Chief of Protocol of the United States

Chief of Protocol
Chief of Protocol
	Seal of the United States Department of State
	Incumbent; Rufus Gifford; since December 20, 2021
Reports to	United States Secretary of State
Nominator	President of the United States
Inaugural holder	James Clement Dunn
Formation	1928
Website	https://www.state.gov/bureaus-offices/bureaus-and-offices-reporting-directly-to-the-secretary/office-of-the-chief-of-protocol/

In the United States, the chief of protocol is an officer of the United States Department of State responsible for advising the president of the United States, the vice president of the United States, and the United States secretary of state on matters of national and international diplomatic protocol. The chief of protocol holds the rank of Ambassador and Assistant Secretary of State.^[1]^[2]

Duties[]

The chief arranges itineraries for foreign dignitaries visiting the U.S. and accompanies the president on all official international travel. Additionally, the office is responsible for accrediting foreign diplomats and publishing the list of foreign consular offices in the U.S., organizing ceremonies for treaty signings, conducting ambassadorial swearing-in and state arrival ceremonies, and maintaining Blair House, the official guest house for state visitors.

The chief of protocol duties include being present at the annual State of the Union speech (SOTU) given by the president each January before Congress. These SOTU duties include escorting the dean of the Diplomatic Corps into the House Chamber for the SOTU speech.

The chief of protocol position should not be confused with the distinctly different White House social secretary position.

Divisions[]

The office identifies six divisions on its website, led by assistant chiefs, who oversee the following principal duties:^[3]

Management
Visits
Ceremonials
Diplomatic Affairs
Blair House
Major Events

List of chiefs of protocol of the United States[]

Name	Assumed office	Left office	President served under
James Clement Dunn	February 4, 1928	November 17, 1930	Calvin Coolidge Herbert Hoover
F. Lammot Belin	November 17, 1930	September 15, 1931	Herbert Hoover
Warren Delano Robbins	September 15, 1931	June 11, 1933	Herbert Hoover
James Clement Dunn	June 11, 1933	April 11, 1935	Franklin D. Roosevelt
	April 11, 1935	July 29, 1937
George T. Summerlin	July 29, 1937	January 15, 1944
Stanley Woodward	January 15, 1944	May 22, 1950	Franklin D. Roosevelt Harry S. Truman
John F. Simmons	August 18, 1950	January 31, 1957	Harry S. Truman Dwight D. Eisenhower
Wiley T. Buchanan Jr.	February 4, 1957	January 23, 1961	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Angier Biddle Duke	January 24, 1961	January 20, 1965	John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson
Lloyd Nelson Hand	January 21, 1965	March 21, 1966	Lyndon B. Johnson
James W. Symington	March 22, 1966	March 31, 1968
Angier Biddle Duke	April 1, 1968	September 26, 1968
Tyler Abell	September 30, 1968	January 20, 1969
Emil Mosbacher	January 21, 1969	June 30, 1972	Richard Nixon
Marion H. Smoak (acting)	July 1, 1972	March 1, 1974
Marion H. Smoak	March 1, 1974	March 30, 1974
Henry E. Catto Jr.	April 3, 1974	July 1, 1976	Richard Nixon Gerald Ford
Shirley Temple Black	July 1, 1976	January 21, 1977	Gerald Ford
Evan Dobelle	March 2, 1977	May 22, 1978	Jimmy Carter
Edith H. J. Dobelle	November 3, 1978	September 26, 1979
Abelardo L. Valdez	October 19, 1979	January 21, 1981
Morgan Mason (acting)	January 21, 1981	March 20, 1981	Ronald Reagan
Leonore Annenberg	March 20, 1981	January 6, 1982
Selwa Roosevelt	April 16, 1982	January 20, 1989
Joseph Verner Reed Jr.	May 21, 1989	October 21, 1991	George H. W. Bush
John Giffen Weinmann	October 31, 1991	January 20, 1993	George H. W. Bush
Molly M. Raiser	September 14, 1993	July 24, 1997	Bill Clinton
Mary Mel French	November 13, 1997	January 20, 2001	Bill Clinton
Donald Ensenat	June 6, 2001	February 18, 2007	George W. Bush
Nancy Brinker	September 14, 2007	January 20, 2009	George W. Bush
Capricia Marshall	August 3, 2009	August 1, 2013	Barack Obama
Natalie Jones (acting)	August 1, 2013	May 13, 2014
Peter A. Selfridge	May 13, 2014	January 20, 2017
Post vacant (January 20, 2017 – December 1, 2017)
Sean Lawler	December 1, 2017	July 9, 2019	Donald Trump
Mary-Kate Fisher (acting)	June 24, 2019	August 12, 2019
Cam Henderson	August 12, 2019	January 20, 2021
Asel Roberts (acting)	January 20, 2021	December 20, 2021	Joe Biden
Rufus Gifford	December 20, 2021	Incumbent	Joe Biden

References[]

^ "Assistant Secretaries and Equivalent Rank". January 20, 2009. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
^ "Department Organization Chart". March 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
^ "U.S. Department of State: Office of the Chief of Protocol". State.gov. Retrieved August 25, 2017.

External links[]

[1] "Assistant Secretaries and Equivalent Rank". January 20, 2009. Retrieved November 15, 2015.

[2] "Department Organization Chart". March 2014. Retrieved November 15, 2015.

[3] "U.S. Department of State: Office of the Chief of Protocol". State.gov. Retrieved August 25, 2017.

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v t United States Department of State
Headquarters: Harry S Truman Building Antony Blinken, Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, Deputy Secretary of State Brian P. McKeon, Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Victoria Nuland, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
Deputy Secretary of State and Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources	Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization Office of the U.S. Coordinator for the Arctic Region
Under Secretary for Political Affairs	Bureau of African Affairs Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Bureau of International Organization Affairs (United States Mission to the United Nations) Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs
Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment	Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs Bureau of Energy Resources Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Office of the Chief Economist Office of Global Partnerships Office of the Science and Technology Advisor to the Secretary
Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security	Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation Bureau of Political-Military Affairs International Security Advisory Board
Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs	Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau of Global Public Affairs Global Engagement Center Office of Policy, Planning, and Resources U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy International Expositions Unit Special Advisor for Global Youth Issues
Under Secretary for Management	Bureau of Administration Bureau of Budget and Planning Bureau of Consular Affairs Bureau of Diplomatic Security Bureau of Global Talent Management Bureau of Information Resource Management Bureau of Medical Services Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations Bureau of the Comptroller and Global Financial Services Foreign Service Institute (Office of the Historian) Office of Foreign Missions Director of Diplomatic Reception Rooms Office of Management Strategy and Solutions Office of White House Liaison
Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights	Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations Bureau of Counterterrorism Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration Office of Global Criminal Justice Office of International Religious Freedom Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons
Bureaus/Offices reporting directly to the Secretary	Bureau of Intelligence and Research Bureau of Legislative Affairs Office of the Counselor Executive Secretariat (Operations Center) Office of Foreign Assistance Office of Civil Rights Office of Inspector General Office of the Legal Adviser Policy Planning Staff (Foreign Affairs Policy Board) Secretary's Open Forum Office of the Chief of Protocol Office of Global Women's Issues Office of the Ombudsman Foreign Service Grievance Board Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator and Health Diplomacy Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Office of the Special Envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS Office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Office of the Special Representative for Iran Office of the Special Representative for Syria Engagement Office of the Special Representative for Venezuela Office of the U.S. Security Coordinator for Israel and the Palestinian Authority Chief of Staff

v t United States Assistant Secretaries of State (and equivalent ranks)
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Political Affairs	African Affairs East Asian and Pacific Affairs European and Eurasian Affairs International Organization Affairs Near Eastern Affairs South and Central Asian Affairs Western Hemisphere Affairs
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment	Economic and Business Affairs Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Energy Resources Chief Economist of the Department
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security	Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance International Security and Nonproliferation Political-Military Affairs
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs	Educational and Cultural Affairs Global Public Affairs
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Management	Administration Consular Affairs Diplomatic Security Chief Information Officer of the Department Chief Medical Officer and Designated Agency Safety and Health Official Comptroller of the Department and Director of Global Financial Services Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Global Talent Director of Budget and Planning Director of Overseas Buildings Operations Director, Foreign Service Institute Director, Office of Foreign Missions, with the rank of Ambassador
Reporting to the Under Secretary for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights	Conflict and Stabilization Operations Coordinator for Counterterrorism, with rank and status of Ambassador-at-Large Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Population, Refugees, and Migration Director, Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking (Ambassador-at-Large) Global Criminal Justice (Ambassador-at-Large)
Reporting directly to the Secretary	Intelligence and Research Legislative Affairs Special Assistant to the Secretary and Executive Secretary of the Department Inspector General Legal Adviser Director, Policy Planning Staff Director, Office of Foreign Assistance Director, Office of Civil Rights and Chief Diversity Officer Chief of Protocol of the United States, with the rank of Ambassador Global Women's Issues (Ambassador-at-Large) Coordinator of United States Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS Globally (Ambassador-at-Large)

Chief of Protocol of the United States

Contents

Duties[]

Divisions[]

List of chiefs of protocol of the United States[]

See also[]

References[]

External links[]

Chief of Protocol
Seal of the United States Department of State
Incumbent Rufus Gifford since December 20, 2021
Reports to	United States Secretary of State
Nominator	President of the United States
Inaugural holder	James Clement Dunn
Formation	1928
Website	https://www.state.gov/bureaus-offices/bureaus-and-offices-reporting-directly-to-the-secretary/office-of-the-chief-of-protocol/