Director of Policy Planning

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Director of Policy Planning
Seal of the United States Department of State
since September 15, 2025
AppointerUnited States Secretary of State
Inaugural holderGeorge F. Kennan
Formation1947
WebsiteOfficial website

The director of policy planning is the United States Department of State official in charge of the department's internal think tank, the policy planning staff, with a rank equivalent to assistant secretary.[2][3] The position has traditionally been held by many members of the U.S. foreign policy establishment. Former directors of policy planning include two national security advisors, a president of the World Bank, and several presidents of the Council on Foreign Relations.[citation needed]

Directors of policy planning

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No. Name Assumed office Left office President appointed by
1 George F. Kennan 1947 1949 Harry S. Truman
2 Paul Nitze 1950 1953
3 Robert R. Bowie 1953 1957 Dwight D. Eisenhower
4 Gerard C. Smith 1957 1961
5 George C. McGhee 1961 1961 John F. Kennedy
6 Walt Whitman Rostow 1961 1966
7 Henry David Owen 1966 1969 Lyndon B. Johnson
8 William I. Cargo 1969 1973 Richard Nixon
9 James S. Sutterlin 1973 1973 Richard Nixon
10 Winston Lord 1973 1977 Gerald Ford
11 Anthony Lake 1977 1981 Jimmy Carter
12 Paul Wolfowitz 1981 1982 Ronald Reagan
13 Stephen W. Bosworth 1983 1984
14 Peter W. Rodman 1984 1986
15 Richard H. Solomon 1986 1989
16 Dennis B. Ross 1989 1992 George H. W. Bush
17 Samuel W. Lewis 1993 1994 Bill Clinton
18 James Steinberg 1994 1996
19 Gregory B. Craig 1997 1999
20 Morton Halperin[4] 1998 2001
21 Richard N. Haass 2001 2003 George W. Bush
22 Mitchell Reiss 2003 2005
23 Stephen D. Krasner 2005 2007
24 David F. Gordon 2007 2009
25 Anne-Marie Slaughter 2009 2011 Barack Obama
26 Jake Sullivan 2011 2013
27 David McKean[5] 2013 2015
28 Jonathan Finer 2015 2017
29 Brian Hook 2017 2018 Donald Trump
30 Kiron Skinner[6] 2018 2019
31 Peter Berkowitz[7] 2019 2021
32 Salman Ahmed 2021 2025 Joe Biden
33 Michael Anton 2025 2025 Donald Trump
34 Michael Needham 2025 Present

References

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  1. ^ https://www.state.gov/biographies/michael-a-needham/
  2. ^ "Assistant Secretaries and Equivalent Rank". U.S. Department of State. January 20, 2009. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  3. ^ "Department Organization Chart". U.S. Department of State. March 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  4. ^ "Mort Halperin". www.opensocietyfoundations.org. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  5. ^ State Department profile for David McKean
  6. ^ "Kiron Skinner". state.gov. Archived from the original on November 17, 2018.
  7. ^ "Peter Berkowitz". United States Department of State. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
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