In the United States, the informal term "czar" (or, less often, "tsar") is employed in media and popular usage to refer to high-level executive-branch officials who oversee a particular policy field.
The earliest known use of the term for a U.S. government official was in the administration of Franklin Roosevelt (1933–1945), during which eleven unique positions (or twelve if one were to count "economic czar" and "economic czar of World War II" as distinct) were so described.
A more limited (though no less subjective) definition of the term would encompass only those officials appointed without Senate confirmation.
The numbers are based upon the sortable list below, which includes further details and references.
Similarly, there has been a director of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs since the office was created by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1980, but the term "regulatory czar" was not applied to the post until 2001.