Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs

The assistant secretary of state for public affairs was the head of the Bureau of Public Affairs within the United States Department of State. The assistant secretary of state for public affairs reports to the secretary of state and the under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs. On May 28, 2019, the bureau merged with the Bureau of International Information Programs into the Bureau of Global Public Affairs, and the duties of the assistant secretary of state merged into the duties of the assistant secretary of state for global public affairs.^[1]

United States Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs
Seal of the United States Department of State
Flag of an assistant secretary of state
Reports to	The under secretary for public diplomacy and public affairs
Appointer	The president of the United States
Inaugural holder	Archibald MacLeish
Formation	1944
Abolished	May 28, 2019
Succession	Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs
Website	Official website

History

The position was first created in December 1944 as the assistant secretary of state for public and cultural relations.^[2] It was later changed to its current name in 1946.^[2] Initially, incumbents supervised the forerunners of the United States Information Agency and the Voice of America.^[2] Under the Presidential Appointment Efficiency and Streamlining Act of 2011, the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs does not require Senate confirmation.^[2]

Historically, the assistant secretary for public affairs had a dual role as the spokesperson for the State Department. From 2011 to 2015, the assistant secretary and the State Department spokesperson were two separate roles held by different people.^[3][4] In late 2015, the two roles were once again merged with the appointment of Spokesperson John Kirby as Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs.^[5]

On May 28, 2019, the bureau merged with the Bureau of International Information Programs into the Bureau of Global Public Affairs, and the duties of the assistant secretary of state merged into the duties of the assistant secretary of state for global public affairs.^[6]

Assistant secretaries of state for public affairs, 1944—2019

#	Image	Name	Assumed office	Left office	President appointed by
1		Archibald MacLeish	December 20, 1944	August 17, 1945	Franklin D. Roosevelt
2		William Benton	September 17, 1945	September 30, 1947	Harry Truman
3		George V. Allen	March 31, 1948	November 28, 1949
4		Edward W. Barrett	February 16, 1950	February 20, 1952
5		Howland H. Sargeant	February 21, 1952	January 29, 1953
6		Carl McCardle	January 30, 1953	March 1, 1957	Dwight D. Eisenhower
7		Andrew H. Berding	March 28, 1957	March 9, 1961
8		Roger Tubby	March 10, 1961	April 1, 1962	John F. Kennedy
9		Robert Manning	April 11, 1962	July 31, 1964
10		James L. Greenfield	September 10, 1964	March 12, 1966	Lyndon B. Johnson
11		Dixon Donnelley	March 22, 1966	January 31, 1969
12		Michael Collins	January 6, 1970	April 11, 1971	Richard Nixon
13		Carol Laise	October 10, 1973	March 27, 1975
14		John Reinhardt	April 22, 1975	March 22, 1977	Gerald Ford
15		Hodding Carter III	March 25, 1977	June 30, 1980	Jimmy Carter
16		William J. Dyess	August 29, 1980	July 30, 1981
17		Dean E. Fischer	August 7, 1981	August 19, 1982	Ronald Reagan
18		Robert John Hughes	August 20, 1982	January 1, 1985
19		Bernard Kalb	August 12, 1985	October 8, 1986
20		Charles E. Redman	June 29, 1987	March 1, 1989
21		Margaret D. Tutwiler	March 3, 1989	August 23, 1992	George H. W. Bush
22		Thomas E. Donilon	April 1, 1993	November 7, 1996	Bill Clinton
23		James Rubin	August 7, 1997	April 2, 2000
24		Richard Boucher	January 5, 2001	June 2, 2005
25		Sean McCormack	June 2, 2005	January 20, 2009	George W. Bush
26		Philip J. Crowley	May 26, 2009	March 13, 2011	Barack Obama
27		Michael A. Hammer	March 30, 2012	August 30, 2013
28		Douglas Frantz	September 3, 2013	October 1, 2015
29		John Kirby	December 11, 2015	January 20, 2017
-		Susan Stevenson (Acting)	January 20, 2017	February 3, 2018	Donald Trump
30		Michelle Giuda	February 3, 2018	May 28, 2019[7]
	Office abolished Replaced by Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs