STATE, DEPARTMENT OF. One of the nine executive departments of the Government of the United States, presided over by a Secretary who is a member of the Cabinet and first in the line of succession to the Presidency after the Vice-Presi dent. In rank the Department of State stands first among the other departments and is also the oldest in point of origin. It was in fact the logical successor of the old Department of For eign Affairs created in 1781 and presided over first by Robert R. Livingston and afterwards by John Jay. The Department of State is the organ of coMmunication between the Government of the United States and all foreign governments, as well as with the Governors of the individual States. The Secretary of State conducts all such correspondence; 'haP, charge of the nego tiation of all treaties and conventions; he preserves the originals of all treaties, public documents, and correspondence with foreign gov ernments as well as of the laws of the United States; he publishes all statutes and resolutions of Congress and proclamations of the President ; he is the custodian of the great seal which is affixed to all commissions of appointment re quiring the consent of the Senate, proclamations, warrants for extradition, pardons, etc., ema nating from the President : he issues and keeps a record of passports granted to American citizens traveling abroad; issues warrants for the extra dition of criminals to be delivered to foreign governments; presents foreign ministers to the President; etc. He makes an annual report of the conduct of foreign affairs for the year, pub lishes the consular reports and the 'foreign re lations' of the United States, and performs such other duties relative to the conduct of foreign affairs as the President may direct.
To aid the Secretary of State, an Assistant Secretary was provided for in 1853; in 1866 a second assistant was created, and in 1874 a third, each charged with the supervision of a particu lar branch of the department. The business of the department is distributed among seven bureaus, namely, a diplomatic bureau, a consular bureau, a bureau of indexes and archives, a bureau of accounts, a bureau of rolls and li brary, a bureau of foreign commerce, created in 1897 (formerly the bureau of statistics), and a bureau of appointments, created in 1898. The
name of each bureau indicates broadly the nature of the business assigned to it. Besides the Sec retary and the three assistant secretaries there is a solicitor, detailed from the Department of Justice, an assistant solicitor, created in 1900, seven chiefs of bureaus, two translators, sixty three clerks, and a number of messengers, making a total force of about one hundred employees.
The following is a list of the Secretaries of State from the organization of the department in 1789 to the present, with the dates of their appointment: Thomas Jefferson, September, 1789; Edmund Randolph, January, 1794; Tim othy Pickering, December, 1795: John Marshall, May, 1800; James Madison, March, 1801: Robert Smith, March, 1809; James Monroe. April, 1811; John Q. Adams, March, 1817; Henry Clay, March, 1825; Martin Van Buren, March. 1829; Edward Livingston, May. 1831 ; Louis McLane, May, 1S33; John Forsyth, June, 1834; Daniel Webster. March. 1841; Hugh S. Legar6. May, 1843; Abel P. Upshur, July, 1843; John Nelson, February, 1844: John C. Calhoun. March, 1844; James Buchanan, March, 1845; John 31. Clay ton, March, 1849; Daniel Webster, July, 1850; Edward Everett, November, 1852; William L. Marcy, March, 1853 ; Lewis Cass, March, 1857; Jeremiah S. Black, December, 1800; William H. Sewa To, 31arch, 1801 : Eli hu B. Washburne. Morels, 1869; Hamilton Fish, March, 1869: William M. Evarts, March, 1877; James G. Blaine, March, 1881; Frederick T. Frelinghuyscn, December, 1881; Thomas F. Bayard, March, 1885; James G. Blaine, March, 1889; John W. Foster, June, 1892; Walter Q. Gresham, March, 1893; Richard Olney, June, 1805; John Sherman, March, 1897; William H. Day, April ISOS: John Hay, Septem ber, 1898. Consult: History of the Department of State (Washington, 1901) ; Schuyler, Ameri can Diplomacy (New York, 1886).