Assistant Secretaries of State for Politico-Military Affairs
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Notice posted on January 12, 2024.
Last
updated March 14, 2024.
The Department of State established the Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs by administrative order on Sep 18, 1969, to enhance the Department’s role in the formulation of international security policy, to supervise security assistance and foreign military sales programs, and to direct the issuance of arms export licenses. The bureau replaced a special component for politico-military affairs that had served under the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs since 1960. The Director of the Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs, who was designated by the Secretary of State, had rank equivalent to an Assistant Secretary of State. The Director became a Presidential appointee, subject to the advice and consent of the Senate, and an Assistant Secretary on Apr 14, 1986.
- Ronald Ian Spiers (1969–1973)
- Seymour Weiss (1973–1974)
- George Southall Vest (1974–1977)
- Leslie Howard Gelb (1977–1979)
- Reginald Bartholomew (1979–1981)
- Richard R. Burt (1981–1982)
- Jonathan Trumbull Howe (1982–1984)
- John Thomas Chain Jr. (1984–1985)
- Henry Allen Holmes Jr. (1986–1989)
- Richard A. Clarke (1989–1992)
- Robert L. Gallucci (1992–1994)
- Thomas Edmund McNamara (1994–1998)
- Eric David Newsom (1998–2000)
- Lincoln P. Bloomfield (2001–2005)
- John Hillen (2005–2008)
- Mark Kimmitt (2008–2009)
- Andrew J. Shapiro (2009–2013)
- Puneet Talwar (2014–2017)
- R. Clarke Cooper (2019)
- Tina S. Kaidanow ()