The executive secretary of the United States Department of State is the director of the Executive Secretariat. The position holds a rank equivalent to an assistant secretary. Every executive secretary is appointed by the secretary of state.
The executive secretary serves as the liaison and the clearinghouse between the State Department’s bureaus and the leadership offices of the secretary, the deputy secretaries, and the director of policy planning. The executive secretary also manages relations between the State Department and the White House, the National Security Council, and other cabinet-level agencies. As the head of the Executive Secretariat, the executive secretary also manages the State Department's Operations Center and prepares briefing papers about the Department during transitions between presidential administrations.
History The State Department established the Executive Secretariat in March 1947 to regulate the flow of information within the highest levels of the Department. In 1961, the Department conferred on the Director of the Executive Secretariat the title of Special Assistant to the Secretary of State and Executive Secretary, along with rank equivalent to an Assistant Secretary of State. Since then, the Secretary of State has appointed all Executive Secretaries.
List of Executive Secretaries #TenureExecutive SecretarySecretary of State11961–1962Lucius Durham BattleDean Rusk21962–1963William H. Brubeck31963–1969Benjamin Huger Read41969–1973Theodore Lyman Eliot Jr.William P. Rogers51973–1974Thomas R. PickeringHenry Kissinger61974–1976George Stoney Springsteen Jr.71976–1977C. Arthur Borg81977–1981Peter TarnoffCyrus Vance, Edmund Muskie91981–1983L. Paul BremerAlexander Haig, George Shultz101983–1985Charles HillGeorge Shultz111985–1987Nicholas Platt121987–1989Melvyn Levitsky131989–1991J. Stapleton RoyJames Baker141991–1993W. Robert PearsonJames Baker, Lawrence Eagleburger151993–1994Marc Isaiah GrossmanWarren Christopher161994–1996Kenneth C. Brill171996–1998William J. BurnsWarren Christopher, Madeleine Albright181998–2001Kristie Ann KenneyMadeleine Albright192001–2002Maura Ann HartyColin Powell202002–2005Karl William Hofmann212005–2007Harry K. Thomas Jr.Condoleezza Rice222007–2009Daniel Bennett Smith232009–2012Stephen D. MullHillary Clinton242012–2014John R. BassHillary Clinton, John Kerry252014–2017Joseph MacmanusJohn Kerry262017–2020Lisa D. Kenna Rex Tillerson, Mike Pompeo272021–2023Kamala S. LakhdhirAntony Blinken282023-2025Dereck J. Hogan292025-Lisa D. Kenna Marco Rubio
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