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.
George Washington signed a congressional bill into law on July 27, 1789 (1 Stat. 28), creating an executive Department of Foreign Affairs headed by a Secretary of Foreign Affairs, whose position had existed since 1781 under the Articles of Confederation. 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. Most domestic functions have been transferred to other agencies. Those that remain in the Department are: storage and use of the Great Seal, performance of protocol functions for the White House, drafting of certain Presidential proclamations, and replies to public 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. ministers or consuls abroad, and to conduct negotiations with foreign representatives. The Secretary has also served as principal adviser to the President in the determination and execution 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, 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 the entire United States Presidential line of succession).
Secretaries of State
| Name |
Term of Office |
President(s) served under |
|---|
| Thomas Jefferson |
March 22, 1790 - December 31, 1793 |
George Washington |
| Edmund Randolph |
January 2, 1794 - August 20, 1795 |
George Washington |
| Timothy Pickering |
December 10, 1795 - May 12, 1800 |
George Washington, John Adams |
| John Marshall |
June 6, 1800 - February 4, 1801 |
John Adams |
| James Madison |
May 2, 1801 - March 3, 1809 |
Thomas Jefferson |
| Robert Smith |
March 6, 1809 - April 1, 1811 |
James Madison |
| James Monroe |
April 6, 1811 - September 30, 1814
February 28, 1815 - March 3, 1817 |
James Madison |
| John Quincy Adams |
September 22, 1817 - March 3, 1825 |
James Monroe |
| Henry Clay |
March 7, 1825 - March 3, 1829 |
John Quincy Adams |
| Martin Van Buren |
March 28, 1829 - March 23, 1831 |
Andrew Jackson |
| Edward Livingston |
May 24, 1831 - May 29, 1833 |
Andrew Jackson |
| Louis McLane |
May 29, 1833 - June 30, 1834 |
Andrew Jackson |
| John Forsyth |
July 1, 1834 - March 3, 1841 |
Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren |
| Daniel Webster |
March 6, 1841 - May 8, 1843 |
William Henry Harrison, John Tyler |
| Abel P. Upshur |
July 24, 1843 - February 28, 1844 |
John Tyler |
| John C. Calhoun |
April 1, 1844 - March 10, 1845 |
John Tyler, James K. Polk |
| James Buchanan |
March 10, 1845 - March 7, 1849 |
James K. Polk, Zachary Taylor |
| John Clayton |
March 8, 1849 - July 22, 1850 |
Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore |
| Daniel Webster |
July 23, 1850 - October 24, 1852 |
Millard Fillmore |
| Edward Everett |
November 6, 1852 - March 3, 1853 |
Millard Fillmore |
| William L. Marcy |
March 8, 1853 - March 6, 1857 |
Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan |
| Lewis Cass |
March 6, 1857 - December 14, 1860 |
James Buchanan |
| Jeremiah S. Black |
December 17, 1860 - March 5, 1861 |
James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln |
| William H. Seward |
March 6, 1861 - March 4, 1869 |
Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson |
| Elihu P. Washburne |
March 5, 1869 - March 16, 1869 |
Ulysses S. Grant |
| Hamilton Fish |
March 17, 1869 - March 12, 1877 |
Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes |
| William M. Evarts |
March 12, 1877 - March 7, 1881 |
Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield |
| James G. Blaine |
March 7, 1881 - December 19, 1881 |
James Garfield, Chester A. Arthur |
| Frederick T. Frelinghuysen |
December 19, 1881 - March 6, 1885 |
Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland |
| Thomas F. Bayard |
March 7, 1885 - March 6, 1889 |
Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison |
| James G. Blaine |
March 7, 1889 - June 4, 1892 |
Benjamin Harrison |
| John W. Foster |
June 29, 1892 - February 23, 1893 |
Benjamin Harrison |
| Walter Q. Gresham |
March 7, 1893 - May 28, 1895 |
Grover Cleveland |
| Richard Olney |
June 10, 1895 - March 5, 1897 |
Grover Cleveland, William McKinley |
| John Sherman |
March 6, 1897 - April 27, 1898 |
William McKinley |
| William R. Day |
April 28, 1898 - September 16, 1898 |
William McKinley |
| John Hay |
September 30, 1898 - July 1, 1905 |
William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt |
| Elihu Root |
July 19, 1905 - January 27, 1909 |
Theodore Roosevelt |
| Robert Bacon |
January 27, 1909 - March 5, 1909 |
Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft |
| Philander C. Knox |
March 6, 1909 - March 5, 1913 |
William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wilson |
| William Jennings Bryan |
March 5, 1913 - June 9, 1915 |
Woodrow Wilson |
| Robert Lansing |
June 24, 1915 - February 13, 1920 |
Woodrow Wilson |
| Bainbridge Colby |
March 23, 1920 - March 4, 1921 |
Woodrow Wilson |
| Charles Evans Hughes |
March 5, 1921 - March 4, 1925 |
Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge |
| Frank B. Kellogg |
March 5, 1925 - March 28, 1929 |
Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover |
| Henry L. Stimson |
March 28, 1929 - March 4, 1933 |
Herbert Hoover |
| Cordell Hull |
March 4, 1933 - November 30, 1944 |
Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| Edward Stettinius Jr |
December 1, 1944 - June 27, 1945 |
Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman |
| James F. Byrnes |
July 3, 1945 - January 21, 1947 |
Harry S. Truman |
| George C. Marshall |
January 21, 1947 - January 20, 1949 |
Harry S. Truman |
| Dean Acheson |
January 21, 1949 - January 20, 1953 |
Harry S. Truman |
| John Foster Dulles |
January 21, 1953 - April 22, 1959 |
Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| Christian Herter |
April 22, 1959 - January 20, 1961 |
Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| Dean Rusk |
January 21, 1961 - January 20, 1969 |
John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson |
| William P. Rogers |
January 22, 1969 - September 3, 1973 |
Richard M. Nixon |
| Henry A. Kissinger |
September 22, 1973 - January 20, 1977 |
Richard M. Nixon, Gerald R. Ford |
| Cyrus Vance |
January 23, 1977 - April 28, 1980 |
Jimmy Carter |
| Edmund S. Muskie |
May 8, 1980 - January 18, 1981 |
Jimmy Carter |
| Alexander M. Haig, Jr |
January 22, 1981 - July 5, 1982 |
Ronald Reagan |
| George P. Shultz |
July 16, 1982 - January 20, 1989 |
Ronald Reagan |
James Baker |
January 25, 1989 - August 23, 1992 |
George H. W. Bush |
Lawrence Eagleburger |
December 8, 1992 - January 19, 1993 |
George H. W. Bush |
Warren Christopher |
January 20, 1993 - January 17, 1997 |
Bill Clinton |
Madeleine Albright |
January 23, 1997 - January 19, 2001 |
Bill Clinton |
Colin Powell |
January 20, 2001 - present |
George W. Bush |
If the Secretary resigns, he is replaced by the United States Deputy Secretary of State who then becomes acting Secretary of State until the President and Congress approve a formal replacement.
Acting Secretaries of State
| Name |
Year |
Acted from |
|---|
| John Jay |
1790 |
March 4-22 |
| Timothy Pickering |
1795 |
August 20 to December 9 |
|
| Charles Lee |
1800 |
May 13 to June 5 |
| John Marshall |
1801 |
February 4 to March 4 |
| Levi Lincoln |
1801 |
March 5 to May 1 |
| John Graham |
1817 |
March 4-9 |
| Richard Rush |
1817 |
March 10 to September 22 |
| Daniel Brent |
1825 |
March 4-7 |
| James A. Hamilton |
1829 |
March 4-27 |
| Jacob L. Martin |
1841 |
March 4-5 |
| Hugh S.Legaré |
1843 |
May 9 to June 20 |
| William S. Derrick |
1843 |
June 21-23 |
| Abel P. Upshur |
1843 |
June 24 to July 23 |
| John Nelson |
1844 |
February 29 to March 31, |
| Charles M. Conrad |
1852 |
October 25 to November 5 |
| William Hunter |
1853, 1860 |
March 4-7, December 15-16 |
| William F. Wharton |
1892, 1893 |
June 4-29, February 24 to March 6 |
| Edwin F. Uhl |
1895 |
May 28 to June 9 |
| Alvey A. Adee |
1898 |
September 17-29 |
| Francis B. Loomis |
1905 |
July 1-18 |
| Robert Lansing |
1915 |
June 9-23 |
| Frank L. Polk |
1920 |
February 14 to March 12 |
| Joseph C. Crew |
1945 |
June 28 to July 3 |
| H. Freeman Matthews |
1953 |
January 20-21 |
| Livingston T. Merchant |
1961 |
January 20-21 |
| Charles E. Bohlen |
1969 |
January 20-22 |
| Kenneth Rush |
1973 |
September 3-22 |
| Philip C. Habib |
1977 |
January 20-23 |
| Warren Christopher |
1980, 1980 |
April 28 to May 2, May 4-8 |
| David Newsom |
1980 |
May 2-3, May 3-4 |
| Richard N. Cooper |
1980 |
May 3 |
| Walter J. Stoessel, Jr |
1982 |
July 5-16 |
| Michael H. Armacost |
1989 |
January 20-25 |
| Lawrence Eagleburger |
1992 |
August 23, to December 8 |
| Arnold Lee Kantor |
1993 |
January 20 |
| Frank G. Wisner |
1993 |
January 20 |
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