Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs

Template:Use American English Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox Political post The assistant secretary of state for African affairs is the head of the Bureau of African Affairs, within the United States Department of State, who guides operation of the U.S. diplomatic establishment in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa and advises the Secretary of State and the Under Secretary for Political Affairs.

On July 18, 1958, Congress authorized an 11th assistant secretary of state, enabling the Department of State to create a bureau to deal with relations with the newly independent nations of Africa. At first, when the Department of State established three geographical divisions in 1909, African affairs were the responsibility of the Divisions of Near Eastern and Western European Affairs. Department Order No. 692 of June 15, 1937, transferred responsibility for all African territories except Algeria and the Union of South Africa to the Division of Near Eastern Affairs. A Division of African Affairs was created in the office of Near Eastern Affairs in January 1944. When the Bureau of Near Eastern, South Asian, and African Affairs was created, there continued to be a Division of African Affairs within that bureau.

List of assistant secretaries of state for African affairs

Source:

#	Portrait	Name	Assumed office	Left office	President served under
1	File:JosephSattherwaite.jpg	Joseph C. Satterthwaite	September 2, 1958	January 31, 1961	Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy
2	File:G. Mennen Williams 1961.png	G. Mennen Williams	February 1, 1961	March 23, 1966	John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson
3		Joseph Palmer II	April 11, 1966	July 7, 1969	Lyndon B. Johnson
4	File:Newsom 1975.png	David D. Newsom	July 17, 1969	January 13, 1974	Richard Nixon
5		Donald B. Easum	March 18, 1974	March 26, 1975	Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford
6		Nathaniel Davis	April 2, 1975	July 19, 1975	Gerald Ford
7	File:Schaufele.JPG	William E. Schaufele, Jr.	December 19, 1975	July 17, 1977	Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter
8	File:Richard M. Moose, State 1993-12- Iss 372 (IA sim state-magazine 1993-12 372) (page 14 crop).jpg	Richard M. Moose	July 6, 1977	January 16, 1981	Jimmy Carter
9	File:Chester Crocker 2006.jpg	Chester Crocker	June 9, 1981	April 21, 1989	Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush
10		Herman Jay Cohen	May 12, 1989	February 26, 1993	George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton
11	File:George Moose, State 1993-12- Iss 372 (IA sim state-magazine 1993-12 372) (page 14 crop).jpg	George Moose	April 2, 1993	August 22, 1997	Bill Clinton
12	File:Susan Rice, official State Dept photo portrait, 2009.jpg	Susan E. Rice	October 9, 1997	January 20, 2001
-	File:Nancy Jo Powell.jpg	Nancy Jo Powell (Acting)	January 21, 2001	June 3, 2001	George W. Bush
13	File:Walter Kansteiner 0702.jpg	Walter H. Kansteiner, III	June 4, 2001	November 1, 2003
-	File:Charles R. Snyder.jpg	Charles R. Snyder (Acting)	November 1, 2003	July 24, 2004
14	File:Constance Berry Newman.jpg	Constance Berry Newman	July 24, 2004	August 26, 2005
15	File:Wwwjambfrazer.jpg	Jendayi Frazer	August 29, 2005	January 20, 2009
-		Philip Carter (Acting)	January 20, 2009	May 7, 2009	Barack Obama
16	File:Johnnie carson africom 2009.jpg	Johnnie Carson	May 7, 2009	March 30, 2013
-	File:Donald Y Yamamoto.jpg	Donald Yamamoto (Acting)	March 30, 2013	August 5, 2013
17	File:Linda Thomas-Greenfield 2013.jpg	Linda Thomas-Greenfield	August 6, 2013	March 10, 2017	Barack Obama and Donald Trump
-	File:Donald Y Yamamoto.jpg	Donald Yamamoto (Acting)	September 5, 2017	July 22, 2018	Donald Trump
18	File:Tibor P. Nagy, Jr. official photo (cropped).jpg	Tibor P. Nagy, Jr.	July 23, 2018	January 20, 2021
-	File:Robert F. Godec.jpg	Robert F. Godec (Acting)	January 20, 2021	September 30, 2021	Joe Biden
19	File:Mary Catherine Phee.jpg	Mary Catherine Phee	September 30, 2021	January 20, 2025
-	File:Troy Damian Fitrell, U.S. Ambassador.jpg	Troy Fitrell (Acting)	January 20, 2025	Present	Donald Trump