The United States Department of State (or State Department) is a Cabinet-level agency of the United States government that deals with foreign affairs. The DoS falls under the Secretary of State's administration. Their headquarters is located in the Harry S Truman Building in Washington, DC.
Its nickname is Foggy Bottom, a reference to its neighborhood in Washington, with a hint of muddled foggyness.
History
- See also: American foreign policy
Shortly after the Constitution was created it became clear that the President would need an executive department to support his foreign affairs.
On July 21, 1789 the House of Representatives and Senate established a Department of Foreign Affairs. On July 27 of that year, President George Washington signed the legislation into law making the Department of Foreign Affairs the first federal agency. Later that year the name was changed to the present name of Department of State.
Executive control
The history of American foreign policy shows periods of presidential control and periods where the State Department shaped policy.
The White House ran policy under Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909), Woodrow Wilson (1913–21), Franklin Roosevelt (1933–45),[1] Lyndon Johnson (1963–69), Richard Nixon (1969-74), and Ronald Reagan (1981–89).
The State Department was in charge during the presidencies of Warren Harding (1921–23), Calvin Coolidge (1923–29), Herbert Hoover (1929–33), Harry Truman (1945-53)[2] and Dwight Eisenhower (1953–61).
Modern State Department
Sundance of theconservativetreehouse describes the modern State Department as such:
| "The modern U.S. State Dept is an independent, bureaucratic, and massive foreign policy institution that does not accept any oversight. They are able to accomplish their independent position by partnering with intelligence agencies. The Dept of State use the U.S. Intelligence Branch as a weapon against any individual or entity who would attempt oversight.
When a Secretary of State is appointed to the role as head of the agency, the arbitrary nature of the institution around them is accepted. In the modern political dynamic, the Secretary of State position is customarily given to a key political figure by the President as a payback or compensation for support. The SoS then uses their position for leisure, personal graft, a life of indulgence and a position to repay the interests of their tribe. During any Democrat term in office; and in addition to funding the family of the President who appointed them; as long as the Secretary of State appropriately and adequately funds the members, families and friends of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, then they are perceived to be doing their job correctly. The SoS keeps that institutional mechanism working, and in return the unilateral operations of the department are supported."[3] |
During the Rape of Afghanistan, with numerous public pronouncements from the Biden White House, State Department, Pentagon, and Kabul Embassy to contact the State Department for instructions and documents to exit Afghanistan, the State Department's email inbox overflowed and nobody bothered to respond to frantic citizens and refugees wanting the flee the Taliban terror.[4]
Past Responsibilities
- Management of the United States Mint - now under the Department of the Treasury
- Keeper of the Great Seal of the United States - now directly under the Secretary of State
- Taking census - now under the Department of Commerce
Current Responsibilities
The Department of State is supposed to develop and implement the President's foreign policy around the world. The DoS also supports other U.S. Government agencies that are active in foreign affairs, such as the U.S. Department of Commerce, the U.S. Agency for International Development and the intelligence community.
The purpose of the Department of State should include:
- Protecting and assisting U.S. citizens living or traveling abroad
- Assisting U.S. business in the international marketplace
- Coordinating and supporting U.S. agencies in the international activities and official overseas visits.
- Keeping the public informed about U.S. foreign policy
Further reading
- Dorman, Shawn. Inside a U.S. Embassy: How the Foreign Service Works for America (2nd ed. 2005) excerpt and text search
- Findling, John E. ed. Dictionary of American Diplomatic History 2nd ed. 1989. 700pp; 1200 short articles.
- Flanders, Stephen A, and Carl N. Flanders. Dictionary of American Foreign Affairs (1993) 835 pp, short articles
- Herring, George C. From Colony to Superpower: U.S. Foreign Relations Since 1776 (Oxford History of the United States) (2008), 1056pp; the latest survey. excerpt and text search
- Plischke, Elmer. U.S. Department of State: A Reference History (1999) online edition, a comprehensive history to the present
- Plischke, Elmer. United States diplomats and their missions: A profile of American diplomatic emissaries since 1778 (1975)
References
- ↑ During the war Roosevelt worked through Harry Hopkins. In 1939, Secretary Cordell Hull complained, "Roosevelt …doesn't consult me or confide in me and I have to feel my way in the dark." Hull Memoirs of Cordell Hull, (1948), pg. 1227.
- ↑ Dean Acheson was the main policy maker.
- ↑ https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2021/08/22/sunday-talks-secretary-of-state-anthony-blinken-gets-afghanistan-crisis-assist-from-chris-wallace/
- ↑ https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/sorry-the-u-s-state-departments-afghan-evacuation-e-mailbox-is-full/
External links
- U.S. State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research
- U.S. State Department homepage