The appointment of Joseph J. Sisco as Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs was announced yesterday by President Nixon in San Clemente. It is the third ranking post in the State Department. George Vest, Department spokesman, said the appointment was made on the recommendation of Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger and that “a significant feature” is that Sisco, in his new post will, “continue to aid the development and execution of Middle East policy.”
Sisco will succeed William J. Porter who has been named Ambassador to Canada. His post is subject to Senate confirmation. Alfred L. Atherton, Sisco’s deputy, will become Assistant Secretary of State for the Near East, the State Department announced.
Sisco, considered the State Department’s top expert on the Middle East, has served for the past five years as Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs. He resigned from the Foreign Service late last year to become president of Hamilton College in New York State. But according to Vest, faced with the exigencies of the Middle East situation, he was “persuaded to stay in the State Department on a new assignment.”
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