Assistant Secretaries of State for Political Affairs

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Notice posted on January 12, 2024.
Last updated March 14, 2024.

The Department of State by administrative action established the position of Assistant Secretary for Political Affairs in 1947 to oversee the Department’s four geographic offices. The incumbent assumed the duties previously exercised by the Assistant Secretary of State for European, Far Eastern, Near Eastern, and African Affairs and the Assistant Secretary of State for American Republic Affairs.

The position was discontinued in 1949, when following an Act of Congress that increased the number of Assistant Secretaries of State from six to ten (May 26, 1949; P.L. 81-73; 63 Stat. 111), the Department created separate geographic bureaus for European Affairs; Far Eastern Affairs; and Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs; and reconstituted the Bureau of American Republic Affairs, each headed by an Assistant Secretary of State.

Norman Armour (1947–1948)