| Legal Adviser of the United States Department of State |
|
|---|---|
| Inaugural holder | Green Hackworth |
| Formation | 1931 |
| Website | Official Website |
The Legal Adviser of the Department of State is a position within the United States Department of State. It was created by an Act of Congress on February 23, 1931 (P.L. 71-715; 46 Stat. 1214) and given a rank equivalent to that of an Assistant Secretary. The Legal Adviser replaced the Solicitor, a Department of Justice employee who had functioned as the Department of State's chief legal officer since 1891. Between 1870 and 1891, the Examiner of Claims had been the chief legal officer of the Department. The Legal Adviser provides legal advice on all problems (domestic and international) arising in the course of the Department's activities. Solicitors and Examiners of Claims were by statute officials of the Department of Justice.The first Legal Adviser was Green Hackworth, who served until 1946 and then became a judge on the International Court of Justice.
The Legal Adviser heads the United States Department of State Office of the Legal Adviser.
| Name | Assumed Office | Left Office | President served under |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green Hackworth | July 1, 1931[1] | March 1, 1946 | Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman |
| Charles H. Fahy | June 19, 1946 | August 15, 1947 | Harry S. Truman |
| Ernest A. Gross | August 16, 1947 | March 3, 1949 | Harry S. Truman |
| Adrian S. Fisher | June 28, 1949 | January 27, 1953 | Harry S. Truman |
| Herman Phleger | February 2, 1953 | April 1, 1957 | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| Loftus Becker | June 13, 1957 | August 15, 1959 | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| Eric H. Hager | September 9, 1959 | January 20, 1961 | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| Abram Chayes | February 6, 1961 | June 27, 1964 | John F. Kennedy |
| Leonard C. Meeker | May 18, 1965 | July 13, 1969 | Lyndon B. Johnson |
| John R. Stevenson | July 14, 1969 | January 1, 1973 | Richard Nixon |
| Carlyle E. Maw | November 27, 1973 | July 9, 1974 | Richard Nixon |
| Monroe Leigh | January 21, 1975 | January 20, 1977 | Gerald Ford |
| Herbert J. Hansell | April 8, 1977 | September 20, 1979 | Jimmy Carter |
| Roberts Bishop Owen | October 4, 1979 | February 16, 1981 | Jimmy Carter |
| Davis Rowland Robinson | July 30, 1981 | February 27, 1985 | Ronald Reagan |
| Abraham D. Sofaer | June 10, 1985 | June 15, 1990 | Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush |
| Edwin D. Williamson | September 20, 1990 | January 20, 1993 | George H. W. Bush |
| Conrad K. Harper | May 24, 1993 | June 30, 1996 | Bill Clinton |
| David Andrews | September 2, 1997 | April 25, 2000 | Bill Clinton |
| William Howard Taft IV | April 16, 2001 | March 2005 | George W. Bush |
| John B. Bellinger III | April 6, 2005 | March 23, 2009[2] | George W. Bush, Barack Obama |
| Harold Hongju Koh | June 25, 2009 | present | Barack Obama |