The Deputy Secretary of State of the United States is the chief assistant to the Secretary of State . If the Secretary of State resigns or dies, the Deputy Secretary of State becomes Acting Secretary of State until the President nominates and the Senate confirms a replacement. The position was created in 1972. Prior to July 13, 1972, the Under Secretary of State had been the second ranking officer of the Department of State . The current Deputy Secretary of State is Tony Blinken , who was formerly the Deputy National Security Adviser for Barack Obama .
The State Department is the only federal Cabinet-level agency with two co-equal Deputy Secretaries. (See Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources .) This Deputy Secretary of State office is the "first assistant" for the purposes of the Vacancies Reform Act, but both Deputy Secretaries have full delegated authority to act for the Secretary, if not otherwise prohibited by law. The current Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources is Heather Higginbottom .
List of Deputy Secretaries of State [ edit ]
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Image
Name
Term Began
Term Ended
President(s) served under
1
John N. Irwin II
July 13, 1972
February 1, 1973
Richard Nixon
2
Kenneth Rush
February 2, 1973
May 29, 1974
3
Robert S. Ingersoll
July 10, 1974
March 31, 1976
Gerald Ford
4
Charles W. Robinson
April 9, 1976
January 20, 1977
5
Warren Christopher
February 26, 1977
January 16, 1981
Jimmy Carter
6
William P. Clark
February 25, 1981
February 9, 1982
Ronald Reagan
7
Walter J. Stoessel
February 11, 1982
September 22, 1982
8
Kenneth W. Dam
September 23, 1982
June 15, 1985
9
John C. Whitehead
July 9, 1985
January 20, 1989
10
Lawrence Eagleburger
January 20, 1989
August 19, 1992
George H. W. Bush
11
Clifton R. Wharton, Jr.
January 27, 1993
November 8, 1993
Bill Clinton
12
Strobe Talbott
February 22, 1994
January 19, 2001
13
Richard Armitage
March 26, 2001
February 22, 2005
George W. Bush
14
Robert Zoellick
February 22, 2005
July 7, 2006
15
John Negroponte
February 13, 2007
January 19, 2009
16
Jim Steinberg
January 28, 2009
July 28, 2011
Barack Obama
17
William J. Burns
July 28, 2011
November 3, 2014
–
Wendy R. Sherman
Interim
November 3, 2014
January 9, 2015
18
Tony Blinken
January 9, 2015
Incumbent
Deputy Secretary of State of the United States of America