Secretaries of State

The First Congress created the position of Secretary of State in July 1789, as the principal officer of the Department of Foreign Affairs.

The secretary was to perform such duties as the president required, in accordance with the Constitution (Article II, Section 2, Clauses 1-2), relating to correspondence, commission, or instructions to U.S. ministers or consuls abroad, and to conduct negotiations with foreign representatives. The secretary also has served as principal adviser to the president in the formulation of U.S. foreign policy and in recent decades has become responsible for overall direction, coordination, and supervision of interdepartmental activities of the U.S. Government overseas, except for certain military activities.

In September, 1789, Congress changed the name of the Department of Foreign Affairs to the Department of State. A number of domestic duties were then assigned to the Department, but most of those were later reassigned to other agencies. tr> tr> tr> tr> tr>

Began Service	Ended Service	Secretary	Residence	Administration
Mar 22, 1790	Dec 31, 1793	Thomas Jefferson	Virginia	Washington
Jan 2, 1794	Aug 20, 1795	Edmund Randolph	Virginia	Washington
Dec 10, 1795	May 12, 1800	Timothy Pickering	Pennsylvania	Washington
				Adams
Jun 6, 1800	Feb 4, 1801	John Marshall	Virginia	Adams
May 2, 1801	Mar 3, 1809	James Madison	Virginia	Jefferson
Mar 6, 1809	Apr 1, 1811	Robert Smith	Maryland	Madison
Apr 6, 1811	Sep 30, 1814	James Monroe	Virginia	Madison
Feb 28, 1815	Mar 3, 1817	James Monroe	Virginia	Madison
Sep 22, 1817	Mar 3, 1825	John Quincy Adams	Massachusetts	Monroe
Mar 7, 1825	Mar 3, 1829	Henry Clay	Kentucky	J.Q. Adams
Mar 28, 1829	Mar 23, 1831	Martin Van Buren	New York	Jackson
May 24, 1831	May 29, 1833	Edward Livingston	Louisiana	Jackson
May 29, 1833	Jun 30, 1834	Louis McLane	Delaware	Jackson
Jul 1, 1834	Mar 3, 1841	John Forsyth	Georgia	Jackson
				Van Buren
Mar 6, 1841	May 8, 1843	Daniel Webster	Massachusetts	W.H. Harrison
				Tyler
Jul 24, 1843	Feb 28, 1844	Abel P. Upshur	Virginia	Tyler
Apr 1, 1844	Mar 10, 1845	John C. Calhoun	South Carolina	Tyler
Mar 10, 1845	Mar 7, 1849	James Buchanan	Pennsylvania	Polk
Mar 8, 1849	Jul 22, 1850	John M. Clayton	Delaware	Taylor
				Fillmore
Jul 23, 1850	Oct 24, 1852	Daniel Webster	Massachusetts	Fillmore
Nov 6, 1852	Mar 3, 1853	Edward Everett	Massachusetts	Fillmore
Mar 8, 1853	Mar 6, 1857	William L. Marcy	New York	Pierce
Mar 6, 1857	Dec 14, 1860	Lewis Cass	Michigan	Buchanan
Dec 17, 1860	Mar 5, 1861	Jeremiah S. Black	Pennsylvania	Buchanan
Mar 6, 1861	Mar 4, 1869	William H. Seward	New York	Lincoln
				A. Johnson
Mar 5, 1869	Mar 16, 1869	Elihu B. Washburne	Illinois	Grant
Mar 17, 1869	Mar 12, 1877	Hamilton Fish	New York	Grant
Mar 12, 1877	Mar 7, 1881	William M. Evarts	New York	Hayes
Mar 7, 1881	Dec 19, 1881	James G. Blaine	Maine	Garfield
				Arthur
Dec 19, 1881	Mar 6, 1885	Frederick T. Frelinghuysen	New Jersey	Arthur
Mar 7, 1885	Mar 6, 1889	Thomas F. Bayard	Delaware	Cleveland
Mar 7, 1889	Jun 4, 1892	James G. Blaine	Maine	B. Harrison
Jun 29, 1892	Feb 23, 1893	John W. Foster	Indiana	B. Harrison
Mar 7, 1893	May 28, 1895	Walter Q. Gresham	Illinois	Cleveland
Jun 10, 1895	Mar 5, 1897	Richard Olney	Massachusetts	Cleveland
Mar 6, 1897	Apr 27, 1898	John Sherman	Ohio	McKinley
Apr 28, 1898	Sep 16, 1898	William R. Day	Ohio	McKinley
Sep 30, 1898	Jul 5, 1905	John Hay	Wash., D.C.	McKinley
				T. Roosevelt
Jul 19, 1905	Jan 27, 1909	Elihu Root	New York	T. Roosevelt
Jan 27, 1909	Mar 5, 1909	Robert Bacon	New York	T. Roosevelt
Mar 6, 1909	Mar 5, 1913	Philander C. Knox	Pennsylvania	Taft
Mar 5, 1913	Jan 9, 1915	William Jennings Bryan	Nebraska	Wilson
Jun 24, 1915	Feb 13, 1920	Robert Lansing	New York	Wilson
Mar 23, 1920	Mar 4, 1921	Bainbridge Colby	New York	Wilson
Mar 5, 1921	Mar 4, 1925	Charles Evans Hughes	New York	Harding
				Coolidge
Mar 5, 1925	Mar 28, 1929	Frank B. Kellogg	Minnesota	Coolidge
Mar 28, 1929	Mar 4, 1933	Henry Lewis Stimson	New York	Hoover
Mar 4, 1933	Nov 30, 1944	Cordell Hull	Tennessee	F. Roosevelt
Dec 1, 1944	Jun 27, 1945	Edward R. Stettinius Jr.	Virginia	F. Roosevelt
				Truman
Jul 3, 1945	Jan 21, 1947	James F. Byrnes	South Carolina	Truman
Jan 21, 1947	Jan 20, 1949	George C. Marshall	Pennsylvania	Truman
Jan 21, 1949	Jan 20, 1953	Dean Acheson	Maryland	Truman
Jan 21, 1953	Apr 22, 199	John Foster Dulles	New York	Eisenhower
Apr 22, 1959	Jan 20, 1961	Christian A. Herter	Massachusetts	Eisenhower
Jan 21, 1961	Jan 20, 1969	Dean Rusk	New York	Kennedy
				L. Johnson
Jan 22, 1969	Sep 3, 1973	William P. Rogers	Maryland	Nixon
Sep 22, 1973	Jan 20, 1977	Henry A. Kissinger	Wash., D.C.	Nixon
				Ford
Jan 23, 1977	Apr 28, 1980	Cyrus Vance	New York	Carter
May 8, 1980	Jan 18, 1981	Edmund Sixtus Muskie	Maine	Carter
Jan 22, 1981	Jul 5, 1982	Alexander M. Haig Jr.	Connecticut	Reagan
Jul 16, 1982	Jan 20, 1989	George P. Shultz	California	Reagan
Jan 25, 1989	Aug 23, 1992	James A. Baker, III	Texas	G.H.W. Bush
Dec 8, 1992	Jan 19, 1993	Lawrence Eagleburger	Florida	G.H.W. Bush
Jan 20, 1993	Jan 17, 1997	Warren M. Christopher	California	Clinton
Jan 23, 1997	Jan 19, 2001	Madeleine K. Albright	Wash., D.C.	Clinton
Jan 20, 2001	Jan 27, 2005	Colin L. Powell	Virginia	G.W. Bush
Jan 27, 2005	Jan 21, 2009	Condoleeza Rice	California	G.W. Bush
Jan 21, 2009	Feb 1, 2013	Hilary Rodham Clinton	New York	Obama
Feb 1, 2013	Jan 20, 2017	John Kerry	Massachusetts	Obama
Feb 1, 2017	Mar 31, 2018	Rex Tillerson	Texas	Trump
Apr 26, 2018	Jan 20, 2021	Mike Pompeo	Kansas	Trump
Jan 26, 2021	-	Antony Blinken	New York	Biden

NOTE: The beginning date of service is the date the secretary actually assumed office. Especially in the early years, a gap often existed between the appointment date and the actual occupation of office on account of the slowness in travel. Some secretaries were appointed during congressional recesses. When the Congress reconvened, it would recommission the secretary at a later date than the one cited for the beginning of service. Individuals who headed the Department of State during temporary vacancies are known as secretaries of state ad interim and are not included in this list.

See cabinet officers sorted by administration.

top of page