U.S. Department of State

The United States Department of State is the federal executive department responsible for the country’s foreign affairs. Created in 1789, it is the oldest and one of the most influential departments of the federal government. The department is headed by the secretary of state, who is often referred to as the “chief diplomat” of the United States. As evidence of the importance of the role, six secretaries have gone on to become president, and others, including William H. Seward, George C. Marshall, Henry Kissinger, Madeleine Albright, and Hillary Clinton, played pivotal roles on the national and international stage. (See slide show for a further discussion of prominent secretaries of state.) The mission of the State Department includes advising the president, representing the United States abroad, and managing relationships with foreign governments and international organizations.

Early history of the State Department

The first secretary of state was Thomas Jefferson, who was less than thrilled to head the new department because it meant he had to forgo his role as minister to France, a title that would eventually become ambassador to France when the department retired the title minister in 1893. During its first 35 years, the State Department—which consisted of less than two dozen employees—helped the president navigate revolution in France, westward expansion precipitated by the Louisiana Purchase, and a number of international crises. It was led by Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, and John Quincy Adams—all of whom would go on to the presidency.

Despite prominent leadership, the State Department remained small during the first decades of its existence, growing from 8 employees at its inception to 23 by 1830 and 42 in 1860. The presence of Americans serving abroad in ministerial functions grew slowly as well, from two (Great Britain and France) in 1790 to 33 in 1860. But the number of consular roles, which were more closely tied to commercial activities, grew exponentially from 10 in 1790 to more than 250 in 1860. The role of the secretary of state and his department would grow significantly with the onset of the U.S. Civil War.

The Civil War and beyond

It might seem natural to think that with the country confronting a domestic war, the importance of foreign affairs would wane, but just the opposite proved to be true. In the midst of the Civil War, the job of the secretary of state was to keep countries that had been allied with the U.S. for the first nine decades of its existence from becoming allied with the Confederacy. That job fell to William H. Seward, whom Pres. Abraham Lincoln named to the role in March 1861. Seward was a key and trusted adviser to Lincoln, but his proposal that the U.S. go to war with countries that continued to trade with the Confederacy was overruled by the president. Seward then worked to ensure neutrality among European nations, particularly after the discovery that two Confederate warships had been produced on British soil. In 1867 Seward negotiated with Russia to buy Alaska for $7.2 million (about $162 million in 2026). Initially it was referred to as “Seward’s Folly,” but in 1959 Alaska became the 49th state.

For the rest of the 19th century, many of the U.S.’s primary policy concerns were domestic (think Reconstruction). Yet, the State Department continued to mature with the 1893 declaration changing the title of diplomatic envoys assigned to countries from minister to ambassador. In that way and others, the department was responsible for ensuring that U.S. interests were represented and protected abroad. Increasingly, being a member of the foreign service was seen as a key role in the government and not one aligned to the party in power.

20th century and a global power

As the 20th century dawned, so did the United States’ emergence as a global power—whether it was ready for that or not. On the heels of the Spanish-American War in 1898 and with the arrival of Theodore Roosevelt at the White House in 1901, America’s role in the international community became more pronounced. During this time the U.S. built the Panama Canal, engineered peace between Russia and Japan, and expanded U.S. relations with China. And yet at the breakout of World War I in 1914, the U.S. lacked a broad strategic view of the world as well as a theory of what role the U.S. would play in it. Pres. Woodrow Wilson’s failed bid for the U.S. to be part of the League of Nations was the first attempt at such a vision.

Despite that failure, the U.S.’s growing position as a superpower was reflected in the growth of the State Department, which saw its budget grow nearly tenfold from $141,000 in 1900 to $1.4 million in 1920 and then double to $2.8 million in 1940. The Rogers Act of 1924 helped professionalize foreign service. Starting with World War I, the department also hired women and Black Americans for the first time, although largely in low-level positions. (Pres. Harry Truman would appoint both the first woman and the first Black ambassador in 1949, naming Edward Dudley as ambassador to Liberia and Eugenie Anderson as ambassador to Denmark.)

While much of the diplomacy and negotiations involved in World War II were handled by Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, Cordell Hull served as his secretary of state from 1933 to 1944, making him the longest-serving head of the State Department. He was a champion of the United Nations, and his role in its creation earned him the 1945 Nobel Peace Prize. Hull was followed in the role by George C. Marshall, who, while serving for only two years, managed to be the architect of one of the most lasting U.S. foreign policies: the Marshall Plan. Lauded as a humanitarian project to help Europe recover economically from the devastation of World War II, it also served as a bulwark to limit Soviet expansionism. Marshall was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953.

Much of the work of the State Department in the second half of the 20th century centered on Cold War diplomacy, as the United States and the Soviet Union emerged from World War II as global superpowers. But an increasingly complex world, particularly in parts of the Middle East, created an era of “shuttle diplomacy,” in which Secretary of State Henry Kissinger ping-ponged among combatant countries to try to reach peace agreements. Even in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, global terrorism, in which the threats came not from nation-states but from often-rogue actors, further complicated the role of the State Department in U.S. foreign policy.

(Read Madeleine Albright’s essay for Britannica on democracy.)

21st century

One of the defining moments of the 21st century for U.S. international relations occurred on September 11, 2001, when al-Qaeda terrorists attacked the United States by hijacking four planes, two of which crashed into the World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon complex, and a fourth in a Pennsylvania field. The response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks colored much of what the State Department did during the first two decades of the century, including the guidance the department offered Pres. George W. Bush on an invasion of Iraq.

The ongoing “war on terror” contributed to a dark day for the State Department, when, during a raid on the U.S. diplomatic offices in Benghazi, Libya, four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, were killed by al-Qaeda-related terrorists. The attack ignited a firestorm in the United States and led to an overhaul of security procedures at U.S. embassies. During both administrations of Pres. Donald Trump, his three secretaries of state—Rex Tillerson, Mike Pompeo, and Marco Rubio—have had to navigate foreign policy positions, including regarding the Russia-Ukraine War, that have put the U.S. on opposing sides from its long-term NATO allies.

Notable controversies

The State Department has been at the center of controversies—both foreign and domestic—including:

• 1953 Iran Coup: The CIA—and State Department—played a key role in the overthrow of the Iranian prime minister, Mohammad Mosaddegh, and return to power of a monarchy that was friendly to the West, in the form of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.
• Red Scare: U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s ruthless campaign to root out perceived communists in the U.S. government particularly targeted members of the State Department in the Red Scare; at one point McCarthy said he had a list of 205 known communists employed at the Department of State. Adjacent to the Red Scare was the Lavender Scare, which targeted gay members of the State Department, specifically, and the federal government as a whole.
• Pentagon Papers: In 1971 the publication of the Pentagon Papers revealed that multiple presidential administrations had misled the American public about the Vietnam War. The leaked documents included information involving diplomatic decision-making and communications connected to the Department of State. The controversy intensified debates about government secrecy and public accountability.
• Weapons of mass destruction: In the months leading up to the invasion of Iraq, Secretary of State Colin Powell presented evidence before the United Nations Security Council, asserting that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein possessed chemical and biological weapons programs and was attempting to develop nuclear capabilities. Following the U.S.-led invasion, however, extensive searches failed to uncover stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). The absence of confirmed WMDs led to widespread criticism of both the intelligence community and the diplomatic case made by the State Department.
• The Benghazi attack: The 2012 attack on U.S. diplomatic facilities in Benghazi, Libya, led to investigations into embassy security and crisis management practices. The Department of State’s Accountability Review Board later issued recommendations for improving diplomatic security, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton faced congressional hearings on the security lapses.