The United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, similar to foreign ministries, foreign offices, ministries of external relations, etc. in other countries. It is administered by the Secretary of State.

It is headquartered in the Harry S Truman Building at 2201 C Street, N.W., a few blocks from the White House in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The Department's Secretary is the first Cabinet member in the line of succession in the event of the disability or death of the President, and is fourth after the Vice President, the Speaker of the House, and the President pro tempore of the United States Senate.

History

The U.S. Constitution, drafted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1787 and ratified by the states the following year, gave the President the responsibility for the conduct of the nation's foreign relations. It soon became clear, however, that an executive department was necessary to support the President in the conduct of the affairs of the new federal government.

The House of Representatives and Senate approved legislation to establish a Department of Foreign Affairs on July 21, 1789, and President Washington signed it into law on July 27, making the Department of Foreign Affairs the first Federal agency to be created under the new Constitution. This legislation remains the basic law of the Department of State. In September 1789, additional legislation changed the name of the agency to the Department of State and assigned to it a variety of domestic duties.

"The old state department building in Washington, as it was in 1865." - From an 1898 publication.

On September 29, 1789, President Washington appointed Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, then Minister to France, to be the first United States Secretary of State, although John Jay had been serving in that capacity as a holdover from the Confederation since before Washington had taken office and would continue in that capacity until Jefferson would return from Europe many months later.

Duties and responsibilities

The Executive Branch and the U.S. Congress have constitutional responsibilities for U.S. foreign policy. Within the Executive Branch, the Department of State is the lead U.S. foreign affairs agency, and its head, the Secretary of State, is the President's principal foreign policy advisor, though other officials or individuals may have more influence on his foreign policy decisions. The Department advances U.S. objectives and interests in the world through its primary role in developing and implementing the President's foreign policy. The Department also supports the foreign affairs activities of other U.S. Government entities including the United States Department of Commerce and the U.S. Agency for International Development. It also provides an array of important services to U.S. citizens and to foreigners seeking to visit or immigrate to the U.S.

All foreign affairs activities?U.S. representation abroad, foreign assistance programs, countering international crime, foreign military training programs, the services the Department provides, and more?are paid for by the foreign affairs budget, which represents little more than 1% of the total federal budget, or about 12 cents a day for each American citizen. As stated by the Department of State, its purpose includes:

• Protecting and assisting U.S. citizens living or traveling abroad;
• Assisting U.S. businesses in the international marketplace;
• Coordinating and providing support for international activities of other U.S. agencies (local, state, or federal government), official visits overseas and at home, and other diplomatic efforts.
• Keeping the public informed about U.S. foreign policy and relations with other countries and providing feedback from the public to administration officials.
• Providing automobile registration for non-diplomatic staff vehicles and the vehicles of diplomats of foreign countries having diplomatic immunity in the United States.

The Department of State conducts these activities with a civilian workforce. While assigned to diplomatic missions abroad, Foreign Service,Excepted Service,Competitive Service, and other categories of employees represent America, analyze and report on political, economic, and social trends; adjudicate visas; and respond to the needs of American citizens abroad. The U.S. maintains diplomatic relations with about 180 countries and maintains relations with many international organizations , adding up to a total of more than 250 posts around the world. In the United States, about 5,000 professional, technical, and administrative employees work compiling and analyzing reports from overseas, providing logistical support to posts, communicating with the American public, formulating and overseeing the budget, issuing passports and travel warnings, and more. In carrying out these responsibilities, the Department of State works in close coordination with other federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, the Department of the Treasury, and the Department of Commerce. As required by the principle of checks and balances, the Department also consults with Congress about foreign policy initiatives and policies.

Organization

This chart from the U.S. Department of State website displays the hierarchy of the agency. Click the image to enlarge.

United States Secretary of State: Chief executive officer of the Department of State, member of the United States Cabinet, answerable directly to the President of the United States. He or she organizes and supervises the entire department and its staff:

• United States Deputy Secretary of State: The Deputy Secretary (with the Chief of Staff, Executive Secretariat, and the Undersecretary for Management) assists the Secretary in the overall management of the department. Reporting to the Deputy Secretary are the six undersecretaries and the counselor, along with several staff offices:
  • Chief of Staff
  • Executive Secretariat
  • Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism (which produces the Patterns of Global Terrorism report)
  • Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization
  • National Foreign Affairs Training Center (former Foreign Service Institute)
  • Bureau of International Information Programs
  • Office of the Legal Adviser
  • Office of Management Policy
  • Office of Protocol
  • Office of the Science and Technology Adviser
  • Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons
  • Office of War Crimes Issues
  • Bureau of Intelligence and Research
  • Bureau of Legislative Affairs
  • Bureau of Resource Management

• Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs: The third-ranking State Department official. Becomes Acting Secretary in the absence of the Secretary of State and Deputy Secretary of State. He or she is responsible for bureaus, headed by Assistant Secretaries, coordinating American diplomacy around the world:
  • Bureau of African Affairs
  • Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
  • Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs
  • Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
  • Bureau of International Organization Affairs
  • Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs
  • Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
  • Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs

• Undersecretary for Management: The principal adviser to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary on matters relating to the allocation and use of Department's budget, physical property, and personnel. He or she is responsible for bureaus, headed by Assistant Secretaries, planning the day-to-day administration of the Department and proposing institutional reform and modernization:
  • Bureau of Administration
    • Office of Allowances
    • Office of Authentication
    • Language Services
    • Office of Logistics Management
    • Office of Overseas Schools
    • Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization
    • Office of Multi-Media Services
    • Office of Directives Management
    • Office of Commissary and Recreation Affairs
    • Office of the Procurement Executive
  • Bureau of Consular Affairs
  • Bureau of Diplomatic Security
    • Diplomatic Security Service
    • Office of Foreign Missions
  • Bureau of Human Resources
  • Bureau of Information Resource Management
  • Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations

• Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs: The senior economic advisor for the Secretary and Deputy Secretary on international economic policy. He or she is responsible for bureaus, headed by Assistant Secretaries, dealing with trade, agriculture, aviation, and bilateral trade relations with America's economic partners:
  • Bureau of Economic, Energy, and Business Affairs

• Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs: This Undersecretary leads functions that were formerly assigned to the United States Information Agency but were integrated into the State Department by the 1999 reorganization. He or she manages units that handle the department's public communications and seek to burnish the image of the United States around the world:
  • Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
    • Internet Access and Training Program
  • Bureau of Public Affairs
    • Office of The Historian
  • Bureau of International Information Programs

• Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs: This Undersecretary coordinates the Department's role in U.S. military assistance. Since the 1996 reorganization, this Undersecretary also oversees the functions of the formerly independent Arms Control and Disarmament Agency.
  • Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation
  • Bureau of Political-Military Affairs
  • Bureau of Verification, Compliance, and Implementation

• Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs: The office of Undersecretary of Global Affairs was created by the Clinton Administration to manage diplomatic efforts on emerging worldwide issues, such as the environment, that could not be addressed at the bilateral or regional level. The office was renamed Democracy and Global Affairs in 2005, reflecting an increased focus on democracy promotion in American foreign policy.^[1]
  • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
  • Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs
  • Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration

• Counselor: Ranking with the Under Secretaries, the Counselor is the Secretary's and Deputy Secretary's special advisor and consultant on major problems of foreign policy. He or she provides guidance to the appropriate bureaus with respect to such matters, conducts special international negotiations and consultations, and undertakes special assignments from time to time as directed by the Secretary.

• Office of Global AIDS Coordinator: President's main task force to combat global AIDS The Global AIDS Coordinator reports directly to the Secretary of State.

Since the 1996 reorganization, the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), while leading an independent agency, has also reported to the Secretary of State, as does the United States Ambassador to the United Nations (also known as the Permanent Representative).

See also

• Diplomatic missions of the United States
• United States Foreign Service

References

External links

• United States Department of State website
• United States Department of State Telephone Directory in .pdf format
• History of the U.S. Department of State
• Rewards for Justice site
• Department Of State Meeting Notices and Rule Changes from The Federal Register
• RSS Feed
• Frontline Diplomacy: The Foreign Affairs Oral History Collection of the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training

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