United States Department of State

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logo of the Department of State

The Department of State is the executive department of the United States government that handles U.S. relations with other governments. The head of the department is the Secretary of State, the senior member of the President's Cabinet. The Secretary and the department advise the President on foreign relations and provide information about conditions in other countries.

The official Department of State website is www.state.gov.

Functions and Duties

The State Department plans United States actions in dealing with other governments, and is responsible for carrying out foreign policy. It also coordinates the actions of other executive departments that affect foreign policy.

The department negotiates treaties and agreements with other governments; handles official business with foreign embassies in Washington; speaks for the United States in the United Nations and other international organizations; and arranges for U.S. participation in international organizations.

The Secretary of State is the official custodian of the Great Seal of the United States, which is affixed to all presidential proclamations.

The department also promotes public understanding of United States foreign policy through information services and publications.

Organization

SECRETARY OF STATE
--Deputy Secretary of State
--United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations
--Agency for International Development
--Broadcasting Board of Governors
--Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services
--Bureau of Intelligence and Research
--Bureau of Legislative Adviser
--Bureau of Resource Management
----Chief Financial Offer
--Chief of Mission
--Chief of Staff
--Civil Service Ombudsman
--Counselor of the Department
--Counterrorism
--Executive Secretariat
--Foreign Service Grievance Board
--Global AIDS Coordinator
--Office of Civil Rights
--Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization
--Office of Inspector General
--Office of the Legal Adviser
--Office of Protocol
--Operations Center
--Policy Planning Staff
--Undersecretary for Arms Control and International Security
----Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation
----Bureau of Political-Military Affairs
----Verification, Compliance, and Implementation Bureau
------Nonprolifieration and Arms Control Technology Working Group
------Nuclear Risk Reduction Center
--Undersecretary for Democracy and Global Affairs
----Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor
----Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs
----Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration
------Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons
----Senior Coordinator for Woman's Issues
--Undersecretary for Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs
----Bureau of Economic, Energy and Business Affairs
------Office of Commercial and Business Affairs
--Undersecretary for Management
----Bureau of Administration
----Bureau of Consular Affairs
------Office of Overseas Citizens Services
----Bureau of Diplomatic Security
------Antiterrorism Assistance Program
------Office of Foreign Missions
------Rewards for Justice Program
----Bureau of Human Resources
------Office of Medical Services
------Director of the Foreign Service
------Director of Human Resources
----Bureau of Information Resource Management
----Foreign Service Institute
------National Foreign Affairs Training Center
--Undersecretary for Political Affairs
----Bureau of African Affairs
----Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
----Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs
----Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
----Bureau of International Organizations
----Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs
----Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
----Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs
--Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs
----Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
------Office of International Information Programs
----Bureau of Public Affairs
------Office of the Historian
------Office of Policy, Planning and Resources for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs

History
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The Department of State is the oldest executive office of the United States government. During the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress dealt with other countries through its Committee on Secret Correspondence. This committee was established in 1775 with Benjamin Franklin as its first chairman. In 1777, the group was renamed the Committee for Foreign Affairs.

On January 10, 1781, the Continental Congress created a Department of Foreign Affairs. Robert Livingston became the first Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and John Jay succeeded him in 1784. After the adoption of the Constitution, Congress set up the Department of Foreign Affairs on July 27, 1789, as an executive agency under the President. Congress changed its name to the Department of State on September 15, 1789. The department was initially charged with performing such domestic duties as operating the mint, issuing patents, and taking the census. Most domestic duties have since been transferred to other departments.

President George Washington appointed Thomas Jefferson as the first Secretary of State in 1789.

Secretaries of State

Name	Took Office	Under President(s)
Thomas Jefferson Edmund Randolph Timothy Pickering John Marshall James Madison Robert Smith James Monroe John Quincy Adams Henry Clay Martin Van Buren Edward Livingston Louis McLane John Forsyth Daniel Webster Abel P. Upshur John C. Calhoun James Buchanan John M. Clayton Daniel Webster Edward Everett William L. Marcy Lewis Cass Jeremiah S. Black William H. Seward Elihu B. Washburne Hamilton Fish William M. Evarts James G. Blaine F.T. Frelinghuysen Thomas F. Bayard James G. Blaine John W. Foster Walter Q. Gresham Richard Olney John Sherman William R. Day John M. Hay Elihu Root Robert Bacon Philander C. Knox William J. Bryant Robert Lansing Bainbridge Colby Charles E. Hughes Frank B. Kellogg Henry L. Stimson Cordell Hull Edward R. Stettinius, Jr. James F. Byrnes George C. Marshall Dean G. Acheson John Foster Dulles Christian A. Herter Dean Rusk William P. Rogers Henry A. Kissinger Cyrus R. Vance Edmund S. Muskie Alexander M. Haig, Jr. George P. Shultz James A. Baker, III Lawrence S. Eagleburger Warren M. Christopher Madeline K. Albright Colin L. Powell Condoleeza Rice Hillary Rodham Clinton John Kerry Rex W. Tillerson	1790 1794 1795 1800 1801 1809 1811 1817 1825 1829 1831 1833 1834 1841 1843 1844 1845 1849 1850 1852 1853 1857 1860 1861 1869 1869 1877 1881 1881 1885 1889 1892 1893 1895 1897 1898 1898 1905 1909 1909 1913 1915 1920 1921 1925 1929 1933 1944 1945 1947 1949 1953 1959 1961 1969 1973 1977 1980 1981 1982 1989 1992 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017	Washington Washington Washington, J. Adams J. Adams Jefferson Madison Madison Monroe J.Q. Adams Jackson Jackson Jackson Jackson, Van Buren W.H. Harrison, Tyler Tyler Tyler Polk Taylor Fillmore Fillmore Pierce Buchanan Buchanan Lincoln, A. Johnson Grant Grant Hayes Garfield, Arthur Arthur Cleveland B. Harrison B. Harrison Cleveland Cleveland McKinley McKinley McKinley, T. Roosevelt T. Roosevelt T. Roosevelt Taft Wilson Wilson Wilson Harding, Coolidge Coolidge Hoover F.D. Roosevelt F.D. Roosevelt, Truman Truman Truman Truman Eisenhower Eisenhower Kennedy, L.B. Johnson Nixon Nixon, Ford Carter Carter Reagan Reagan G.H.W. Bush G.H.W. Bush Clinton Clinton G.W. Bush G.W. Bush Obama Obama Trump

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SKC Films Library >> International Relations

This page was last updated on 09/15/2018.