Counselor of the United States Department of State
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The Counselor of the United States Department of State is a position within the United States Department of State that serves the Secretary of State as a special advisor and consultant on major problems of foreign policy and who provides guidance to the appropriate bureaus with respect to such matters. The Counselor conducts special international negotiations and consultations, and also undertakes special assignments from time to time, as directed by the Secretary.[1]Currently, the Counselor holds under law a rank equivalent to that of Under Secretary of State.[2] The current Counselor is Eliot A. Cohen[3] The appointment was widely seen to lend intellectual legitimacy to the embattled Condoleezza Rice as Cohen has repeatedly been called "the most influential neocon in academe," and has in the past advocated military action against Iran and referred to the Bush administration's "War on Terror" as "World War IV".[4] .
The Secretary of State created the position of Counselor for the Department of State in 1909 as part of a general Department reorganization. In 1912, the position became a Presidential appointment. Between 1913 and 1919, the Counselor served as the Department's second-ranking officer, assuming the role previously exercised by the Assistant Secretary of State. In 1919, the newly-created position of Under Secretary of State subsumed the duties of the Counselor. An Act of Congress, May 18, 1937, re-established the position of Counselor of the Department of State. Between 1961 and 1965, the Counselor also served as the Chairman of the Policy Planning Council. On April 30, 1994 the title was changed to Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs when Counselor Timothy E. Wirth was appointed to that position, but another Counselor was appointed in 1997.[2]
Former Counselors are Chandler P. Anderson, John Bassett Moore, Robert Lansing, Frank Lyon Polk, R. Walton Moore, Benjamin V. Cohen, Charles E. Bohlen, George F. Kennan, Douglas MacArthur II, G. Frederick Reinhardt, Theodore C. Achilles, George C. McGhee, Walt Whitman Rostow, Robert R. Bowie, Richard F. Pedersen, Helmut Sonnefeldt, Matthew Nimetz, Rozanne L. Ridgway, Robert Carl McFarlane, James L. Buckley, Edward J. Derwinski, Max M. Kampelman, Robert B. Zoellick, Timothy E. Wirth, Wendy Ruth Sherman, and Philip D. Zelikow.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Counselor of the Department. Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
- ^ a b c Counselors. Retrieved on 2007-09-22.
- ^ Kessler, Glenn. Rice Names Critic Of Iraq Policy to Counselor's Post. Retrieved on 2007-03-06.
- ^ Cohen, Eliot A.. World War IV. Retrieved on 2007-03-06.
