United States Department of State

United States
Department of State
Department of state.svg
Seal of the United States Department of State
Agency overview
Formed July 27, 1789
Headquarters Harry S. Truman Building
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, D.C.
Employees 11,500 Foreign Service employees
7,400 Civil Service employees
31,000 Foreign Service National employees[1]
Annual budget $16.4 billion (FY 2010)
Agency executives Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State
James Steinberg, Deputy Secretary
Jacob J. Lew, Deputy Secretary
Website
state.gov

The United States Department of State (often referred to as the State Department), is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries. The Department was created in 1789 and was the first executive department established.

The Department is headquartered in the Harry S. Truman Building located at 2201 C Street, NW, a few blocks from the White House in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C. The Department operates the diplomatic missions of the United States abroad and is responsible for implementing the foreign policy of the United States and U.S. diplomacy efforts.

The Department is led by the Secretary of State, who is nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate and is a member of the Cabinet. The current Secretary of State is Hillary Rodham Clinton. The Secretary of State is the first Cabinet official in the order of precedence and in the presidential line of succession (fourth overall, after the Vice President, the Speaker of the House, and the President pro tempore of the Senate).

Contents

History

Old State Department building in Washington, D.C., c. 1865

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.

These responsibilities grew to include management of the United States Mint, keeper of the Great Seal of the United States, and the taking of the census. President George Washington signed the new legislation on September 15. Most of these domestic duties of the Department of State were eventually turned over to various new Federal departments and agencies that were established during the 19th century. However, the Secretary of State still retains a few domestic responsibilities, such as being the keeper of the Great Seal and being the officer to whom a President or Vice-President of the United States wishing to resign must deliver an instrument in writing declaring the decision to resign.

On September 29, 1789, President Washington appointed Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, then Minister to France, to be the first United States Secretary of State. John Jay had been serving in as Secretary of Foreign Affairs 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

Harry S. Truman Building, headquarters of the U.S. State Department since 1947

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 their 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 Department of Defense, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Homeland Security, the Central Intelligence Agency (specifically, the Special Activities Division), 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 ($44 a year) for each American citizen. As stated by the Department of State, its purpose includes:

The Department of State conducts these activities with a civilian workforce, and normally uses the Foreign Service personnel system for positions that require service abroad. Employees may be assigned to diplomatic missions abroad to 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

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

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

Hierarchy of the U.S State Department. Click the image to enlarge.

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).

Other

The Department of State was listed as the fourth most desired employer for undergraduates according to an article in BusinessWeek.[4]

The Department's blog, started in 2007, is known as Dipnote, and a Twitter account is maintained with the same name.

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://careers.state.gov/general/about-us.html
  2. ↑ "Under Secretary for Management". State.gov. http://www.state.gov/m/index.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-26. 
  3. ↑ Khalfi, Mustapha (December 2, 2005). "Leave Democracy Promotion Outside the State Department". The Daily Star. Carnegie Endowment.org. http://www.carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=17770&prog=zgp&proj=zdrl,zme. Retrieved 2009-07-26. 
  4. ↑ Businessweek.com

External links

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