The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U. S. +more
Established in 1789 as the first administrative arm of the +more
As of 2019, the State Department maintains 273 diplomatic posts worldwide, second only to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It also manages the U. +more
History
Eighteenth century
The Articles of Confederation did not designate a separate executive branch of the government. Foreign affairs were delegated to the Committee of Secret Correspondence by the Congress of the Confederation in 1775, based on the Committee of Correspondence that was used by the colony of Massachusetts to communicate with the other colonies. +more
In September 1789, additional legislation changed the name of the agency to the Department of State and assigned it a variety of domestic duties, including managing the United States Mint, keeping the Great Seal of the United States, and administering the census. President Washington signed the new legislation on September 15. +more
Reflecting the fledgling status of the US at the time, the Department of State under Secretary Jefferson comprised only six personnel, two diplomatic posts (in London and Paris), and 10 consular posts. When Jefferson took charge of the department, one clerk oversaw The Foreign Office and another oversaw the Home Office. +more
Nineteenth century
For much of its history, the Department of State was composed of two primary administrative units: the diplomatic service, which staffed US legations and embassies, and the consular service, which was primarily responsible for promoting American commerce abroad and assisting distressed American sailors. Each service developed separately, but both lacked sufficient funding to provide for a career; consequently, appointments to either service fell on those with the financial means to sustain their work abroad. +more
In 1833, Secretary of State Louis McLane oversaw a major restructure of the Department of State into a formal collection of seven bureaus: the Diplomatic Bureau; the Consular Bureau; the Home Bureau; the Bureau of Archives, Laws, and Commissions; the Bureau of Pardons and Remissions, Copyrights, and the Care of the Library; the Disbursing and Superintending Bureau; and the Translating and Miscellaneous Bureau. His successor John Forsyth reduced this number to just four the following year, overseen by a chief clerk: the Diplomatic Bureau; the Consular Bureau; the Home Bureau; and the Keeper of the Archives, Translator, and Disbursing Agent.
The office of Commissioner of Patents was created in 1836. In 1842, the Department of State was required to report to Congress on foreign commercial systems, and a clerk within the department was assigned the responsibility of arranging this information. +more
A Commissioner of Immigration existed between 1864 and 1868. An Examiner of Claims was established in 1868 to address claims by American citizens against foreign nations, but it was abolished in 1868 and then reestablished in 1870 under the newly established Law Bureau. +more
Congress legally recognized the bureau system and provided official salaries for some bureau positions in 1873. Following Congressional recognition, several acts of Congress modified the structure of the bureaus between 1874 and 1882. +more
Twentieth century
In 1903, the Bureau of Foreign Commerce was transferred to the newly created Department of Commerce and Labor, and the bureau was replaced by an office to facilitate the transfer of information between consular offices and the new department. The Passport Bureau was restored the same year, and its name was changed to the Bureau of Citizenship in 1907. +more
During World War I, the Bureau of Citizenship was tasked with vetting every person that entered or departed from the United States to ensure public safety. New branches for the Bureau of Citizenship were opened in New York and San Francisco. +more
The post-Second World War period saw an unprecedented increase in funding and staff commensurate with the US's emergence as a superpower and its competition with the Soviet Union in the subsequent Cold War. Consequently, the number of domestic and overseas employees grew from roughly 2,000 in 1940 to over 13,000 in 1960.
In 1997, Madeleine Albright became the first woman appointed secretary of state and the first foreign-born woman to serve in the Cabinet.
Twenty-first century
The 21st century saw the department reinvent itself in response to the rapid digitization of society and the global economy. In 2007, it launched an official blog, Dipnote, as well as a Twitter account of the same name, to engage with a global audience. +more
From 2009 to 2017, the State Department launched 21st Century Statecraft, with the official goal of "complementing traditional foreign policy tools with newly innovated and adapted instruments of statecraft that fully leverage the technologies of our interconnected world." The initiative was designed to utilize digital technology and the Internet to promote foreign policy goals; examples include promoting an SMS campaign to provide disaster relief to Pakistan, and sending DOS personnel to Libya to assist in developing Internet infrastructure and e-government.
Colin Powell, who led the department from 2001 to 2005, became the first African-American to hold the post; his immediate successor, Condoleezza Rice, was the second female secretary of state and the second African-American. Hillary Clinton became the third female secretary of state when she was appointed in 2009.
In 2014, the State Department began expanding into the Navy Hill Complex across 23rd Street NW from the Truman Building. A joint venture consisting of the architectural firms of Goody, Clancy and the Louis Berger Group won a $2. +more
Duties and responsibilities
The Executive Branch and the Congress have constitutional responsibilities for US foreign policy. Within the Executive Branch, the Department of State is the lead US foreign affairs agency, and its head, the secretary of state, is the president's principal foreign policy advisor. +more
All foreign affairs activities-US representation abroad, foreign assistance programs, countering international crime, foreign military training programs, the services the department provides, and more-are paid for out of the foreign affairs budget, which represents little more than 1% of the total federal budget.
The department's core activities and purpose include: * Protecting and assisting US citizens living or traveling abroad; * Assisting American businesses in the international marketplace; * Coordinating and providing support for international activities of other US agencies (local, state, or federal government), official visits overseas and at home, and other diplomatic efforts. * Keeping the public informed about US foreign policy and relations with other countries and providing feedback from the public to administration officials. +more
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 the United States, analyze and report on political, economic, and social trends; adjudicate visas; and respond to the needs of US citizens abroad.
The US maintains diplomatic relations with about 180 countries and maintains relations with many international organizations, adding up to 273 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. +more
Important
Organization
Secretary of state
The secretary of state is the chief executive officer of the Department of State and a member of the Cabinet who answers directly to, and advises, the president of the United States. The secretary organizes and supervises the entire department and its staff.
Staff
Under the Obama administration, the website of the Department of State had indicated that the State Department's 75,547 employees included 13,855 foreign service officers; 49,734 locally employed staff, whose duties are primarily serving overseas; and 10,171 predominantly domestic civil service employees.
Other agencies
Since the 1996 reorganization, the Administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), while leading an independent agency, also reports to the secretary of state, as does the US ambassador to the United Nations.
Vacancies
As of November 2018, people nominated to ambassadorships to 41 countries had not yet been confirmed by the Senate, and no one had yet been nominated to ambassadorships to 18 additional countries (including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Mexico, Egypt, Jordan, South Africa, and Singapore). In November 2019, a quarter of US embassies around the world-including Japan, Russia and Canada-still had no ambassador.
Headquarters
From 1790 to 1800, the State Department was headquartered in Philadelphia, the national capital at the time. It occupied a building at Church and Fifth Street. +more
The State Department moved several times throughout the capital in the ensuing decades, including six buildings in September 1800; the War Office Building west of the White House the following May; the Treasury Building once more from September 1819 to November 1866; the Washington City Orphan Home from November 1866 to July 1875; and the State, War, and Navy Building in 1875.
Since May 1947, the State Department has been based in the Harry S. +more
As the DOS is located in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, it is sometimes metonymically referred to as "Foggy Bottom".
Programs
Professional Fellows
The US Department of State has in the recent years rolled out Professional Exchange Fellows who have risen to professional ranks in their lives and are chosen by the US Embassies worldwide to be a professional fellows of the State Department spending time in the United States and interacting with their American colleagues, leadership and counterparts.
Fulbright Program
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright-Hays Program, is a program of competitive, merit-based grants for international educational exchange for students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists and artists, founded by United States Senator J. +more
The Fulbright Program provides 8,000 grants annually to undertake graduate study, advanced research, university lecturing, and classroom teaching. In the 2015-16 cycle, 17% and 24% of American applicants were successful in securing research and English Teaching Assistance grants, respectively. +more
The US Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs sponsors the Fulbright Program from an annual appropriation from the +more
Jefferson Science Fellows Program
The Jefferson Science Fellows Program was established in 2003 by the DoS to establish a new model for engaging the American academic science, technology, engineering and medical communities in the formulation and implementation of US foreign policy.
The Fellows (as they are called, if chosen for the program) are paid around $50,000 during the program and can earn special bonuses of up to $10,000. The program's intent is to equip Fellows with awareness of procedural intricacies of the Department of State/USAID, to help with its daily operations. +more
Franklin Fellows Program
The Franklin Fellows Program was established in 2006 by the DoS to bring in mid-level executives from the private sector and non-profit organizations to advise the department and to work on projects.
Fellows may also work with other government entities, including the Congress, White House, and executive branch agencies, including the Department of Defense, Department of Commerce, and Department of Homeland Security. The program is named in honor of Benjamin Franklin, and aims to attract mid-career professionals to enrich and expand the department's capabilities. +more
Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI)
See also Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative
The Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) (pronounced ) is a program of the DoS for emerging leaders from Southeast Asia. The program was launched by President Barack Obama in Manila in December 2013 as a way to strengthen leadership development, networking, and cultural exchange among emerging leaders within the age range of 18 to 35 years old from the 10 member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Timor Leste.
YSEALI's programs include competitive exchange fellowship programs to the United States, virtual and on-ground workshops within Southeast Asia, and seed grant funding opportunities. The programs fall under the key core themes of civic engagement, sustainable development, economic development, governance, and the environment.
Notable alumni of YSEALI include Vico Sotto, Syed Saddiq, Carrie Tan, and Lee Chean Chung.
Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI)
See also Young African Leaders Initiative
The Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) is a program of the DoS for emerging young leaders in Africa. It was begun in 2010 by President Barack Obama to promote education and networking among emerging African leaders through the Mandela Washington Fellowship which brings them to study in the United States for six weeks, with follow-up resources, and student exchange programs. +more
Diplomats in Residence
Diplomats in Residence are career Foreign Service Officers and Specialists located throughout the US who provide guidance and advice on careers, internships, and fellowships to students and professionals in communities they serve. Diplomats in Residence are located in 16 population-based regions throughout the United States.
Military components
Department of State Department Air Wing
In 1978, the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) formed an office to use excess military and government aircraft to support counter-narcotics operations of foreign states. The first aircraft used was a crop duster used to eradicate illicit crops in Mexico in cooperation with local authorities. +more
After the September 11 attacks and the subsequent War on Terror, the Air Wing went on to expand its operations from mainly anti-narcotics operations to providing security support for United States nationals and interests, primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Safe transports for various diplomatic missions were undertaken, requiring acquisition of larger aircraft, such as Sikorsky S-61, Boeing Vertol CH-46, Beechcraft King Air and De Haviland DHC-8-300. +more
Naval Support Unit: Department of State
In 1964, at the height of the Cold War, Seabees were assigned to the State Department after listening devices were found in the Embassy of the United States in Moscow; this initial unit was called the "Naval Mobile Construction Battalion FOUR, Detachment November". The U. +more
The Support Unit has a limited number of special billets for select NCOs, E-5 and above. These Seabees are assigned to the Department of State and attached to Diplomatic Security. +more
Army Reserve Counter Terrorism Unit
Headquartered on Navy Hill, across the street from the Harry S. Truman building, ARCTU is a component of the Army Reserve funded and staffed by Military Intelligence Readiness Command's National Intelligence Support Group but under operational control of the Bureau of Counterterrorism. +more
Expenditures
In FY 2010 the Department of State, together with "Other International Programs" (such as USAID), had a combined projected discretionary budget of $51. 7 billion. +more
The end-of-year FY 2010 DoS Agency Financial Report, approved by Secretary Clinton on November 15, 2010, showed actual total costs for the year of $27. 4 billion. +more
Total program costs for 'Achieving Peace and Security' were $7. 0 billion; 'Governing Justly and Democratically', $0. +more
Audit of expenditures
The Department of State's independent auditors are Kearney & Company. Since in FY 2009 Kearney & Company qualified its audit opinion, noting material financial reporting weaknesses, the DoS restated its 2009 financial statements in 2010. +more
Central Foreign Policy File
Since 1973 the primary record keeping system of the Department of State is the Central Foreign Policy File. It consists of copies of official telegrams, airgrams, reports, memorandums, correspondence, diplomatic notes, and other documents related to foreign relations. +more
Freedom of Information Act processing performance
In the 2015 Center for Effective Government analysis of 15 federal agencies which receive the most Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) (using 2012 and 2013 data), the State Department was the lowest performer, earning an "F" by scoring only 37 out of a possible 100 points, unchanged from 2013. The State Department's score was dismal due to its extremely low processing score of 23 percent, which was completely out of line with any other agency's performance.
Notes
Primary sources
[url=https://afsa. org/fsj-archive] The Foreign Service Journal, complete issues of the Consular Bureau's monthly news magazine, 1919-present[/url] * [url=https://twitter. +more
Further reading
Allen, Debra J. Historical Dictionary of US Diplomacy from the Revolution to Secession (Scarecrow Press, 2012), 1775-1861. +more
Foreign relations of the United States
Ministries established in 1789
1789 establishments in the United States
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