# Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs

Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs is a position of the United States government within the Department of State that heads the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, which is responsible for development of policies and programs to combat international narcotics and crime.
On October 1, 1978, Congress, in the Foreign Relations Authorization Act for fiscal Year 1979, authorized the position of Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics Matters, to be responsible for the overall coordination of the role of the Department of State in the international aspects of narcotics problems. This title had been given in full in each appointee's commission. The new Assistant Secretary, who headed the Bureau for International Narcotics Matters, replaced a Senior Adviser to the Secretary of State on Narcotics, who had served with a rank equivalent to an Assistant Secretary of State since 1971. The Department of State first supported the Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Narcotics in 1909. The title of this position was changed from International Narcotics Matters to International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs on February 10, 1995.

## List of Assistant Secretaries of State for International Narcotics Matters, 1979–1995

| # | Name | Assumed office | Left office | President served under |
| 1 | Mathea Falco | February 6, 1979 | January 21, 1981 | Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan |
| 2 | Dominick L. DiCarlo | September 25, 1981 | July 13, 1984 | Ronald Reagan |
| 3 | Jon R. Thomas | October 10, 1984 | April 18, 1986 | Ronald Reagan |
| 4 | Ann B. Wrobleski | September 30, 1986 | June 17, 1989 | Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush |
| 5 | Melvyn Levitsky | June 23, 1989 | November 23, 1993 | George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton |
| 6 | Robert S. Gelbard | November 23, 1993 | April 10, 1997 | Bill Clinton |

## List of Assistant Secretaries of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, 1995–present

The title "Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics Matters" was renamed "Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs" on February 10, 1995.
| # | Name | Assumed office | Left office | President served under |
| 6 | Robert S. Gelbard | November 23, 1993 | April 10, 1997 | Bill Clinton |
| 7 | Rand Beers | October 28, 1998 | August 31, 2002 | Bill Clinton and George W. Bush |
| - | Paul E. Simons (acting) | September 1, 2002 | October 5, 2003 | George W. Bush |
| 8 | Robert B. Charles | October 6, 2003 | March 15, 2005 | George W. Bush |
| 9 | Anne W. Patterson | November 28, 2005 | June 22, 2007 | George W. Bush |
| 10 | David T. Johnson | October 31, 2007 | January 10, 2011 | George W. Bush, Barack Obama |
| 11 | William Brownfield | January 10, 2011 | September 30, 2017 | Barack Obama and Donald Trump |
| - | Daniel Lewis Foote (acting) | September 30, 2017 | December 2017 | Donald Trump |
| 12 | Kirsten D. Madison | May 11, 2018 | January 20, 2021 | Donald Trump |
| - | James A. Walsh (acting) | January 20, 2021 | September 30, 2021 | Joe Biden |
| 13 | Todd D. Robinson | September 30, 2021 | January 17, 2025 | Joe Biden |