As the Under Secretary for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs, Reuben Jeffery III, serves as the senior economic official at the State Department. Mr. Jeffery advises the Secretary of State on international economic policy, and leads the work of the Department on issues ranging from trade, agriculture and aviation to bilateral relations with America's economic partners. He also serves as the State Department's Coordinator for International Energy Affairs
Nominated by President Bush on April 16, 2007, and confirmed by the Senate on June 21, 2007, Mr. Jeffery was sworn into office by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on June 27.
Most recently, Mr. Jeffery was Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal agency that regulates commodity futures and options on futures trading in the U.S. In that capacity he served on the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets.
Mr. Jeffery previously served as the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for International Economic Affairs at the National Security Council. Mr. Jeffery also acted as the Representative and Executive Director of the Coalition Provisional Authority Office (CPA) at the Pentagon, after having served as an advisor to Ambassador Bremer in Iraq. Prior to joining the CPA in May of 2003, Mr. Jeffery was Special Advisor to the President for Lower Manhattan Development, where he coordinated ongoing federal efforts in support of the longer term recovery and redevelopment of Lower Manhattan in the aftermath of September 11, 2001.
Mr. Jeffery spent eighteen years working for Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he was managing partner of Goldman Sachs in Paris (1997-2001) and of the firm’s European Financial Institutions Group (1992-1997) in London. Mr. Jeffery has a broad range of international capital markets, corporate finance and merger and acquisition experience.
Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Mr. Jeffery was a lawyer with the New York firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell.
Mr. Jeffery received his BA degree in Political Science from Yale University in 1975 and Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration degrees from Stanford University in 1981.
Remarks by Under Secretary Jeffery
