Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs

The Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs is the head of the Bureau of African Affairs within the American Department of State, who guides operation of the U.S. diplomatic establishment in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa and advises the Secretary of State and the Under Secretary for Political Affairs.^[1]

The current secretary is Linda Thomas-Greenfield.^[2] Previous Assistant Secretaries since the position's creation, by recency, are Johnnie Carson, Jendayi E. Frazer, Constance Berry Newman, Walter H. Kansteiner, III, Susan E. Rice, George Moose, Herman Jay Cohen, Chester A. Crocker, Richard M. Moose, William E. Schaufele, Jr., Nathaniel Davis, Donald B. Easum, David D. Newsom, Joseph Palmer II, G. Mennen Williams, and Joseph C. Satterthwaite.^[3]

On July 18, 1958, Congress authorized an eleventh Assistant Secretary of State, enabling the Department of State to create a bureau to deal with relations with the newly independent nations of Africa. At first, when the Department of State established three geographical divisions in 1909, African affairs were the responsibility of the Divisions of Near Eastern and Western European Affairs. Department Order No. 692 of June 15, 1937 transferred responsibility for all African territories except Algeria and the Union of South Africa to the Division of Near Eastern Affairs. A Division of African Affairs was created in the office of Near Eastern Affairs in January 1944. When the Bureau of Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs was created, there continued to be a Division of African Affairs within that bureau.^[3]

List of Assistant Secretaries of State for African Affairs

Portrait	Name	Assumed Office	Left Office	President served under
	Joseph C. Satterthwaite	September 2, 1958	January 31, 1961	Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy
	G. Mennen Williams	February 1, 1961	March 23, 1966	John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson
	Joseph Palmer II	April 11, 1966	July 7, 1969	Lyndon B. Johnson
	David D. Newsom	July 17, 1969	January 13, 1974	Richard Nixon
	Donald B. Easum	March 18, 1974	March 26, 1975	Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford
	Nathaniel Davis	April 2, 1975	December 18, 1975	Gerald Ford
	William E. Schaufele, Jr.	December 19, 1975	July 17, 1977	Gerald Ford
	Richard M. Moose	July 6, 1977	January 16, 1981	Jimmy Carter
	Chester Crocker	June 9, 1981	April 21, 1989	Ronald Reagan
	Herman Jay Cohen	May 12, 1989	February 26, 1993	George H. W. Bush
	George Moose	April 2, 1993	August 22, 1997	Bill Clinton
	Susan E. Rice	October 9, 1997	January 20, 2001	Bill Clinton
	Walter H. Kansteiner, III	June 4, 2001	November 1, 2003	George W. Bush
	Constance Berry Newman	June 24, 2004	August 26, 2005	George W. Bush
	Jendayi Frazer	August 29, 2005	January 20, 2009	George W. Bush
	Johnnie Carson	May 7, 2009	March 30, 2013	Barack Obama
	Donald Yamamoto	March 30, 2013	August 6, 2013	Barack Obama
	Linda Thomas-Greenfield	August 7, 2013	Current	Barack Obama

References