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| Established: | July 27, 1789 |
| Renamed: | September 15, 1789 |
| Secretary: | Colin Powell |
| Deputy Secretary: | Richard L. Armitage |
| Budget: | $9.96 billion (2004) |
| Employees: | 30,266 (2004) |
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 Operation Center and the Nuclear Risk Reduction Center.
The U.S. Constitution, drafted in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787Events In Britain, Thomas Clarkson and Granville Sharp formed the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade with support from John Wesley, Josiah Wedgwood and others. January 11 William Herschel discovers Titania and Oberon, two moons of Uranus. Februa and ratified by the states the following year, gave the PresidentThe President of the United States is the head of state of the United States. Under the U. Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and commander in chief of the armed forces. Because of the superpower status of th 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 RepresentativesThe House of Representatives is the larger of two houses that make up the United States Congress, the other being the United States Senate. Members Members of the House are elected for a term of two years. Elections alternately coincide with the president and SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the United States Congress, smaller than the U. House of Representatives. Together, they compose the legislative branch of the United States government. Seal of the Senate Each state elects two senators throu approved legislation to establish a Department of Foreign Affairs on July 21July 21 is the 202nd day (203rd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 163 days remaining. Events 1298 Battle of Falkirk (1298): England's Edward Longshank defeats William Wallace's Scottish rebels 1568 Battle of Jemmingen: Fernando Al, 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.