Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs

United States
Assistant Secretary of State
for African Affairs
Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent
Mary Catherine Phee
since September 30, 2021
Reports toUnder Secretary of State for Political Affairs
NominatorPresident of the United States
Inaugural holderJoseph C. Satterthwaite
FormationSeptember 1958
WebsiteOfficial Website

The Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs is the head of the Bureau of African Affairs, within the United States 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]

On July 18, 1958, Congress authorized an 11th 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.[2]

List of Assistant Secretaries of State for African Affairs[edit]

Source:[2]

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 July 19, 1975[3] Gerald Ford
William E. Schaufele, Jr. December 19, 1975 July 17, 1977 Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter
Richard M. Moose July 6, 1977 January 16, 1981 Jimmy Carter
Chester Crocker June 9, 1981 April 21, 1989 Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush
Herman Jay Cohen May 12, 1989 February 26, 1993 George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton
George Moose April 2, 1993 August 22, 1997 Bill Clinton
Susan E. Rice October 9, 1997 January 20, 2001
Nancy Jo Powell (Acting) January 21, 2001 June 3, 2001 George W. Bush
Walter H. Kansteiner, III June 4, 2001 November 1, 2003
Charles R. Snyder (Acting)[4] November 1, 2003 July 24, 2004
Constance Berry Newman July 24, 2004 August 26, 2005
Jendayi Frazer August 29, 2005 January 20, 2009
Philip Carter (Acting) January 20, 2009 May 7, 2009 Barack Obama
Johnnie Carson May 7, 2009 March 30, 2013
Donald Yamamoto (Acting) March 30, 2013 August 5, 2013
Linda Thomas-Greenfield August 6, 2013 March 10, 2017 Barack Obama and Donald Trump
Donald Yamamoto (Acting) September 5, 2017 July 22, 2018 Donald Trump
Tibor P. Nagy, Jr. July 23, 2018 January 20, 2021
Robert F. Godec (Acting) January 20, 2021 September 30, 2021 Joe Biden
Mary Catherine Phee September 30, 2021 Incumbent

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Bureau of African Affairs". Retrieved September 21, 2007.
  2. ^ a b "Assistant Secretaries of State for African Affairs". Retrieved September 21, 2007.
  3. ^ Nathaniel Davis. The Angola Decision of 1975: A Personal Memoir. Foreign Affairs 57, no. 1 (1978): 109-24. https://doi.org/10.2307/20040055
  4. ^ "Snyder, Charles R." 2001-2009.state.gov. Retrieved June 12, 2017.