# Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs

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 | | | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| 3 | Charles Burke Elbrick | February 14, 1957 | November 16, 1958 | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| 4 | Livingston T. Merchant | November 18, 1958 | August 20, 1959 | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| - | Walter C. Dowling | | | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| 5 | Foy D. Kohler | December 11, 1959 | 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 | July 18, 1985 | Ronald Reagan |
| 14 | Rozanne L. Ridgway | July 19, 1985 | June 30, 1989 | 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 | Bill Clinton |
| 19 | John C. Kornblum | July 3, 1996 | August 1, 1997 | Bill Clinton |
| 20 | Marc Grossman | August 5, 1997 | May 31, 2000 | Bill Clinton |
| 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 | June 1, 2001 | 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 | Donald Trump |
| - | Michael Murphy (Senior Bureau Official) | February 18, 2019 | March 18, 2019 | Donald Trump |
| - | Philip T. Reeker (acting) | March 18, 2019 | July 31, 2021 | Donald Trump |
| - | Philip T. Reeker (acting) | March 18, 2019 | July 31, 2021 | Joe Biden |
| - | Maureen Cormack (acting) | August 2, 2021 | September 28, 2021 | Joe Biden |
| 27 | Karen Donfried | September 30, 2021 | March 31, 2023 | Joe Biden |
| - | Dereck J. Hogan (acting) | April 1, 2023 | July 10, 2023 | Joe Biden |
| - | Yuri Kim (acting) | July 10, 2023 | October 5, 2023 | Joe Biden |
| 28 | James C. O'Brien | October 5, 2023 | January 20, 2025 | Joe Biden |
| - | Louis L. Bono (Acting) | January 20, 2025 | Present | Donald Trump |