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The Secretary of State is a senior official of the federal government of the United States of America heading the U.S. Department of State, principally concerned with foreign affairs and is considered to be the U.S. government's equivalent of a Minister for Foreign Affairs.[1][2]
The Secretary of State, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, is a member of the President's Cabinet, the National Security Council, and is the highest-ranking appointed executive branch official both in the presidential line of succession and the order of precedence.
The Secretary of State along with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of Defense, and the Attorney General are generally regarded as the four most important cabinet members because of the importance of their respective departments.[3] Secretary of State is a Level I position in the Executive Schedule and thus earns the salary prescribed for that level.[4]
The current Secretary of State is John Kerry, the 68th person to hold the office since its creation in 1789.
The specific duties of the Secretary of State include:[5]
The original duties of the Secretary of State include some domestic duties, such as:[6]
Most of the domestic functions of the Department of State have been transferred to other agencies. Those that remain include storage and use of the Great Seal of the United States, performance of protocol functions for the White House, and the drafting of certain proclamations. The Secretary also negotiates with the individual States over the extradition of fugitives to foreign countries.[5] Under Federal Law,[7][8] the resignation of a President or of a Vice-President is only valid if declared in writing, in an instrument delivered to the office of the Secretary of State. Accordingly, the resignations of President Nixon and of Vice-President Spiro Agnew, domestic issues, were formalized in instruments delivered to the Secretary of State.
As the highest-ranking member of the cabinet, the Secretary of State is the third-highest official of the executive branch of the Federal Government of the United States, after the President and Vice President and is fourth in line to succeed the Presidency, coming after the Vice President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the President pro tempore of the Senate. Six Secretaries of State have gone on to be elected President. Others, including Kerry, Hillary Clinton, William Seward, and Henry Clay have been unsuccessful presidential candidates.
What are the Qualifications of a Secretary of State? He ought to be a Man of universal Reading in Laws, Governments, History. Our whole terrestrial Universe ought to be summarily comprehended in his Mind.[9]
As the head of the United States Foreign Service, the Secretary of State is responsible for management of the diplomatic service of the United States. The foreign service employs about 12,000 people domestically and internationally, and supports 265 United States diplomatic missions around the world, including ambassadors to various nations.
The nature of the position means that Secretaries of State engage in frequent travel around the world. The record for most countries visited in a secretary's tenure is 112, by Hillary Rodham Clinton.[10] Second is Madeleine Albright with 96.[11] The record for most air miles traveled in a secretary's tenure is 1,059,207, by Condoleezza Rice.[12] Second is Clinton's 956,733 miles.[10]
When there is a vacancy in the office of Secretary of State, the duties are exercised either by another member of the cabinet, or, in more recent times, by a high-ranking official of the State Department until the President appoints, and the United States Senate confirms, a new Secretary.
Washington, D.C., John Kerry, United States Department of Defense, United States Department of Commerce, United States Department of Homeland Security
Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, United States, Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party (United States), Republican Party (United States), United States, United States House of Representatives, United States Congress
Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, United States Army, United States
John Adams, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, James Monroe, Virginia
Cabinet of the United States, President of the United States, Vice President of the United States, United States Secretary of State, United States Secretary of the Treasury
Democratic Party (United States), Republican Party (United States), Harry S. Truman, President pro tempore of the United States Senate, United States Secretary of State
United States Senate, United States Army, American Civil War, President of the United States, New York
Massachusetts, John Quincy Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Henry Clay, Millard Fillmore