The United States order of precedence is an advisory document maintained by the Ceremonials Division of the Office of the Chief of Protocol of the United States which lists the ceremonial order,or relative preeminence,for domestic and foreign government officials at diplomatic,ceremonial,and social events within the United States and abroad. The list is used to mitigate miscommunication and embarrassment in diplomacy,and offer a distinct and concrete spectrum of preeminence for ceremonies. Often the document is used to advise diplomatic and ceremonial event planners on seating charts and order of introduction. Former presidents,vice presidents,first ladies,second ladies,and secretaries of state and retired Supreme Court justices are also included in the list.
James Franklin Jeffrey is an American diplomat who served most recently as the United States Special Representative for Syria Engagement and the Special Envoy to the International military intervention against ISIL.
Charles Woodruff Yost was a career U.S. Ambassador who was assigned as his country's representative to the United Nations from 1969 to 1971.
Anne Woods Patterson is an American diplomat and career Foreign Service Officer. She served as the Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs from 2013 to 2017. She previously served as United States Ambassador to Egypt until 2013 and as United States Ambassador to Pakistan from July 2007 to October 2010.
Robert G. Joseph is a senior scholar at the National Institute for Public Policy. He was the United States Special Envoy for Nuclear Nonproliferation,with ambassadorial rank. Prior to this post,Joseph was the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security,a position he held until January 24,2007. Joseph is known for being instrumental in creating the Proliferation Security Initiative and as the architect of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism. He was also the US chief negotiator to Libya in 2003 who convinced the Libyans to give up their WMD programs. He also recently authored a book describing his experience in negotiating with Libya entitled "Countering WMD."
William Rivington Brownfield is a Career Ambassador in the United States Foreign Service and the former Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs as of January 10,2011. He has previously served as U.S. Ambassador to Chile,Venezuela,and Colombia.
Andrei Dapkiunas is a Belarusian diplomat who is currently Ambassador of Belarus to Austria,Slovenia and Slovakia,Permanent Representative of Belarus to the international organisations in Vienna and to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). He holds the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary since 2011.
Cresencio "Cris" S. Arcos Jr. is an American diplomat.
Sha Zukang is a Chinese diplomat who was head of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs from 2007 to 2012. He was previously the Chinese ambassador to the United Nations Office at Geneva.
Edward S. Walker Jr. is a former U.S. Ambassador to Israel,Egypt,and the UAE and is a Middle East specialist.
Stephen D. Mull is a Senior Foreign Service officer who was most recently the Acting Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs. He previously served as United States Ambassador to Poland,Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs and United States Ambassador to Lithuania.
Paul E. Simons is a career diplomat who served as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to Chile from 2007 to 2010.
Natalia Gherman is a Moldovan politician who has been serving as executive director of the United Nations' Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate since 2023.
Mohamed Kamel Amr is an Egyptian politician and diplomat who served as Egypt's Minister of Foreign Affairs between 2011 and 2013. He resigned from office on 30 June 2013.
Jacques Paul Klein is a retired United States diplomat,who served as head of three United Nations peacekeeping missions:the United Nations Transitional Administration for Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES) from January 17,1996,to August 1,1997,the United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH) from July 16,1999,to December 31,2002,and the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) from July 17,2003,to July 20,2005.
Glyn Townsend Davies is a senior advisor at ASG,a strategy and commercial diplomacy firm. A career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service,he served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations International Organizations in Vienna from 2009 to 2011,as Special Representative for North Korea Policy from 2011 to 2014,and as Ambassador to Thailand from 2015 to 2018.
Richard Merrill Mills Jr. is an American diplomat serving as the United States ambassador to Nigeria since July 2024. He served as the United States deputy ambassador to the United Nations from 2020 to 2024 and,in that capacity,served as the U.S. Chargéd'Affaires and Acting Permanent Representative to the United Nations between January 20,2021,and February 25,2021,when Linda Thomas-Greenfield became ambassador. He previously served as the U.S. Chargéd'Affaires for Canada.
Mary Catherine "Molly" Phee is an American diplomat who had served as assistant secretary of state for African affairs. She previously served as the U.S. ambassador to South Sudan from 2015 to 2017. She is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of minister counselor.
Robert A. Wood is an American diplomat who served as the alternate representative of the United States of America for special political affairs in the United Nations from 2022 to 2025,with the rank of ambassador.
