United States Secretary of State

The Secretary of State (United States Secretary of State ) is the head of the U.S. State Department and a member of the Cabinet of the President of the United States. He is responsible for the international relations of the United States. Actually called the Secretary of State, the post of United States Secretary of State can most closely be translated as foreign minister, as his duties and powers over the years have been largely reduced to the foreign policy. Since the Office has, however, to still carry some domestic tasks, the designation foreign minister is not entirely congruent. Current Secretary of State, John Kerry.

History

On January 10, 1781 2nd Continental Congress established the Office Secretary of Foreign Affairs to carry out a " department of foreign relations." After several congress regulations and remit extensions thereof was 1789, the Department of State with the head Secretary of Foreign Affairs.

The Secretary of State is of British origin. At the time, it was a title of honorary members of the upper house. The Secretary of State of the United States was therefore chosen to name the most important office of the federal government after the president. At that time the Secretary of State was also entrusted with other tasks than it is today and was much more than just foreign minister. Since 1972, the incumbent is supported by a deputy foreign minister and optionally represented.

Responsibilities

Most of the domestic duties of the Department of State were transferred to other offices. The remaining are: storage and use of the Great Seal of the United States, implementation of protocol activities for the White House and responses to public inquiries. In addition, the Minister of the President if correspondences with other ministers and ambassadors abroad and conducting negotiations with representatives of foreign governments. The Secretary serves as the principal advisor to the President in the formulation and execution of U.S. foreign policy and has been responsible in recent decades for the general direction, coordination and monitoring of the cooperation between the different ministries of the Federal Government in activities abroad, except for certain military operations.

As a senior member of the Cabinet of the Foreign Ministers highest ranks fourth in the succession of the President of the United States. Before him are the Vice President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.

In addition, provides for a federal law that the resignation of a president comes into force only by written communication between the President and the Foreign Minister. This happened once to date, resigned as President Richard Nixon in August 1974 by a resignation letter to Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

A list of U.S. Secretary of State can be found at the State Department of the United States.