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, with 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 Council on Foreign Relations.[citation needed]
| Director of Policy Planning | |
|---|---|
Seal of the United States Department of State | |
Incumbent since September 15, 2025Michael Needham | |
| Appointer | United States Secretary of State |
| Inaugural holder | George F. Kennan |
| Formation | 1947 |
| Website | Official website |
Directors of policy planning
| No. | Name | Assumed office | Left office | President appointed by |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | George F. Kennan | 1947 | 1949 | Harry S. Truman |
| 2 | Paul Nitze | 1950 | 1953 | |
| 3 | Robert R. Bowie | 1953 | 1957 | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| 4 | Gerard C. Smith | 1957 | 1961 | |
| 5 | George C. McGhee | 1961 | 1961 | John F. Kennedy |
| 6 | Walt Whitman Rostow | 1961 | 1966 | |
| 7 | Henry David Owen | 1966 | 1969 | Lyndon B. Johnson |
| 8 | William I. Cargo | 1969 | 1973 | Richard Nixon |
| 9 | James S. Sutterlin | 1973 | 1973 | Richard Nixon |
| 10 | Winston Lord | 1973 | 1977 | Gerald Ford |
| 11 | Anthony Lake | 1977 | 1981 | Jimmy Carter |
| 12 | Paul Wolfowitz | 1981 | 1982 | Ronald Reagan |
| 13 | Stephen W. Bosworth | 1983 | 1984 | |
| 14 | Peter W. Rodman | 1984 | 1986 | |
| 15 | Richard H. Solomon | 1986 | 1989 | |
| 16 | Dennis B. Ross | 1989 | 1992 | George H. W. Bush |
| 17 | Samuel W. Lewis | 1993 | 1994 | Bill Clinton |
| 18 | James Steinberg | 1994 | 1996 | |
| 19 | Gregory B. Craig | 1997 | 1999 | |
| 20 | Morton Halperin | 1998 | 2001 | |
| 21 | Richard N. Haass | 2001 | 2003 | George W. Bush |
| 22 | Mitchell Reiss | 2003 | 2005 | |
| 23 | Stephen D. Krasner | 2005 | 2007 | |
| 24 | David F. Gordon | 2007 | 2009 | |
| 25 | Anne-Marie Slaughter | 2009 | 2011 | Barack Obama |
| 26 | Jake Sullivan | 2011 | 2013 | |
| 27 | David McKean | 2013 | 2015 | |
| 28 | Jonathan Finer | 2015 | 2017 | |
| 29 | Brian Hook | 2017 | 2018 | Donald Trump |
| 30 | Kiron Skinner | 2018 | 2019 | |
| 31 | Peter Berkowitz | 2019 | 2021 | |
| 32 | Salman Ahmed | 2021 | 2025 | Joe Biden |
| 33 | Michael Anton | 2025 | 2025 | Donald Trump |
| 34 | Michael Needham | 2025 | Present |
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