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. The position of Director of Policy Planning is one of the most prestigious in the State Department, and has traditionally been held by some of the most intellectual 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 (and later occupations)
- 2007 to present: David F. Gordon
- 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
- 1997 to 1998: Gregory B. Craig
- 1994 to 1996: James Steinberg
- 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
- 1984 to 1986: Peter W. Rodman - Former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
- 1983 to 1984: Stephen W. Bosworth - Currently 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
- 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
- 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