John Foster Dulles

(February 25, 1888, Washington, D.C.-May 24, 1959). 52nd U.S. Secretary of State, 1953-1959. Attorney. Member, U.S. Delegation to San Francisco Conference on World Organization, 1945. Appointed to U.S. Senator (Republican-New York), July 7-November 8, 1949. U.S. Secretary of State, 1953-1959. Noted as architect of the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), "brinksmanship," and the policy of containment of Communism during the Cold War. Father of Avery Cardinal Dulles, S.J. Nephew of Robert Lansing and grandson of John Watson Foster. Brother of Allen Welsh Dulles. Presbyterian. Received Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1959.

Christian Archibald Herter

(March 28, 1895, Paris, France-December 30, 1966, Washington, D.C.). 53rd U.S. Secretary of State, 1959-1961. Diplomat. Executive Secretary, European Relief Council, 1920. Personal Assistant to U.S. Secretary of Commerce, 1921-1924. Publisher, Boston, Massachusetts, 1924-1937. U.S. Representative (Republican-Massachusetts), January 3, 1943-January 3, 1953. Governor of Massachusetts, January, 1953-January, 1957. Under U.S. Secretary of State, February 21, 1957-April 22, 1959. U.S. Secretary of State, April 22, 1959-January 20, 1961. President's Special Representative for Trade Negotiations, February 27, 1963-December 30, 1966.

David Dean Rusk

(February 9, 1909, Cherokee County, Georgia-December 20, 1994, Athens, Georgia). 54th U.S. Secretary of State, 1961-1969. Associate Professor of Governor and Dean of Faculty, Mills College, Oakland, California, 1934-1940. Deputy Under Secretary of State for Operations, 1949. Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs, 1950-1952. President, Rockefeller Foundation, 1952-1960. U.S. Secretary of State, 1961-1969. Samuel H. Sibley Professor of International Law, University of Georgia, 1970-1994. Secretary of State during Bay of Pigs invasion, construction of Berlin Wall, Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Vietnam War. Received Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1969.

William Pierce Rogers

(June 23, 1913, Norfolk, New York-January 2, 2001, Bethesda, Maryland). 55th U.S. Secretary of State, 1969-1973. Attorney. Deputy U.S. Attorney General, 1953-1957. Attorney General of the United States, 1957-1961. U.S. Secretary of State, 1969-1973. Received Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1973. Helped write the Civil Rights Act of 1957. Chairman, Presidential Commission to Investigate the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, 1986.

Henry Alfred Kissinger

(May 27, 1923, Fuerth, Germany-Alive). 56th U.S. Secretary of State, 1973-1977. Emigrated to the United States, 1938. Became a naturalized U.S. citizen, June 19, 1943. Professor of Government, Harvard University, 1954-1971, Associate Director, Center for International Affairs, 1957-1960. Study Director, Nuclear Weapons and Foreign Policy, Council of Foreign Relations, 1955-1956. Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, 1969-1975. U.S. Secretary of State, 1973-1977. Noted for roles in the SALT treaties and ending the war in Vietnam. Founder and Chairman, Kissinger Associates consulting firm, 1978. Author. Recipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace, 1973. Received Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1977.