We’re beginning the new year by taking an in-depth look at each of the federal departments in order of establishment. We looked at the Department of Education last year when President Donald Trump (R-FL) gave orders to start significantly slashing its oversight.
This week, we’ll start at the top with the nation’s oldest federal department, the Department of State.
History and Origin
The immediate precursor to the State Department was the Committee of Secret Correspondence, established in 1775 under the Articles of Confederation. This was based on the Committee of Correspondence that the colony of Massachusetts used to communicate with the other colonies. The name was changed in 1777 to the Committee of Foreign Affairs, later changed to the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1781, which became the permanent body to lead foreign policy.
In 1787, the U.S. Constitution was drafted and ratified the following year. It gave the president the responsibility of conducting the nation’s foreign affairs. In 1789, the First Congress approved the re-establishment of the department, which George Washington signed into law on July 27. This marked the creation of the first federal department under the Constitution. Its name was changed to the Department of State in September 1789.
The nascent State Department was tasked with managing the United States Mint, keeping the Great Seal of the U.S., and conducting the census, among foreign affairs. As the government evolved, domestic duties were transferred to other departments. The State Department was small in its origin, with just six personnel, ten consular posts, and two diplomatic posts – London and Paris. The State Department would pick up oversight of patents in 1793.
The first Secretary of State was none other than Thomas Jefferson. He served from March 22, 1790, to December 31, 1793. Jefferson’s task was a difficult one, as he had to balance a fledgling, vulnerable nation with little international presence against American expansion.
The position of Secretary of State was also, at the time, considered a major stepping-stone to the presidency. Six Secretaries of State would later become Commander-in-Chief, all in the pre-Civil War America: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren, and James Buchanan (D-PA). Secretaries of State would continue to run for president, but the path became much less common after the Civil War. Had Hillary Clinton (D-NY) been elected president in 2016, it would have ended the 160-year streak of Secretaries of State not advancing to the Oval Office.
A Variety of Services
By the 1800s, the State Department had two primary functions: diplomatic and consular services. Diplomatic services consisted of legislation and embassies, while consular services encompassed assisting American sailors and promoting American commerce overseas. Since funding for salaries was scarce, the posts were often filled based on connections and politics, rather than merit and experience.
1833 saw the first major restructure of the department under then-Secretary of State Louis McLane (D-DE), which saw an expansion to 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. The following year saw the oversight shrunk to just four bureaus.
The department would take in several other duties over the decades, including Patents, Claims, Translations, Passports, Statistics, and Domestic Records.
By the 1900s, the Bureau of Foreign Commerce found a home in the newly created Department of Commerce and Labor. 1909 saw more major changes to the State Department with expanded congressional funding. This saw the creation of separate regional divisions within the department: Latin American Affairs, Far Eastern Affairs, Near Eastern Affairs, and Western European Affairs.
The department’s Bureau of Citizenship had an important duty during World War I – vetting every person who entered or left the U.S., with new branches opened in New York and San Francisco.
The Secretary of State then received one of the post’s most important powers: appointing diplomats abroad. This occurred as a product of the Rogers Act of 1924, merging the diplomatic and consular services into the Foreign Service. Merit-based promotions and notoriously difficult exams for new hires then became the department’s prerogative. After World War II, the department saw its biggest funding and staff increase yet. The United States’ victory in the war, followed by the decades-long Cold War, cemented the United States’ place as a global superpower. Domestic and overseas employees under the State Department ballooned from about 2,000 in 1940 to more than 13,000 by 1960.
In 1984, the department established its Rewards for Justice program, which offers money for information leading to the arrest of perpetrators, ringleaders, and financiers of terrorism.
The State Department Today
The 2000s saw a massive boom in the department’s capabilities, owing to technology, digitization, and social media engagement. By 2009, the Department of State was the fourth most-desired employer for undergraduates, as found by BusinessWeek.
The 2010s saw the department’s Twenty-First Century Statecraft, a program with the goal of “complementing traditional foreign policy tools with newly innovated and adapted instruments of statecraft that fully leverage the technologies of our interconnected world.”
Its core responsibilities include: protecting and assisting American citizens living or traveling abroad; promoting American commerce in the international marketplace; providing support for international activities of other American agencies – such as local or state governments; and informing the public of U.S. foreign policy and relations with other nations.
The U.S. maintains diplomatic relations with 180 countries, with 273 posts located around the world. The department has a staff of about 5,000 employees who analyze overseas reports, provide logistical support to international posts, oversee the budget, issue passports and travel warnings, and communicate with the American public.
Structure
The department is led by the Secretary of State, who serves as the president’s leisure and is confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Marco Rubio (R-FL) has served as Secretary of State since 2025 and was the only Cabinet member of the second Trump Administration to be confirmed unanimously.
Immediately reporting to the Secretary of State are the Deputy Secretary and Deputy Secretary for Management and Resources. Six Under Secretaries work thereafter, each overseeing various bureaus and tasked with specific policy goals of the administration. Most officials overseeing bureaus are Assistant Secretaries of State. These officials are all nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
Under the Barack Obama (D-IL) Administration, the State Department reported about 75,000 employees, including almost 14,000 foreign services officers, almost 50,000 locally employed staff, and over 10,000 domestic civil service employees.
Congressional oversight of the department typically falls on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations – one body each from the House and Senate – also affect funding and broader policy of the department.
The following secretaries oversee the respective bureaus.
Under Secretary for Political Affairs: African Affairs, East Asian and Pacific Affairs, European and Eurasian Affairs, International Organization Affairs, Near Eastern Affairs, South and Central Asian Affairs, Western Hemisphere Affairs.
Under Secretary for Management: Administration, Budget and Planning, Consular Affairs and Office of Children’s Issues, Diplomatic Security, Foreign Missions, Global Talent Management, Foreign Service, Diplomatic Technology, Medical Services, Overseas Buildings Operations, Diplomatic Reception Rooms, National Foreign Affairs Training Center, Management Strategy and Solutions.
Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment: Economic and Business Affairs, Energy Resources, Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Global Food Security, Global Partnerships, Office of Science and Technology Adviser, and Office of the Chief Economist.
Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs: Public Affairs, Spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, U.S. Diplomacy Center, International Information Programs, and Policy, Planning, and Resources for Public Diplomacy and Affairs.
Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Affairs: Arms Control and Nonproliferation, Political-Military Affairs, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, and Counterterrorism and Countering Violent Extremism.
Under Secretary for Foreign Assistance, Humanitarian Affairs, and Religious Freedom: Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor; Population, Refugees, and Migration; Global Health Security and Diplomacy; Global Criminal Justice; International Religious Freedom; and Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.
The State Department Headquarters has moved several times over the centuries. Since 1947, the Department has been based in the Harry S Truman Building. Since the State Department is located in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C., the department is commonly referred to as “Foggy Bottom.”
