| Post: | Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs |
| Insignia: | U.S. Department of State official seal.svg |
| Insigniasize: | 120px |
| Insigniacaption: | Seal of the United States Department of State |
| Incumbent: | Barbara A. Leaf |
| Acting: | no |
| Incumbentsince: | May 31, 2022 |
| Department: | U.S. Department of State |
| Reports To: | Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs |
| Nominator: | President of the United States |
| Formation: | 1949 |
| Inaugural: | George C. McGhee |
| Website: | Official Website |
The assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs is the head of the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs within the United States Department of State. The assistant secretary guides the operation of the U.S. diplomatic establishment in various countries of North Africa and the Middle East and advises the secretary of state and the under secretary of state for political affairs.[1]
The Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs is a senior official in the United States Department of State responsible for overseeing U.S. foreign policy and relations in the Near Eastern region, which includes countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
The Department of State established the position of assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern, South Asian, and African affairs on October 3, 1949. The Commission on Organization of the Executive Branch of Government, popularly known as the Hoover Commission, had recommended that certain offices be upgraded to bureau level and after Congress increased the number of assistant secretaries of state from six to ten. The Department of State established a Division of Near Eastern Affairs in 1909, which dealt with Central, Southern, and Eastern Europe as well as with the Middle East. The final remnant of this practice ended on April 18, 1974, when the department transferred responsibility for Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus to the Bureau of European Affairs.[2]
The Division of Near Eastern Affairs included Egypt and Abyssinia (Ethiopia) from its inception. It acquired responsibility for the rest of Africa (except Algeria and the Union of South Africa) in 1937. Relations with African nations became the responsibility of a new Bureau of African Affairs on August 20, 1958. Still, relations with North African nations reverted to the Bureau of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs on April 22, 1974. The Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1992 and 1993 authorized the appointment of an assistant secretary of state for South Asian affairs on October 28, 1991. The Bureau of South Asian Affairs was established August 24, 1992, with the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs arriving at its present title.[2]
| Name | Assumed office | Left office | President served under | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George C. McGhee | June 28, 1949 | December 19, 1951 | Harry S. Truman | |
| 2 | Henry A. Byroade | April 14, 1952 | January 25, 1955 | Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower | |
| 3 | George V. Allen | January 26, 1955 | August 27, 1956 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | |
| 4 | William M. Rountree | August 30, 1956 | July 6, 1959 | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| Name | Assumed office | Left office | President served under | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | G. Lewis Jones | July 10, 1959 | April 20, 1961 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | |
| 6 | Phillips Talbot | April 21, 1961 | September 1, 1965 | John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson | |
| 7 | Raymond A. Hare | September 22, 1965 | November 30, 1966 | Lyndon B. Johnson | |
| 8 | Lucius D. Battle | April 5, 1967 | September 30, 1968 | Lyndon B. Johnson | |
| 9 | Parker T. Hart | October 14, 1968 | February 4, 1969 | Lyndon B. Johnson | |
| 10 | Joseph J. Sisco | February 10, 1969 | February 18, 1974 | Richard Nixon | |
| 11 | Alfred Atherton | April 27, 1974 | April 13, 1978 | Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter | |
| 12 | Harold H. Saunders | April 11, 1978 | January 16, 1981 | Jimmy Carter | |
| 13 | Nicholas A. Veliotes | May 21, 1981 | October 27, 1983 | Ronald Reagan | |
| 14 | Richard W. Murphy | October 28, 1983 | May 15, 1989 | Ronald Reagan | |
| 15 | John Hubert Kelly | June 16, 1989 | September 30, 1991 | George H. W. Bush | |
| 16 | Edward Djerejian | September 30, 1991 | December 17, 1993 | George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton |
On August 24, 1992, the Bureau of Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs divided into a separate Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs and a Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs. At that time, Edward Djerejian became assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs; he was also concurrently acting assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs until May 30, 1993.
| Name | Assumed office | Left office | President(s) served under | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Edward Djerejian | September 30, 1991 | December 17, 1993 | George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton | |
| 17 | Robert Pelletreau | February 18, 1994 | January 24, 1997 | Bill Clinton | |
| 18 | Martin Indyk | October 14, 1997 | November 16, 1999 | Bill Clinton | |
| 19 | Edward S. Walker Jr. | January 18, 2000 | May 1, 2001 | Bill Clinton | |
| 20 | William J. Burns | June 4, 2001 | March 2, 2005 | George W. Bush | |
| 21 | David Welch | March 18, 2005 | December 18, 2008 | George W. Bush | |
| 22 | Jeffrey D. Feltman | August 18, 2009 | May 31, 2012 | Barack Obama | |
| 23 | Anne W. Patterson | December 23, 2013 | January 6, 2017 | Barack Obama | |
| - | Stuart E. Jones (acting) | January 9, 2017 | June 2017 | Donald Trump | |
| - | David M. Satterfield (acting) | September 2017 | June 2019 | Donald Trump | |
| 24 | David Schenker | June 14, 2019 | January 20, 2021 | Donald Trump | |
| - | Joey R. Hood (acting) | January 20, 2021 | August 30, 2021 | Joe Biden | |
| - | Yael Lempert (acting) | August 31, 2021 | May 31, 2022 | Joe Biden | |
| 25 | Barbara A. Leaf | May 31, 2022 | present | Joe Biden |