Department of Foreign Affairs Established
Executive department of the U.S. federal government
What was Department of Foreign Affairs Established?
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.
Department of Foreign Affairs Established is tied to July 27, 1789. Key people connected to the event include George Washington, Thomas Jefferson.
Why Department of Foreign Affairs Established still matters
Most accounts of 1789 focus on Washington's inauguration or the Bill of Rights. This piece follows the plainer paper trail in the Wikipedia record for the Department of State, tracing the office back through 1781, 1777, and 1775 to show how a wartime committee quietly turned into a Cabinet department.
Why Was the State Department America's First Federal Agency? connects Department of Foreign Affairs Established to a specific historical date. On July 27, 1789, George Washington signed the act creating the Department of Foreign Affairs, the first federal agency under the new Constitution.
