United States Assistant Secretary of State

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The Assistant Secretary of State, from 1853 until 1913, was the second-ranking official within the American Department of State. Prior to 1853, the Chief Clerk was the second-ranking officer, and after 1913, the Counselor was the second-ranking position, though the Assistant Secretary continued to be a position until 1924. Specific duties of the incumbents varied over the years and included such responsibilities as supervising the Diplomatic and Consular Bureaus, general supervision of correspondence, consular appointments, administration of the Department, and supervision of economic matters and various geographic divisions. Today, the title of the second-ranking position is the Deputy Secretary of State.

In modern times, Assistant Secretary of State is a title used for many executive positions in the United States State Department. A set of six Assistant Secretaries reporting to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs manage diplomatic missions within their designated geographic regions, plus one Assistant Secretary dealing with international organizations, and another dealing with working with other countries on narcotics issues. Assistant Secretaries usually manage individual bureaus of the Department of State. When the manager of a bureau or another agency holds a title other than Assistant Secretary, such as "Director," it can be said to be of "Assistant Secretary equivalent rank."

#	Picture	Name	Residency	Term of Office		President(s) served under	Secretary of State(s) served under
#	Picture	Name	Residency	Start	End	President(s) served under	Secretary of State(s) served under
1		Ambrose Dudley Mann	Virginia	March 23, 1853	May 8, 1855	Franklin Pierce	William L. Marcy
2		William Hunter §§	Rhode Island	May 9, 1855	October 31, 1855	Franklin Pierce	William L. Marcy
3		John Addison Thomas	New York	November 1, 1855	April 3, 1857	Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan	William L. Marcy, Lewis Cass
4		John Appleton	Maine	April 4, 1857	June 10, 1860	James Buchanan	Lewis Cass
5		William H. Trescot	South Carolina	June 8, 1860	December 20, 1860	James Buchanan	Lewis Cass, Jeremiah S. Black
6		Frederick W. Seward	New York	March 6, 1861	March 4, 1869	Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson	William H. Seward
7		J.C. Bancroft Davis	New York	March 25, 1869	November 13, 1871	Ulysses S. Grant	Hamilton Fish
8		Charles Hale	Massachusetts	February 19, 1872	January 24, 1873	Ulysses S. Grant	Hamilton Fish
9		J.C. Bancroft Davis	New York	January 24, 1873	January 30, 1874	Ulysses S. Grant	Hamilton Fish
10		John Cadwalader	Pennsylvania	June 17, 1874	March 20, 1877	Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes	Hamilton Fish, William M. Evarts
11		Frederick W. Seward	New York	March 16, 1877	October 31, 1879	Rutherford B. Hayes	William M. Evarts
12		John Hay	Ohio	November 1, 1879	May 3, 1881	Rutherford B. Hayes, James A. Garfield	William M. Evarts, James G. Blaine
13		Robert R. Hitt	Illinois	May 4, 1881	December 19, 1881	James A. Garfield, Chester A. Arthur	James G. Blaine
14		J.C. Bancroft Davis	New York	December 19, 1881	July 7, 1882	Chester A. Arthur	Frederick T. Frelinghuysen
15		John Davis	Washington DC	July 7, 1882	February 23, 1885	Chester A. Arthur	Frederick T. Frelinghuysen
16		James D. Porter	Tennessee	March 20, 1885	September 17, 1887	Grover Cleveland	Thomas F. Bayard
17		George L. Rives	New York	November 19, 1887	March 5, 1889	Grover Cleveland	Thomas F. Bayard
18		William F. Wharton §	Massachusetts	April 2, 1889	March 20, 1893	Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland	James G. Blaine, John W. Foster, Walter Q. Gresham
19		Josiah Quincy	Massachusetts	March 20, 1893	September 22, 1893	Grover Cleveland	Walter Q. Gresham
20		Edwin F. Uhl §	Michigan	November 1, 1893	February 11, 1896	Grover Cleveland	Walter Q. Gresham, Richard Olney
21		William Woodville Rockhill	Maryland	February 11, 1896	May 10, 1897	Grover Cleveland, William McKinley	Richard Olney, John Sherman
22		William R. Day	Ohio	May 3, 1897	April 27, 1898	William McKinley	John Sherman
23		John B. Moore	New York	April 27, 1898	September 16, 1898	William McKinley	William R. Day
24		David J. Hill	New York	October 25, 1898	January 28, 1903	William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt	John Hay
25		Francis B. Loomis §	Ohio	January 7, 1903	October 10, 1905	Theodore Roosevelt	John Hay, Elihu Root
26		Robert Bacon	New York	September 5, 1905	January 27, 1909	Theodore Roosevelt	Elihu Root
27		John Callan O'Laughlin	Washington DC	January 27, 1909	March 5, 1909	Theodore Roosevelt	Robert Bacon
28		Huntington Wilson	Illinois	March 5, 1909	March 19, 1913	William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson	Philander C. Knox, William Jennings Bryan
29		John E. Osborne	Wyoming	April 21, 1913	December 14, 1916	Woodrow Wilson	William Jennings Bryan, Robert Lansing
30		William Phillips	Massachusetts	January 24, 1917	March 25, 1920	Woodrow Wilson	Robert Lansing, Bainbridge Colby
31		Fred Morris Dearing	Missouri	March 11, 1921	February 28, 1922	Warren G. Harding	Charles Evans Hughes
32		Leland B. Harrison	Illinois	March 31, 1922	June 30, 1924	Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge	Charles Evans Hughes