United States Secretary of State

The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet. The current Secretary of State is Condoleezza Rice.

History

On January 10, 1781, the Second Continental Congress created the office of Secretary of Foreign Affairs to head a "Department of Foreign Affairs".

On July 27, 1789, George Washington signed a congressional bill into law reauthorizing an executive Department of Foreign Affairs headed by a Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Congress then passed another law giving certain additional domestic responsibilities to the new Department and changing its name to the Department of State and the name of head of the department to the Secretary of State, and Washington approved this act on September 15, 1789. The new domestic duties assigned to the newly renamed department were receipt, publication, distribution, and preservation of laws of the United States, custody of the Great Seal of the United States, authentication of copies and preparation of commissions of executive branch appointments, and finally custody of the books, papers, and records of the Continental Congress including the Constitution itself and the Declaration of Independence.

The title of Secretary of State is British in origin. At the time of American independence, "Secretary of State" was a title given to senior members of the King's cabinet (e.g., "Secretary of State in Charge of Colonies"). The position of "Secretary of State of the United States" was thus intended to be the most general and important office in the U.S. government, after the Presidency.

Particularly in the early years of the republic, the Post was regarded as a natural stepping-stone to the Presidency. Secretaries of State who later occupied the White House included Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren and James Buchanan. Secretaries who unsuccessfully ran for President (either before or after their service at the State Department) were Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, William H. Seward, James G. Blaine, William Jennings Bryan, Charles Evans Hughes, and Edmund Muskie.

The current Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, has been mentioned as a Presidential or Vice Presidential prospect, although she has denied any such ambition.

Functions

Most of the non-original domestic functions of the Department of State have been transferred to other agencies. Those that remain in the Department are: storage and use of the Great Seal of the United States, performance of protocol functions for the White House, drafting of certain proclamations, non formally accepting notice of the president's resignation, and replies to inquiries. In addition, the Secretary performs such duties as the President is required, in accordance with the United States Constitution, relating to correspondence, commission, or instructions to U.S. or consuls abroad, and to conduct negotiations with foreign representatives. The Secretary has also served as principal adviser to the President in the determination of U.S. foreign policy and in recent decades has become responsible for overall direction, coordination, and supervision of interdepartmental activities of the U.S. Government overseas, all of them except for certain military activities.

As the highest-ranking Cabinet member, the Secretary of State is fourth in line to succeed the Presidency, after the Vice President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and President pro tempore of the Senate. (See United States presidential line of succession.)

In addition, Federal law provides that resignation from the Presidency is effected only by written communication from the President to the Secretary of State. This has only occurred once, when President Richard Nixon resigned in August 1974 via a letter to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

Oath of Office

The Oath of Office for the Vice President, Secretary of State, and other federal employees is as follows:

''"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God."

Lists of Secretaries of State

February 28, 1815–March 3, 1817

No.	Name	State of Residency	Term of Office	President(s) served under
1	Thomas Jefferson	Virginia	September 26, 1789–December 31, 1793	George Washington
2	Edmund Randolph	Virginia	January 2, 1794–August 20, 1795	George Washington
3	Timothy Pickering	Massachusetts	December 10, 1795–May 12, 1800	George Washington, John Adams
4	John Marshall	Virginia	June 13, 1800–February 4, 1801	John Adams
5	James Madison	Virginia	May 2, 1801–March 3, 1809	Thomas Jefferson
6	Robert Smith	Maryland	March 6, 1809–April 1, 1811	James Madison
7	James Monroe	Virginia	April 2, 1811–September 30, 1814	James Madison
8	John Quincy Adams	Massachusetts	March 5, 1817–March 3, 1825	James Monroe
9	Henry Clay	Kentucky	March 7, 1825–March 3, 1829	John Quincy Adams
10	Martin Van Buren	New York	March 28, 1829–May 23, 1831	Andrew Jackson
11	Edward Livingston	Louisiana	May 24, 1831–May 29, 1833	Andrew Jackson
12	Louis McLane	Delaware	May 29, 1833–June 30, 1834	Andrew Jackson
13	John Forsyth	Georgia	July 1, 1834–March 3, 1841	Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren
14	Daniel Webster	Massachusetts	March 6, 1841–May 8, 1843	William Harrison, John Tyler
15	Abel P. Upshur	Virginia	July 24, 1843–February 28, 1844	John Tyler
16	John C. Calhoun	South Carolina	April 1, 1844–March 10, 1845	John Tyler
17	James Buchanan	Pennsylvania	March 10, 1845–March 7, 1849	James Polk
18	John M. Clayton	Delaware	March 8, 1849–July 22, 1850	Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore
19	Daniel Webster	Massachusetts	July 23, 1850–October 24, 1852	Millard Fillmore
20	Edward Everett	Massachusetts	November 6, 1852–March 3, 1853	Millard Fillmore
21	William L. Marcy	New York	March 7, 1853–March 6, 1857	Franklin Pierce
22	Lewis Cass	Michigan	March 6, 1857–December 14, 1860	James Buchanan
23	Jeremiah S. Black	Pennsylvania	December 17, 1860–March 5, 1861	James Buchanan
24	William H. Seward	New York	March 5, 1861–March 4, 1869	Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson
25	Elihu B. Washburne	Illinois	March 5, 1869–March 16, 1869	Ulysses Grant
26	Hamilton Fish	New York	March 17, 1869–March 12, 1877	Ulysses Grant
27	William M. Evarts	New York	March 12, 1877–March 7, 1881	Rutherford Hayes
28	James G. Blaine	Maine	March 7, 1881–December 19, 1881	James Garfield, Chester A. Arthur
29	Frederick T. Frelinghuysen	New Jersey	December 19, 1881–March 6, 1885	Chester Arthur
30	Thomas F. Bayard, Sr.	Delaware	March 7, 1885–March 6, 1889	Grover Cleveland
31	James G. Blaine	Maine	March 7, 1889–June 4, 1892	Benjamin Harrison
32	John W. Foster	Indiana	June 29, 1892–February 23, 1893	Benjamin Harrison
33	Walter Q. Gresham	Illinois	March 7, 1893–May 28, 1895	Grover Cleveland
34	Richard Olney	Massachusetts	June 10, 1895–March 5, 1897	Grover Cleveland
35	John Sherman	Ohio	March 6, 1897–April 27, 1898	William McKinley
36	William R. Day	Ohio	April 28, 1898–September 16, 1898	William McKinley
37	John Hay	District of Columbia	September 30, 1898–July 1, 1905	William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt
38	Elihu Root	New York	July 19, 1905–January 27, 1909	Theodore Roosevelt
39	Robert Bacon	New York	January 27, 1909–March 5, 1909	Theodore Roosevelt
40	Philander C. Knox	Pennsylvania	March 6, 1909–March 5, 1913	William Taft
41	William Jennings Bryan	Nebraska	March 5, 1913–June 9, 1915	Woodrow Wilson
42	Robert Lansing	New York	June 24, 1915–February 13, 1920	Woodrow Wilson
43	Bainbridge Colby	New York	March 23, 1920–March 4, 1921	Woodrow Wilson
44	Charles Evans Hughes	New York	March 5, 1921–March 4, 1925	Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge
45	Frank B. Kellogg	Minnesota	March 5, 1925–March 28, 1929	Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover
46	Henry L. Stimson	New York	March 28, 1929–March 4, 1933	Herbert Hoover
47	Cordell Hull	Tennessee	March 4, 1933–November 30, 1944	Franklin Roosevelt
48	Edward Stettinius, Jr.	Virginia	December 1, 1944–June 27, 1945	Franklin Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman
49	James F. Byrnes	South Carolina	July 3, 1945–January 21, 1947	Harry Truman
50	George Marshall	Pennsylvania	January 21, 1947–January 20, 1949	Harry Truman
51	Dean Acheson	Maryland	January 21, 1949–January 20, 1953	Harry Truman
52	John Foster Dulles	New York	January 21, 1953–April 22, 1959	Dwight Eisenhower
53	Christian Herter	Massachusetts	April 22, 1959–January 20, 1961	Dwight Eisenhower
54	Dean Rusk	New York	January 21, 1961–January 20, 1969	John Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson
55	William P. Rogers	Maryland	January 22, 1969–September 3, 1973	Richard Nixon
56	Henry Kissinger	District of Columbia	September 22, 1973–January 20, 1977	Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford
57	Cyrus Vance	New York	January 23, 1977–April 28, 1980	Jimmy Carter
58	Edmund Muskie	Maine	May 8, 1980–January 18, 1981	Jimmy Carter
59	Alexander Haig	Connecticut	January 22, 1981–July 5, 1982	Ronald Reagan
60	George P. Shultz	California	July 16, 1982–January 20, 1989	Ronald Reagan
61	James Baker	Texas	January 25, 1989–August 23, 1992	George H. W. Bush
62	Lawrence Eagleburger	Florida	December 8, 1992–January 19, 1993	George H. W. Bush
63	Warren Christopher	California	January 20, 1993–January 17, 1997	Bill Clinton
64	Madeleine Albright	District of Columbia	January 23, 1997–January 19, 2001	Bill Clinton
65	Colin Powell	Virginia	January 20, 2001–January 26, 2005	George W. Bush
66	Condoleezza Rice	California	January 26, 2005–present	George W. Bush

In addition to the President listed, this Secretary of State served for a brief period of time (eight days or less) under that President's successor until a replacement could be named and confirmed.

List of Acting Secretaries of State

When there is a vacancy as Secretary, the United States Deputy Secretary of State serves as Acting Secretary of State until the President nominates and the United States Senate confirms a new Secretary.

Acting Secretaries of State	Term of Service
John Jay	March 4, 1790–March 22, 1790
Timothy Pickering	August 20, 1795–December 9, 1795
Charles Lee	May 13, 1800–June 5, 1800
John Marshall	February 4, 1801–March 4, 1801
Levi Lincoln, Sr.	March 5, 1801–May 1, 1801
John Graham	March 4, 1817–March 9, 1817
Richard Rush	March 10, 1817–September 22, 1817
Daniel Brent	March 4, 1825–March 7, 1825
James A. Hamilton	March 4, 1829–March 27, 1829
Jacob L. Martin	March 4, 1841–March 5, 1841
Hugh S. Legaré	May 9, 1843–June 20, 1843
William S. Derrick	June 21, 1843–June 23, 1843
Abel P. Upshur	June 24, 1843–July 23, 1843
John Nelson (lawyer)	February 29, 1844–March 31, 1844
Charles M. Conrad	October 25, 1852–November 5, 1852
William Hunter	March 4, 1853–March 7, 1853
William Hunter	December 15, 1860–December 16, 1860
William F. Wharton	June 4, 1892–June 29, 1892
William F. Wharton	February 24, 1893–March 6, 1893
Edwin F. Uhl	May 28, 1895–June 9, 1895
Alvey A. Adee	September 17, 1898–September 29, 1898
Francis B. Loomis	July 1, 1905–July 18, 1905
Robert Lansing	June 9, 1915–June 23, 1915
Frank L. Polk	February 14, 1920–March 12, 1920
Joseph C. Grew	June 28, 1945–July 3, 1945
H. Freeman Matthews	January 20, 1953–January 21, 1953
Livingston T. Merchant	January 20, 1961–January 21, 1961
Charles E. Bohlen	January 20, 1969–January 22, 1969
Kenneth Rush	September 3, 1973–September 22, 1973
Philip C. Habib	January 20, 1977–January 23, 1977
Warren Christopher	April 28, 1980–May 2, 1980
David Newsom	May 2, 1980–May 3, 1980
Richard N. Cooper	May 3, 1980
David Newsom	May 3, 1980–May 4, 1980
Warren Christopher	May 4, 1980–May 8, 1980
Walter J. Stoessel, Jr.	July 5, 1982–July 16, 1982
Michael H. Armacost	January 20, 1989–January 25, 1989
Lawrence Eagleburger	August 23, 1992–December 8, 1992
Arnold Lee Kanter	January 20, 1993
Frank G. Wisner	January 20, 1993

References