responsibility for much of Central and Eastern Europe shifted to the Division of European Affairs, although Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus were handled as part of the Near East until April 18, 1974. Following World War II, the department completed the transfer of responsibility for the former colonies of European nations, except Canada, to the Bureaus of Near Eastern, South Asian, African Affairs, and Far Eastern Affairs.

The Department of State later established the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs in 1949. This came after the Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of Government, also known as the Hoover Commission, recommended that certain offices be upgraded to bureau level after Congress had increased the number of Assistant Secretaries of State from six to ten. On September 14, 1983, an administrative action changed the title of the incumbent to Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs. On January 12, 1999, the title was changed back to Assistant Secretary for European Affairs.

Officeholders

#	Name	Assumed office	Left office	President served under
Assistant Secretaries of State for European Affairs
1	George Walbridge Perkins, Jr.	August 1, 1949	January 31, 1953	Harry S. Truman
2	Livingston T. Merchant	March 16, 1953	May 6, 1956	Dwight D. Eisenhower
-	James Williams Riddleberger	^[1]
3	Charles Burke Elbrick	February 14, 1957	November 16, 1958
4	Livingston T. Merchant	November 18, 1958^[2]	August 20, 1959
-	Walter C. Dowling	^[3]
5	Foy D. Kohler	December 11, 1959^[4]	August 19, 1962	Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy
6	William R. Tyler	September 2, 1962	May 18, 1965	John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson
7	John M. Leddy	June 16, 1965	February 19, 1969	Lyndon B. Johnson
8	Martin J. Hillenbrand	February 20, 1969	April 30, 1972	Richard Nixon
9	Walter John Stoessel Jr.	August 9, 1972	January 7, 1974	Richard Nixon
10	Arthur A. Hartman	January 8, 1974	June 8, 1977	Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford
11	George S. Vest	June 16, 1977	April 14, 1981	Jimmy Carter
12	Lawrence Eagleburger	May 14, 1981	January 26, 1982	Ronald Reagan
Assistant Secretaries of State for European and Canadian Affairs
13	Richard R. Burt	February 18, 1983^[5]	July 18, 1985	Ronald Reagan
14	Rozanne L. Ridgway	July 19, 1985	June 30, 1989^[6]	Ronald Reagan
15	Raymond G. H. Seitz	August 8, 1989	April 30, 1991	George H. W. Bush
16	Thomas Niles	October 3, 1991	April 1, 1993	George H. W. Bush
17	Stephen A. Oxman	April 2, 1993	August 15, 1994	Bill Clinton
18	Richard Holbrooke	September 13, 1994	February 21, 1996
19	John C. Kornblum	July 3, 1996	August 1, 1997
20	Marc Grossman	August 5, 1997	May 31, 2000
Assistant Secretaries of State for European Affairs
20	Marc Grossman	August 5, 1997	May 31, 2000	Bill Clinton
21	James F. Dobbins	January 4, 2001^[7]	June 1, 2001^[8]	Bill Clinton and George W. Bush
22	A. Elizabeth Jones	June 1, 2001	February 28, 2005	George W. Bush
Assistant Secretaries of State for European and Eurasian Affairs
22	A. Elizabeth Jones	June 1, 2001	February 28, 2005	George W. Bush
23	Daniel Fried	May 5, 2005	January 20, 2009	George W. Bush
24	Philip H. Gordon	May 15, 2009	March 11, 2013	Barack Obama
25	Victoria Nuland	September 18, 2013	January 20, 2017	Barack Obama
-	John A. Heffern (acting)	January 20, 2017	August 23, 2017	Donald Trump
26	A. Wess Mitchell	October 12, 2017	February 15, 2019
-	Michael Murphy (Senior Bureau Official)^[9]	February 18, 2019	March 18, 2019
-	Philip T. Reeker (acting)	March 18, 2019	July 31, 2021^[10]	Donald Trump
-	Philip T. Reeker (acting)	March 18, 2019	July 31, 2021^[10]	Joe Biden
-	Maureen Cormack (acting)	August 2, 2021	September 28, 2021^[11]	Joe Biden
27	Karen Donfried	September 30, 2021^[12]	March 31, 2023
-	Dereck J. Hogan (acting)	April 1, 2023	July 10, 2023
-	Yuri Kim (acting)	July 10, 2023	October 5, 2023
28	James C. O'Brien	October 5, 2023	Incumbent

References

^ Appointed on October 15, 1956; declined appointment.
^ Initially commissioned during Senate recess; after confirmation by Senate, re-commissioned on January 29, 1959.
^ Appointed August 26, 1959, but never took oath of office.
^ Initially commissioned during Senate recess; after confirmation by Senate, re-commissioned on January 27, 1960.
^ He was first nominated on May 10, 1982, but the Senate did not act on this first nomination.
^ The State Department's website [1] gives the date as June 30, 1985, but given the context, this appears to be a typo for 1989.
^ He had previously been nominated on September 26, 2000, but the Senate did not act on that nomination.
^ Department Of State. The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs. "Dobbins, James". 2001-2009.state.gov. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
^ "Technical Difficulties".
^ "Philip T. Reeker". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2021-09-28.
^ "Maureen E. Cormack". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
^ "Technical Difficulties".

External links

Official website

[1] Appointed on October 15, 1956; declined appointment.

[2] Initially commissioned during Senate recess; after confirmation by Senate, re-commissioned on January 29, 1959.

[3] Appointed August 26, 1959, but never took oath of office.

[4] Initially commissioned during Senate recess; after confirmation by Senate, re-commissioned on January 27, 1960.

[5] He was first nominated on May 10, 1982, but the Senate did not act on this first nomination.

[6] The State Department's website [1] gives the date as June 30, 1985, but given the context, this appears to be a typo for 1989.

[7] He had previously been nominated on September 26, 2000, but the Senate did not act on that nomination.

[8] Department Of State. The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs. "Dobbins, James". 2001-2009.state.gov. Retrieved 2019-11-12.

[9] "Technical Difficulties".

[10] "Philip T. Reeker". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2021-09-28.

[11] "Maureen E. Cormack". United States Department of State. Retrieved 2021-10-05.

[12] "Technical Difficulties".

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

v t e 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 Director, Office of Management Strategy and Solutions
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)