Question: who ranks higher secretary of state or chief of staff
Answer: Bush , who would otherwise appear in this list , already appears above as a former President ) : Walter Mondale ( January 20 , 1977 -- January 20 , 1981 ) Dan Quayle ( January 20 , 1989 -- January 20 , 1993 ) Al Gore ( January 20 , 1993 -- January 20 , 2001 ) Dick Cheney ( January 20 , 2001 -- January 20 , 2009 ) Joe Biden ( January 20 , 2009 -- January 20 , 2017 ) Ambassadors from the United States ( at the Ambassador 's post ) Secretary of State ( Rex Tillerson ) Ambassadors to the United States ( ordered by the presentation of their credentials ) Associate Justices of the Supreme Court ( ordered by appointment ) : Anthony Kennedy ( February 18 , 1988 ) Clarence Thomas ( October 18 , 1991 ) Ruth Bader Ginsburg ( August 10 , 1993 ) Stephen Breyer ( August 3 , 1994 ) Samuel Alito ( January 31 , 2006 ) Sonia Sotomayor ( August 8 , 2009 ) Elena Kagan ( August 7 , 2010 ) Neil Gorsuch ( April 10 , 2017 ) Retired Chief Justices of the United States ( orde