Skip to content
Surf Wiki
Save to docs
geography/united-states

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

United States Deputy Secretary of State

Deputy head of the US Department of State


Deputy head of the US Department of State

FieldValue
postUnited States Deputy Secretary of State
flagFlag of the United States Deputy Secretary of State.svg
flagsize130
flagcaptionFlag of the deputy secretary of state
insigniaUS Department of State official seal.svg
insigniasize120
insigniacaptionSeal of the Department of State
imageDeputy Secretary Christopher Landau Official Portrait.png
incumbentChristopher Landau
incumbentsinceMarch 25, 2025
departmentDepartment of State
reports_toU.S. Secretary of State
seatWashington, D.C.
appointerThe president
appointer_qualifiedwith Senate advice and consent
termlengthNo fixed term
formationJuly 13, 1972
firstJohn N. Irwin II
salaryExecutive Schedule, Level 2
website

The deputy secretary of state of the United States is the principal deputy to the secretary of state. If the secretary of state resigns or dies, the deputy secretary of state becomes acting secretary of state until the president nominates and the Senate confirms a replacement. The position was created in 1972. Prior to July 13, 1972, the under secretary of state had been the second ranking officer of the Department of State.

The State Department is the only federal cabinet-level agency to have two co-equal deputy secretaries. The second deputy secretary of state, the deputy secretary of state for management and resources, serves as the "first assistant" for the purposes of the Vacancies Reform Act, but both deputy secretaries have full delegated authority to act for the secretary, if not otherwise prohibited by law.

Certain deputy secretaries of state went on to become appointed as the secretary of state, such as Lawrence Eagleburger in 1992, Warren Christopher in 1993, and Antony Blinken in 2021.

List of under secretaries of state (until 1972)

Main article: United States Under Secretary of State#Under secretaries of state, 1919–1972

  • 1919–1920: Frank Polk
  • 1920–1921: Norman Davis
  • 1921–1922: Henry P. Fletcher
  • 1922–1924: William Phillips (first stint)
  • 1924–1927: Joseph Grew (first stint)
  • 1927–1928: Robert E. Olds
  • 1928–1929: J. Reuben Clark
  • 1929–1931: Joseph P. Cotton
  • 1931–1933: William R. Castle Jr.
  • 1933–1936: William Phillips (second stint)
  • 1937–1943: Sumner Welles
  • 1943–1944: Edward Stettinius Jr.
  • 1944–1945: Joseph Grew (second stint)
  • 1945–1947: Dean Acheson
  • 1947–1949: Robert A. Lovett
  • 1949–1952: James E. Webb
  • 1952–1953: David K. E. Bruce
  • 1953–1954: Walter Bedell Smith
  • 1954–1957: Herbert Hoover Jr.
  • 1957–1959: Christian Herter
  • 1959–1961: C. Douglas Dillon
  • 1961: Chester Bowles
  • 1961–1966: George Ball
  • 1966–1969: Nicholas Katzenbach
  • 1969–1970: Elliot Richardson
  • 1970–1972: John N. Irwin II

List of deputy secretaries of state

#PortraitNameTerm beganTerm endedPresident(s) served under
1[[File:John N. Irwin, II.jpg75px]]John N. Irwin IIJuly 13, 1972February 1, 1973Richard Nixon
2[[File:Kenneth-Rush-1977.jpg75px]]Kenneth RushFebruary 2, 1973May 29, 1974
3[[File:Robert S. Ingersoll.jpg75px]]Robert S. IngersollJuly 10, 1974March 31, 1976
Gerald Ford
4[[File:Charles W. Robinson.JPG75px]]Charles W. RobinsonApril 9, 1976January 20, 1977
5[[File:Warren Christopher.jpg75px]]Warren ChristopherFebruary 26, 1977January 16, 1981Jimmy Carter
6[[File:William patrick clark.png75px]]William P. Clark Jr.February 25, 1981February 9, 1982Ronald Reagan
7[[File:Walter J. Stoessel, Jr.jpg75px]]Walter J. Stoessel Jr.February 11, 1982September 22, 1982
8[[File:Kenneth Dam.jpg75px]]Kenneth W. DamSeptember 23, 1982June 15, 1985
9[[File:John C Whitehead.png75px]]John C. WhiteheadJuly 9, 1985January 20, 1989
10[[File:Lawrence Eagleburger.jpg75px]]Lawrence EagleburgerJanuary 20, 1989December 8, 1992George H. W. Bush
11[[File:CRW JR 1987.JPG96x96px]]Clifton R. Wharton Jr.January 27, 1993November 8, 1993Bill Clinton
12[[File:StrobeTalbott.jpg75px]]Strobe TalbottFebruary 22, 1994January 19, 2001
13[[File:Richard L. Armitage.jpeg75px]]Richard ArmitageMarch 26, 2001February 22, 2005George W. Bush
14[[File:Zoellick, Robert (official portrait 2008).jpg75px]]Robert ZoellickFebruary 22, 2005July 7, 2006
15[[File:John Negroponte official portrait State.jpg75px]]John NegroponteFebruary 13, 2007January 28, 2009
16[[File:Jim Steinberg.jpg75px]]James SteinbergJanuary 28, 2009July 28, 2011Barack Obama
17[[File:AmbassadorBurns.jpg75px]]William J. BurnsJuly 28, 2011November 3, 2014
[[File:Wendy R. Sherman.jpg75px]]Wendy Sherman
ActingNovember 3, 2014January 9, 2015
18[[File:Antony Blinken.jpg75px]]Antony BlinkenJanuary 9, 2015January 20, 2017
[[File:Ambassador Thomas Shannon.jpg75px]]Thomas A. Shannon Jr.
ActingFebruary 1, 2017May 24, 2017Donald Trump
19[[File:John J Sullivan.jpg75px]]John J. SullivanMay 24, 2017December 20, 2019
20[[File:Stephen E. Biegun official photo.jpg75px]]Stephen BiegunDecember 21, 2019January 20, 2021
[[File:Daniel Bennett Smith ambassador.jpg94x94px]]Daniel Bennett Smith
ActingJanuary 26, 2021April 14, 2021Joe Biden
21[[File:Deputy Secretary Sherman's Official Photo (51142275093).jpg75px]]Wendy ShermanApril 14, 2021July 28, 2023
[[File:Victoria Nuland 2021.jpg75px]]Victoria Nuland
ActingJuly 29, 2023February 12, 2024
22[[File:Kurt Campbell as Deputy Secretary of State.jpg75px]]Kurt M. CampbellFebruary 12, 2024January 20, 2025
23[[File:Deputy Secretary Christopher Landau Official Portrait.png75px]]Christopher LandauMarch 25, 2025IncumbentDonald Trump

References

References

  1. (n.d.). "Biographies of the Secretaries of State: Lawrence Sidney Eagleburger (1930–2011)". [[U.S. Department of State]].
  2. (n.d.). "Biographies of the Secretaries of State: Warren Minor Christopher (1925–2011)". [[U.S. Department of State]].
  3. (n.d.). "Biographies of the Secretaries of State: Antony Blinken (1962–)". [[U.S. Department of State]].
Info: 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.

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about United States Deputy Secretary of State — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report