United States Department of State

The United States Department of State DOS, or State Department, is an executive department of a U.S. federal government responsible for the nation's foreign policy together with international relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other nations, its primary duties are advising the U.S. president, administering diplomatic missions, negotiating international treaties in addition to agreements, 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 secretary of state, who reports directly to the U.S. president and is a ingredient of the president's Cabinet. Analogous to a foreign minister, the secretary of state serves as the federal government's chief diplomat and deterrent example abroad, and is the first Cabinet official in the order of precedence and in the presidential quality of succession. The position is currently held by Antony Blinken who was appointed by President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate on January 26, 2021 by a vote of 78–22.

As of 2019, the State Department remains 273 diplomatic posts worldwide,only to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It also supports the US Foreign Service, offers diplomatic training to US officials and military personnel, exercises partial jurisdiction over immigration, and enable various services to Americans, such(a) as issuing passports and visas, posting foreign travel advisories, and advancing commercial ties abroad. The department administers the oldest US civilian intelligence agency, the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, and maintains a law enforcement arm, the Diplomatic Security Service.

Headquarters

From 1790 to 1800, the State Department was headquartered in Philadelphia, the national capital at the time. It occupied a building at Church and Fifth Street. In 1800, it moved from Philadelphia to Washington, D.C., where it briefly occupied the Treasury Building and then the Seven Buildings at 19th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

The State Department moved several times throughout the capital in the ensuing decades, including six buildings in September 1800; the War Office Building west of the White House the coming after or as a sum of. May; the Treasury Building once more from September 1819 to November 1866; the Washington City Orphan domestic from November 1866 to July 1875; and the State, War, and Navy Building in 1875.

Since May 1947, the State Department has been based in the Harry S. Truman Building, which originally was subject to house the Department of Defense; it has since undergone several expansions and renovations, near recently in 2016. previously known as the "Main State Building", in September 2000 it was renamed in honor of President Harry S. Truman, who was a major proponent of internationalism and diplomacy.

As the DOS is located in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, this is the sometimes metonymically indicated to as "Foggy Bottom".