Director of Policy Planning
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. In the department, the Director of Policy Planning has a rank equivalent to Assistant Secretary. 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 prestigious Council on Foreign Relations.
Directors of Policy Planning
- 2019 to Present: Peter Berkowitz - Tad and Dianne Taube Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution
- 2018 to 2019: Kiron Skinner - Taube Professor of International Relations and Politics at Carnegie Mellon University
- 2017 to 2018: Brian H. Hook - former Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs
- 2015 to 2017: Jonathan Finer - also served as Chief of Staff to Secretary of State John Kerry
- 2013 to 2015: David McKean - Ambassador to Luxembourg
- 2011 to 2013: Jake Sullivan - former National Security Advisor to Vice President Joe Biden.
- 2009 to 2011: Anne-Marie Slaughter - Return to Princeton University
- 2007 to 2009: David F. Gordon - Head of Research at Eurasia Group
- 2005 to 2007: Stephen D. Krasner - Professor of Political Science at Stanford University
- 2003 to 2005: Mitchell B. Reiss - President George W. Bush's envoy to Northern Ireland
- 2001 to 2003: Richard N. Haass - President of the Council on Foreign Relations
- 1998 to 2001: Morton H. Halperin - senior advisor to the Open Society Foundations
- 1997 to 1998: Gregory B. Craig - White House Counsel for President Barack Obama
- 1994 to 1996: James Steinberg - Deputy Secretary of State for Secretary Hillary Clinton
- 1993 to 1994: Samuel W. Lewis - Ambassador to Israel from 1977 to 1985
- 1989 to 1992: Dennis B. Ross - Middle East envoy for Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton
- 1986 to 1989: Richard H. Solomon - former president of the United States Institute of Peace
- 1984 to 1986: Peter W. Rodman - Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
- 1983 to 1984: Stephen W. Bosworth - Until May 2013, Dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy; former Ambassador to South Korea and Philippines
- 1981 to 1982: Paul D. Wolfowitz - former President of the World Bank; former Deputy Secretary of Defense
- 1977 to 1981: W. Anthony Lake - National Security Advisor for President Clinton
- 1973 to 1977: Winston Lord - President of the Council on Foreign Relations from 1977 to 1985; Ambassador to China from 1985 to 1989
- 1973: James S. Sutterlin - Inspector General of the Department of State
- 1969 to 1973: William I. Cargo - Ambassador to Nepal from 1973 to 1976
- 1966 to 1969: Henry David Owen - Ambassador-at-Large for President Carter
- 1961 to 1966: Walt Whitman Rostow - National Security Advisor for President Lyndon B. Johnson
- 1961: George C. McGhee - Ambassador at Large for President Lyndon B. Johnson
- 1957 to 1961: Gerard C. Smith - Director, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, 1968-1973; Medal of Freedom winner
- 1953 to 1957: Robert R. Bowie - founder of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs
- 1950 to 1953: Paul H. Nitze - United States Secretary of the Navy from 1963 to 1967; chief arms negotiator for President Ronald Reagan; Medal of Freedom winner
- 1947 to 1949: George F. Kennan - Ambassador to the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia; proponent of "containment" theory; Medal of Freedom winner