| Post | United States Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs |
|---|---|
| Insignia | U.S. Department of State official seal.svg |
| Insigniasize | 120px |
| Insigniacaption | Seal of the United States Department of State |
| Incumbent | Michael G. DeSombre |
| Incumbentsince | October 10, 2025 |
| Reports to | Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs |
| Nominator | President of the United States |
| Formation | 1949 |
| Inaugural | William Walton Butterworth |
| Website | Official website |
The assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs is the head of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs within the United States Department of State. The assistant secretary guides operation of the U.S. diplomatic establishment in the countries of the Asia-Pacific region and advises the secretary of state and the under secretary for political affairs on matters relating to the area.
The Department of State established the position of assistant secretary of state for Far Eastern affairs in 1949, after the Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of Government recommended that certain offices be upgraded to bureau level and after Congress increased the number of assistant secretaries of state from six to ten. On November 1, 1966, the department by administrative action changed the incumbent's designation to assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs. The Division of Far Eastern Affairs, established in 1908, was the first geographical division to be established in the Department of State.[1]
List of assistant secretaries of state for Far Eastern affairs, 1949–1966
| Image | Name | Assumed office | Left office | President served under | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | William Walton Butterworth[2] | September 29, 1949 | July 4, 1950 | Harry S. Truman | |
| 2 | Dean Rusk | March 28, 1950 | December 9, 1951 | ||
| 3 | John Moore Allison | February 1, 1952 | April 7, 1953 | ||
| 4 | Walter S. Robertson | April 8, 1953 | June 30, 1959 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | |
| 5 | J. Graham Parsons | July 1, 1959 | March 30, 1961 | ||
| 6 | Walter P. McConaughy | April 24, 1961 | December 3, 1961 | John F. Kennedy | |
| 7 | W. Averell Harriman | December 4, 1961[3] | April 3, 1963 | ||
| 8 | Roger Hilsman | May 9, 1963 | March 15, 1964 | John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson |
List of assistant secretaries of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, 1966–present
| Image | Name | Assumed office | Left office | President served under | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | William Bundy | March 16, 1964 | May 4, 1969 | Lyndon B. Johnson | |
| 10 | Marshall Green | May 5, 1969 | May 10, 1973 | Richard Nixon | |
| - | G. McMurtrie Godley | [4] | |||
| 11 | Robert S. Ingersoll | January 8, 1974 | July 9, 1974 | ||
| 12 | Philip Habib | September 27, 1974 | June 30, 1976 | Gerald Ford | |
| 13 | Arthur W. Hummel, Jr. | July 12, 1976 | March 14, 1977 | ||
| 14 | Richard Holbrooke | March 31, 1977 | January 13, 1981 | Jimmy Carter | |
| 15 | John H. Holdridge | May 28, 1981 | December 9, 1982[5] | Ronald Reagan | |
| 16 | Paul Wolfowitz | December 22, 1982 | March 12, 1986 | ||
| 17 | Gaston J. Sigur, Jr. | March 12, 1986 | February 21, 1989 | ||
| - | Richard Armitage | [6] | George H. W. Bush | ||
| 18 | Richard H. Solomon | June 23, 1989 | July 10, 1992 | ||
| 19 | William Clark, Jr. | July 10, 1992 | April 23, 1993 | ||
| 20 | Winston Lord | April 23, 1993 | February 18, 1997 | Bill Clinton | |
| 21 | Stanley O. Roth | August 5, 1997 | January 20, 2001 | ||
| 22 | James A. Kelly | May 1, 2001 | January 31, 2005 | George W. Bush | |
| - | Evans J.R. Revere (acting) | February 1, 2005 | April 8, 2005[7] | ||
| 23 | Christopher R. Hill | April 8, 2005 | April 21, 2009 | George W. Bush and Barack Obama | |
| 24 | Kurt M. Campbell | June 2, 2009 | February 8, 2013 | Barack Obama | |
| 25 | Daniel R. Russel | July 12, 2013 | March 8, 2017 | Barack Obama and Donald Trump | |
| - | Susan Thornton (acting) | March 9, 2017 | July 7, 2018[8] | Donald Trump | |
| - | W. Patrick Murphy (acting) | July 2018 | June 2019 | ||
| 26 | David R. Stilwell | June 20, 2019 | January 20, 2021 | ||
| - | Sung Kim (acting) | January 20, 2021 | June 4, 2021[9] | Joe Biden | |
| - | Kin W. Moy (acting) | June 15, 2021 | September 24, 2021 | ||
| 27 | Daniel Kritenbrink | September 24, 2021[10] | January 17, 2025[10] | ||
| - | Sean O'Neill (acting) | January 20, 2025 | July 18, 2025 | Donald Trump | |
| - | Y. Kevin Kim (acting) | July 18, 2025 | October 10, 2025 | ||
| 28 | Michael G. DeSombre | October 10, 2025 | Present |
References
- ^ "Assistant Secretaries of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs". Retrieved September 21, 2007.
- ^ Butterworth was initially appointed as "Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs." On March 20, 1950, his title was changed to "Assistant Secretary of State for Japanese Affairs."
- ^ Initially commissioned during a recess of the Senate. He was later confirmed and re-commissioned on March 5, 1962.
- ^ Godley was never commissioned and President Nixon withdrew his nomination before the Senate acted upon it.
- ^ "John Herbert Holdridge - People - Department History - Office of the Historian"
- ^ Nomination withdrawn.
- ^ "BIOGRAPHY: Revere, Evans J.R. Acting Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs". U. S. Department of State. February 28, 2005. Archived August 27, 2005 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 27, 2005.
- ^ Griffiths, Brent D. (2018-06-30). "Career diplomat Thornton to leave State Department". POLITICO
- ^ "Sung Kim, Acting Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs", U.S. Department of State, archived June 18, 2021 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Daniel J. Kritenbrink". United States Department of State. Retrieved September 28, 2021.