Counselors

Title: Counselor
Name: Chandler P. Anderson
State of Residency: New York
Non-career appointee
Appointment: Aug 23, 1912
Entry on Duty: [see note below]
Termination of Appointment: Apr 22, 1913
Note: Commissioned as Counselor for the Department of State. Had been serving since Dec 16, 1910, under an appointment by the Secretary of State.

Title: Counselor
Name: John Bassett Moore
State of Residency: New York
Non-career appointee
Appointment: Apr 21, 1913
Entry on Duty: Apr 23, 1913
Termination of Appointment: Mar 4, 1914
Note: Commissioned as Counselor for the Department of State.

Title: Counselor
Name: Robert Lansing
State of Residency: New York
Non-career appointee
Appointment: Mar 27, 1914
Entry on Duty: Apr 1, 1914
Termination of Appointment: Jun 23, 1915
Note: Commissioned as Counselor for the Department of State.

Title: Counselor
Name: Frank Lyon Polk
State of Residency: New York
Non-career appointee
Appointment: Aug 30, 1915
Entry on Duty: Sep 16, 1915
Termination of Appointment: Jun 30, 1919
Note: Commissioned as Counselor for the Department of State. Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Dec 17, 1915.

Title: Counselor
Name: R. Walton Moore
State of Residency: Virginia
Non-career appointee
Appointment: May 20, 1937
Entry on Duty: May 21, 1937
Termination of Appointment: Feb 8, 1941

Title: Counselor
Name: Benjamin V. Cohen
State of Residency: New York
Non-career appointee
Appointment: Sep 14, 1945
Entry on Duty: Oct 11, 1945
Termination of Appointment: Jul 31, 1947

Title: Counselor
Name: Charles E. Bohlen
State of Residency: Massachusetts
Foreign Service officer
Appointment: Jul 24, 1947
Entry on Duty: Aug 1, 1947
Termination of Appointment: Aug 3, 1949

Title: Counselor
Name: George F. Kennan
State of Residency: Wisconsin
Foreign Service officer
Appointment: Jun 24, 1949
Entry on Duty: Aug 4, 1949
Termination of Appointment: Jul 11, 1951

Title: Counselor
Name: Charles E. Bohlen
State of Residency: Massachusetts
Foreign Service officer
Appointment: Mar 13, 1951
Entry on Duty: Jul 12, 1951
Termination of Appointment: Mar 29, 1953

Title: Counselor
Name: Douglas MacArthur, II
State of Residency: District of Columbia
Foreign Service officer
Appointment: Mar 11, 1953
Entry on Duty: Mar 30, 1953
Termination of Appointment: Dec 16, 1956

Title: Counselor
Name: G. Frederick Reinhardt
State of Residency: California
Foreign Service officer
Appointment: Mar 14, 1957
Entry on Duty: Mar 17, 1957
Termination of Appointment: Feb 3, 1960

Title: Counselor
Name: Theodore C. Achilles
State of Residency: District of Columbia
Foreign Service officer
Appointment: Mar 18, 1960
Entry on Duty: Mar 24, 1960
Termination of Appointment: Feb 15, 1961

Title: Counselor
Name: George C. McGhee
State of Residency: Texas
Non-career appointee
Appointment: Feb 13, 1961
Entry on Duty: Feb 16, 1961
Termination of Appointment: Dec 3, 1961

Title: Counselor
Name: Walt Whitman Rostow
State of Residency: Massachusetts
Non-career appointee
Appointment: Nov 29, 1961
Entry on Duty: Dec 4, 1961
Termination of Appointment: Mar 31, 1966
Note: Commissioned during a recess of the Senate; recommissioned after confirmation on Mar 5, 1962.

Title: Counselor
Name: Robert R. Bowie
State of Residency: Massachusetts
Non-career appointee
Appointment: Sep 21, 1966
Entry on Duty: Sep 21, 1966
Termination of Appointment: Apr 1, 1968

Title: Counselor
Name: Richard F. Pedersen
State of Residency: California
Foreign Service officer
Appointment: Jan 23, 1969
Entry on Duty: Jan 24, 1969
Termination of Appointment: Jul 26, 1973

Title: Counselor
Name: Helmut Sonnefeldt
State of Residency: Maryland
Foreign Service officer
Appointment: Dec 19, 1973
Entry on Duty: Jan 7, 1974
Termination of Appointment: Feb 21, 1977


Title: Counselor
Name: Matthew Nimetz
State of Residency: New York
Non-career appointee
Appointment: Mar 30, 1977
Entry on Duty: Apr 8, 1977
Termination of Appointment: Mar 19, 1980

Title: Counselor
Name: Rozanne L. Ridgway
State of Residency: District of Columbia
Foreign Service officer
Appointment: Mar 18, 1980
Entry on Duty: Mar 20, 1980
Termination of Appointment: Feb 24, 1981

Title: Counselor
Name: Robert Carl McFarlane
State of Residency: Maryland
Non-career appointee
Appointment: Feb 27, 1981
Entry on Duty: Feb 28, 1981
Termination of Appointment: Apr 4, 1982

Title: Counselor
Name: James L. Buckley
State of Residency: Connecticut
Non-career appointee
Appointment: Aug 20, 1982
Entry on Duty: Sep 9, 1982
Termination of Appointment: Sep 26, 1982

Title: Counselor
Name: Edward J. Derwinski
State of Residency: Illinois
Non-career appointee
Appointment: Mar 18, 1983
Entry on Duty: Mar 23, 1983
Termination of Appointment: Mar 24, 1987

Title: Counselor
Name: Max M. Kampelman
State of Residency: District of Columbia
Non-career appointee
Appointment: Jul 2, 1987
Entry on Duty: Jul 15, 1987
Termination of Appointment: Jan 20, 1989

Title: Counselor
Name: Robert B. Zoellick
State of Residency: District of Columbia
Non-career appointee
Appointment: Mar 2, 1989
Entry on Duty: Mar 2, 1989
Termination of Appointment: Aug 23, 1992
Note: Served concurrently as Under Secretary of State for Economic and Agricultural Affairs from May 9, 1991.

Title: Counselor
Name: Timothy E. Wirth
State of Residency: Colorado
Non-career appointee
Appointment: Apr 22, 1993
Entry on Duty: Apr 23, 1993
Termination of Appointment: Apr 30, 1994
Note: Became Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs, Apr 30, 1994.

Title: Counselor
Name: Wendy Ruth Sherman
State of Residency: Maryland
Non-career appointee
Appointment: Aug 1, 1997
Entry on Duty: Aug 6, 1997
Termination of Appointment: Jan 20, 2001 

Title: Counselor
Name: Philip D. Zelikow
State of Residency: Virginia
Non-career appointee
Appointment:
Entry on Duty: Feb 1, 2005
Termination of Appointment:  January 2, 2007
Note: Designated, not commissioned.

Title: Counselor
Name: Eliot A. Cohen
State of Residency:
Non-career appointee
Appointment: April 30, 2007

 

Creation of Position: The Secretary of State created the position of Counselor for the Department of State in 1909 as part of a general Department reorganization. In 1912, the position became a Presidential appointment (37 Stat. 372). Between 1913 and 1919, the Counselor served as the Department's second-ranking officer, assuming the role previously exercised by the Assistant Secretary of State. In 1919., the newly-created position of Under Secretary of State subsumed the duties of the Counselor. An Act of Congress, May 18, 1937, re-established the position of Counselor of the Department of State (50 Stat. 169). Between 1961 and 1965, the Counselor also served as the Chairman of the Policy Planning Council. The Counselor, who currently under law holds rank equivalent to an Under Secretary of State (P.L. 98-164; 97 Stat. 1017), serves as an adviser to the Secretary of State. The Counselor's specific responsibilities have varied over time. This list does not include a Counselor for the Department of State appointed by the Secretary of State in 1909. On April 30, 1994 the title was changed to Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs.