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Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs

U.S. government position

Summary

U.S. government position

FieldValue
postUnited States
Assistant Secretary of State
for African Affairs
insigniaU.S. Department of State official seal.svg
insigniasize120
insigniacaptionSeal of the United States Department of State
incumbentNick Checker
incumbentsinceJanuary 6, 2026
actingyes
reports_toUnder Secretary of State for Political Affairs
nominatorPresident of the United States
formationSeptember 1958
inauguralJoseph C. Satterthwaite
websiteOfficial Website
flagFlag of the United States Assistant Secretary of State.svg
flagcaptionFlag of an assistant secretary of state

Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs The assistant secretary of state for African affairs is the head of the Bureau of African Affairs, within the United States Department of State, who guides operation of the U.S. diplomatic establishment in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa and advises the Secretary of State and the Under Secretary for Political Affairs.

On July 18, 1958, Congress authorized an 11th assistant secretary of state, enabling the Department of State to create a bureau to deal with relations with the newly independent nations of Africa. At first, when the Department of State established three geographical divisions in 1909, African affairs were the responsibility of the Divisions of Near Eastern and Western European Affairs. Department Order No. 692 of June 15, 1937, transferred responsibility for all African territories except Algeria and the Union of South Africa to the Division of Near Eastern Affairs. A Division of African Affairs was created in the office of Near Eastern Affairs in January 1944. When the Bureau of Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs was created, there continued to be a Division of African Affairs within that bureau.

List of assistant secretaries of state for African affairs

Source:

#PortraitNameAssumed officeLeft officePresident served under
1[[File:JosephSattherwaite.jpg100px]]Joseph C. SatterthwaiteSeptember 2, 1958January 31, 1961Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy
2[[File:G. Mennen Williams 1961.png100px]]G. Mennen WilliamsFebruary 1, 1961March 23, 1966John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson
3Joseph Palmer IIApril 11, 1966July 7, 1969Lyndon B. Johnson
4[[File:Newsom 1975.pngframeless122x122px]]David D. NewsomJuly 17, 1969January 13, 1974Richard Nixon
5Donald B. EasumMarch 18, 1974March 26, 1975Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford
6Nathaniel DavisApril 2, 1975July 19, 1975Gerald Ford
7[[File:Schaufele.JPG100px]]William E. Schaufele, Jr.December 19, 1975July 17, 1977Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter
8[[File:Richard M. Moose, State 1993-12- Iss 372 (IA sim state-magazine 1993-12 372) (page 14 crop).jpg100x100px]]Richard M. MooseJuly 6, 1977January 16, 1981Jimmy Carter
9[[File:Chester Crocker 2006.jpg128x128px]]Chester CrockerJune 9, 1981April 21, 1989Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush
10Herman Jay CohenMay 12, 1989February 26, 1993George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton
11[[File:George Moose, State 1993-12- Iss 372 (IA sim state-magazine 1993-12 372) (page 14 crop).jpg100x100px]]George MooseApril 2, 1993August 22, 1997Bill Clinton
12[[File:Susan Rice, official State Dept photo portrait, 2009.jpg100px]]Susan E. RiceOctober 9, 1997January 20, 2001
-[[File:Nancy_Jo_Powell.jpg100px]]Nancy Jo Powell (Acting)January 21, 2001June 3, 2001George W. Bush
13[[File:Walter Kansteiner 0702.jpg100px]]Walter H. Kansteiner, IIIJune 4, 2001November 1, 2003
-[[File:Charles R. Snyder.jpg142x142px]]Charles R. Snyder (Acting)November 1, 2003July 24, 2004
14[[File:Constance Berry Newman.jpg100px]]Constance Berry NewmanJuly 24, 2004August 26, 2005
15[[File:Wwwjambfrazer.jpg100px]]Jendayi FrazerAugust 29, 2005January 20, 2009
-Philip Carter (Acting)January 20, 2009May 7, 2009Barack Obama
16[[File:Johnnie carson africom 2009.jpg100px]]Johnnie CarsonMay 7, 2009March 30, 2013
-[[File:Donald Y Yamamoto.jpg100px]]Donald Yamamoto (Acting)March 30, 2013August 5, 2013
17[[File:Linda Thomas-Greenfield 2013.jpg100px]]Linda Thomas-GreenfieldAugust 6, 2013March 10, 2017Barack Obama and Donald Trump
-[[File:Donald Y Yamamoto.jpg100px]]Donald Yamamoto (Acting)September 5, 2017July 22, 2018Donald Trump
18[[File:Tibor P. Nagy, Jr. official photo (cropped).jpg100px]]Tibor P. Nagy, Jr.July 23, 2018January 20, 2021
-[[File:Robert F. Godec.jpg100px]]Robert F. Godec (Acting)January 20, 2021September 30, 2021Joe Biden
19[[File:Mary Catherine Phee.jpg100px]]Mary Catherine PheeSeptember 30, 2021January 20, 2025
-[[File:Troy Damian Fitrell, U.S. Ambassador.jpg100px]]Troy Fitrell (Acting)January 20, 2025July 16, 2025Donald Trump
-[[File:SBO-Pratt.png100px]]Jonathan Pratt (Acting)July 16, 2025January 6, 2026
-Nick Checker (Acting)January 6, 2026Present

References

References

  1. https://www.state.gov/biographies/nick-checker/
  2. "Bureau of African Affairs".
  3. "Assistant Secretaries of State for African Affairs".
  4. Nathaniel Davis. The Angola Decision of 1975: A Personal Memoir. Foreign Affairs 57, no. 1 (1978): 109-24. https://doi.org/10.2307/20040055
  5. "Snyder, Charles R.".
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

assistant-secretaries-of-state-for-african-affairs bureau-of-african-affairs united-states-assistant-secretaries-of-state united-states–africa-relations united-states-diplomacy
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