| Edward R. Stettinius, Jr. |
March 1946-June 1946 |
| Herschel V. Johnson (acting) |
June 1946-January 1947 |
| Warren R. Austin |
January 1947-January 1953 |
| Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr |
January 1953-September 1960 |
| James J. Wadsworth |
September 1960-January 1961 |
| Adlai E. Stevenson |
January 1961-July 1965 |
| Arthur J. Goldberg |
July 1965-June 1968 |
| George W. Ball |
June 1968-September 1968 |
| James Russell Wiggins |
October 1968-January 1969 |
| Charles W. Yost |
January 1969-February 1971 |
| George Bush |
February 1971-January 1973 |
| John P. Scali |
February 1973-June 1975 |
| Daniel P. Moynihan |
June 1975-February 1976 |
| William W. Scranton |
March 1976-January 1977 |
| Andrew Young |
January 1977-April 1979 |
| Donald McHenry |
April 1979-January 1981 |
| Jeane J. Kirkpatrick |
February 1981-April 1985 |
| Vernon Walters |
May 1985-January 1989 |
| Thomas R. Pickering |
March 1989-May 1992 |
| Edward J. Perkins |
May 1992-January 1993 |
| Madeleine K. Albright |
February 1993-January 1997 |
| Bill Richardson |
February 1997-September 1998 |
| A. Peter Burleigh (acting) |
September 1998-August 1999 |
| Richard Holbrooke |
August 1999-January 2001 |
| James B. Cunningham (acting) |
February 2001-September 2001 |
| John Negroponte |
September 2001-June 2004 |
| John C. Danforth |
June 2004-January 2005 |
| Anne W. Patterson |
January 2005-Present |
