The Consular and Diplomatic Appropriations Act for the year ending June 30, 1867 authorized the President to appoint a Second Assistant Secretary of State. Duties of incumbents varied less over the years than did those of the other Assistant Secretary positions. Responsibilities included: supervision of correspondence with diplomatic officers; preparation of drafts of treaties, conventions, diplomatic notes, and instructions; detailed treatment of current diplomatic and political questions; approval of correspondence for the signature of the Secretary or Acting Secretary; and consultation on matters of diplomatic procedure, international law and policy, and traditional practices of the Department. The Foreign Service Act of 1924 abolished numerical titles for Assistant Secretaries of State. Only two people held the position from 1866 to 1924.
| # | Picture | Name | State of Residency | Term of Office | President(s) served under | Secretary of State(s) served under |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | William Hunter | Rhode Island | July 27, 1866 - July 22, 1886 | Andrew Johnson Ulysses S. Grant Rutherford B. Hayes James A. Garfield Chester A. Arthur Grover Cleveland |
William H. Seward Elihu Benjamin Washburne Hamilton Fish William Maxwell Evarts James Gillespie Blaine Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen Thomas F. Bayard, Sr. |
|
| 2 | Alvey A. Adee | District of Columbia | August 3, 1886 - June 30, 1924 | Grover Cleveland Benjamin Harrison William McKinley Theodore Roosevelt William Howard Taft Thomas Woodrow Wilson Warren G. Harding Calvin Coolidge |
Thomas F. Bayard, Sr. James Gillespie Blaine John Watson Foster Walter Quintin Gresham Richard Olney John Sherman William Rufus Day John Milton Hay Elihu Root Robert Bacon Philander Chase Knox William Jennings Bryan Robert Lansing Bainbridge Colby Charles Evans Hughes |
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