United States Department of State
executive department of the U.S. federal government
The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other countries, its primary duties are advising the U.S. president on international relations, administering diplomatic missions, negotiating international treaties and agreements, protecting citizens abroad and representing the U.S. at the United Nations. The department is headquartered in the Harry S Truman Building, a few blocks from the White House, in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C.; "Foggy Bottom" is thus sometimes used as a metonym.
Established in 1789 as the first administrative arm of the U.S. executive branch, the State Department is considered among the most powerful and prestigious executive agencies. It is headed by the U.S. secretary of state, who reports directly to the U.S. president and is a member of the Cabinet. Analogous to a foreign minister, the secretary of state serves as the federal government's chief diplomat and representative abroad, and is the first Cabinet official in the order of precedence and in the presidential line of succession. The position is currently held by Marco Rubio, who was appointed by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on January 20, 2025, by a vote of 99–0.
As of 2024, the State Department maintains 271 diplomatic posts worldwide, second only to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China. It also manages the U.S. Foreign Service, provides diplomatic training to U.S. officials and military personnel, exercises partial jurisdiction over immigration, and provides various services to Americans, such as issuing passports and visas, posting foreign travel advisories, and advancing commercial ties abroad. The department administers the oldest U.S. civilian intelligence agency, the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), and maintains a law enforcement arm, the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS).
“United States Department of State” enters the record as executive department of the U.S. federal government. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what United, States and Department can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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“United States Department of State” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, United, States and Department provides the most credible route into that argument.
The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q789915. VIAF identifies the subject as 125408196. The Library of Congress control number is n80126198. Authority coordinates are 38.894, -77.048. 5 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 4 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1789, 2025 and 2024.
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This entry incorporates text from “United States Department of State” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.