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, equivalent to foreign ministries in other countries.
It is administered by the United States Secretary of State.
It is headquartered in the Harry
S Truman Building a few blocks from the White House in the Foggy
Bottom neighborhood of Washington, DC. The headquarters house
(among other things) the State Department Operations Center and
the Nuclear Risk Reduction Center.
The U.S. Constitution, drafted in
Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 and ratified by the states
the following year, gave the President responsibility for the
conduct of the nation's foreign relations. It soon became clear,
however, that an executive branch 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.
On September 29, 1789, President
Washington appointed Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, then Minister
to
France, to be the first United States Secretary of State.
The State Department became the
center of controversy during McCarthyism in the 1950's, as a
number of government officials were interrogated and sometimes
blacklisted for alleged spy activity for the Soviet Union.
Recent declassified Soviet documents have confirmed the
existence of spies within the department, though the
anti-communist "witch hunt" also caused many innocent
individuals to suffer the loss of their careers and reputations.
On February 1, 2000, the new
Bureau of Verification, Compliance, and Implementation replaced
the now extinct Bureau of Verification and Compliance. On
September 13, 2005, a new bureau, the Bureau of International
Security and Nonproliferation, was created when the Bureau of
Arms Control and the Bureau of Nonproliferation were merged
together. The then-current head of the Bureau of Arms Control,
Stephen G. Rademaker, was made head of the new bureau.
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
adviser, 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.
-
Provides 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 workforce of Civil Service and Foreign
Service employees. Overseas, members of the Foreign Service,
including officers, specialists and other diplomatic personnel
represent America; analyze and report on political, economic,
and social trends in the host country; and respond to the needs
of American citizens abroad. The U.S. maintains diplomatic
relations with about 180 countries and also 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 domestic
employees work alongside members of the Diplomatic Service
compiling and analyzing reports from overseas, providing
logistical support to posts, consulting with and keeping the
Congress informed about foreign policy initiatives and policies,
communicating with the American public, formulating and
overseeing the budget, issuing passports and travel warnings,
and more.
Information provided by Wikipedia 
