Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs

U.S. government position

United States Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs
Seal of the United States Department of State
Flag of an Assistant Secretary of State
Incumbent Stanley L. Brown Acting since July 16, 2024
Reports to	Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Affairs
Nominator	President of the United States
Inaugural holder	Ronald I. Spiers
Formation	1969
Website	Official Website

The Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs is a position within the U.S. Department of State that manages the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, charged with linking the Department of Defense and the Department of State by providing policy in the areas of international security, security assistance, military operations, defense strategy and policy, military use of space, and defense trade. The Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs reports to the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs.

When the Department of State originally established the Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs on September 18, 1969, the bureau had replaced a special component for politico-military affairs that had served under the Deputy Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs since 1960. The head of the Bureau had the title of Director of the Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs, and was designated by the Secretary of State, but still held rank equivalent to Assistant Secretary. Later, the director became appointed by the President, subject to the advice and consent of the Senate, and the title of the head of the Bureau was changed to Assistant Secretary on April 14, 1986.

List of directors of the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, 1969–1985

#	Name	Assumed office	Left office	President served under
1	Ronald I. Spiers	September 18, 1969	August 2, 1973	Richard Nixon
2	Seymour Weiss	August 6, 1973	January 17, 1974	Richard Nixon
3	George S. Vest	April 29, 1974	March 27, 1977	Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford
4	Leslie H. Gelb	February 23, 1977	June 30, 1979	Jimmy Carter
5	Reginald H. Bartholomew	July 1, 1979	January 20, 1981	Jimmy Carter
6	Richard R. Burt	January 23, 1981	February 17, 1982	Ronald Reagan
7	Jonathan Howe	May 10, 1982	July 1, 1984
8	John T. Chain, Jr.	July 1, 1984	June 14, 1985

List of Assistant Secretaries of State for Political-Military Affairs, 1986–present

#	Name	Assumed office	Left office	President served under
9	H. Allen Holmes	July 19, 1985	August 8, 1989	Ronald Reagan
10	Richard A. Clarke	August 8, 1989	July 10, 1992	George H. W. Bush
11	Robert Gallucci	July 13, 1992	October 11, 1994	George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton
12	Thomas E. McNamara	October 12, 1994	January 9, 1998	Bill Clinton
13	Eric D. Newsom	November 2, 1998	December 31, 2000	Bill Clinton
14	Lincoln P. Bloomfield, Jr.	May 31, 2001	January 20, 2005	George W. Bush
15	John Hillen	October 11, 2005	January 11, 2007
-	Stephen D. Mull (Acting)	January 11, 2007	August 8, 2008
16	Mark Kimmitt	August 8, 2008	January 20, 2009
17	Andrew J. Shapiro	June 22, 2009	April 19, 2013	Barack Obama
-	Thomas P. Kelly III (Acting)	April 19, 2013	April 9, 2014
18	Puneet Talwar	April 9, 2014	November 2015
19	R. Clarke Cooper	May 2, 2019	January 20, 2021	Donald Trump
-	Timothy Alan Betts (Acting)	January 20, 2021	September 30, 2021	Joe Biden
20	Jessica Lewis	September 30, 2021	July 16, 2024
-	Stanley L. Brown (Acting)	July 16, 2024	Incumbent

References

"Stanley L. Brown".
"Assistant Secretaries of State for Politico-Military Affairs". Retrieved September 22, 2007.
"Hillen, John". Retrieved December 7, 2008.

v t e United States assistant secretaries of state (and equivalent ranks)
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs	African Affairs East Asian and Pacific Affairs European and Eurasian Affairs International Organization Affairs Near Eastern Affairs South and Central Asian Affairs Western Hemisphere Affairs
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment	Economic and Business Affairs Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Energy Resources Chief Economist of the Department
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security	Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance International Security and Nonproliferation Political-Military Affairs
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs	Educational and Cultural Affairs Global Public Affairs
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Management	Administration Consular Affairs Diplomatic Security Chief Information Officer of the Department Chief Medical Officer and Designated Agency Safety and Health Official Comptroller of the Department and Director of Global Financial Services Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Global Talent Director of Budget and Planning Director of Overseas Buildings Operations Director, Foreign Service Institute Director, Office of Foreign Missions, with the rank of Ambassador Director, Office of Management Strategy and Solutions
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights	Conflict and Stabilization Operations Coordinator for Counterterrorism, with rank and status of Ambassador-at-Large Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Population, Refugees, and Migration Director, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking (Ambassador-at-Large) Global Criminal Justice (Ambassador-at-Large)
Reporting directly to the Secretary	Intelligence and Research Legislative Affairs Special Assistant to the Secretary and Executive Secretary of the Department Inspector General Legal Adviser Director, Policy Planning Staff Director, Office of Foreign Assistance Director, Office of Civil Rights and Chief Diversity Officer Chief of Protocol of the United States, with the rank of Ambassador Global Women's Issues (Ambassador-at-Large) Coordinator of United States Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS Globally (Ambassador-at-Large)

Category:

United States Assistant Secretaries of State