The Under Secretary for Political Affairs was the Department's day-to-day manager of overall regional and bilateral policy issues, and was responsible for integrating political, economic, global, and security issues into the United States' bilateral relationships. There were a number of geographically-defined bureaus and one functional bureau that reported to the Under Secretary. The Assistant Secretaries of the geographic bureaus and office advised the Under Secretary and guided the operation of the U.S. diplomatic missions within their regional jurisdiction. They were assisted by Deputy Assistant Secretaries, office directors, post management officers, and country desk officers. These officials worked closely with U.S. embassies and consulates overseas and with foreign embassies in Washington, D.C.
Under Secretaries of State for Political Affairs include Robert D. Murphy, August 14, 1959 - December 3, 1959; Livingston T. Merchant, December 4, 1959 - January 31, 1961; George C. McGhee, December 4, 1961 - March 27, 1963; W. Averell Harriman, April 4, 1963 - March 17, 1965; Eugene Victor Rostow, October 14, 1966 - January 20, 1969; U. Alexis Johnson, February 7, 1969 - February 1, 1973; William J. Porter, February 2, 1973 - February 18, 1974; Joseph J. Sisco, February 19, 1974 - June 30, 1976; Philip C. Habib, July 1, 1976 - April 1, 1978; David D. Newsom, April 19, 1978 - February 27, 1981; Walter J. Stoessel, Jr., February 28, 1981 - January 26, 1982; Lawrence S. Eagleburger, February 12, 1982 - May 1, 1984; Michael Hayden Armacost, May 18, 1984 - March 2, 1989; Robert Michael Kimmitt, March 2, 1989 - August 23, 1991; Arnold Lee Kanter, October 4, 1991 - January 20, 1993; Peter Tarnoff, March 11, 1993 - April 18, 1997; Thomas R. Pickering, May 27, 1997 - December 31, 2000; Marc Isaiah Grossman, March 26, 2001 - February 25, 2005; R. Nicholas Burns, March 18, 2005 - February 29, 2008; William Joseph Burns, May 13, 2008 - July 28, 2011; Wendy R. Sherman, September 21, 2011 - October 2, 2015; Thomas A. Shannon, Jr. February 12, 2016 - June 4, 2018; and David Hale, August 30, 2018 - present.
