United States Secretary of State facts for kids

United States Secretary of State
Official Seal
Incumbent Mike Pompeo since April 26, 2018
Appointer	President of the United States
Formation	April 6, 1789
First holder	Thomas Jefferson
Succession	Fourth
Website	www.state.gov

The United States Secretary of State (commonly abbreviated as SecState) is the head of the United States Department of State. This department deals with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet. This person is the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence. The President chooses the person he or she wants to be Secretary of the State. The United States Senate must agree with this choice for the person to become the Secretary of State.

Mike Pompeo of Kansas is the current Secretary of State since April 2018. He became Secretary when Rex Tillerson was fired by President Donald Trump.

The position of Secretary of State was created in April 6, 1789. Thomas Jefferson was the first Secretary. The Presidential order of succession lists the Secretary of State as the 4th person in line if something happens to the President.

Duties

The first duties of the Secretary of State included:

• Publication, distribution, and preservation of the laws of the United States
• Managing the commissions of people the President puts into office.
• Custody of the Great Seal of the United States
• Custody of the records of the former Secretary of the Continental Congress, except for those of the Treasury and War Departments

The following are the responsibilities of the Secretary of State. These were added to the duties over time.

• In control of the United States Department of State and the United States Foreign Service.
• Adviser to the President on matters dealing with other countries. This includes choosing diplomats to other nations and dealing with diplomats from other nations.
• Takes part in high-level negotiations with other countries. The Secretary deals with both single nations and international conferences or organizations. This includes the negotiation of international treaties.
• In control of the direction, coordination, and supervision of activities of the U.S. Government in other countries when more than one government department is involved.
• Support U.S. citizens living or traveling in other countries. This includes information, passports, visas and other services.
• Supervises the United States immigration policy in other countries.
• Communicates problems dealing with the United States foreign policy to Congress and to U.S. citizens.

List of Secretaries of State

No.	Portrait	Name	State	Started	Ended	President(s)
–		John Jay Acting	New York	September 26, 1789	March 22, 1790		George Washington
1		Thomas Jefferson	Virginia	March 22, 1790	December 31, 1793
2		Edmund J. Randolph	Virginia	January 2, 1794	August 20, 1795
3		Timothy Pickering	Massachusetts	August 20, 1795	December 10, 1795
				December 10, 1795	March 4, 1797
				March 4, 1797	May 12, 1800		John Adams
–		Charles Lee Acting	Virginia	May 13, 1800	June 5, 1800
4		John Marshall	Virginia	June 13, 1800	March 4, 1801
–		Levi Lincoln Sr. Acting	Massachusetts	March 5, 1801	May 1, 1801		Thomas Jefferson
5		James Madison	Virginia	May 2, 1801	March 3, 1809
6		Robert Smith	Maryland	March 6, 1809	April 1, 1811		James Madison
7		James Monroe	Virginia	April 2, 1811	March 3, 1817
–		John Graham Acting	Kentucky	March 4, 1817	March 9, 1817		James Monroe
–		Richard Rush Acting	Pennsylvania	March 10, 1817	September 22, 1817
8		John Quincy Adams	Massachusetts	September 22, 1817	March 3, 1825
–		Daniel Brent Acting	Virginia	March 4, 1825	March 7, 1825		John Quincy Adams
9		Henry Clay	Kentucky	March 7, 1825	March 3, 1829
–		James A. Hamilton Acting	New York	March 4, 1829	March 27, 1829		Andrew Jackson
10		Martin Van Buren	New York	March 28, 1829	May 23, 1831
11		Edward Livingston	Louisiana	May 24, 1831	May 29, 1833
12		Louis McLane	Delaware	May 29, 1833	June 30, 1834
13		John Forsyth	Georgia	July 1, 1834	March 4, 1837
				March 4, 1837	March 3, 1841		Martin Van Buren
–		Jacob L. Martin Acting	District of Columbia	March 4, 1841	March 5, 1841		William Harrison
14		Daniel Webster	Massachusetts	March 6, 1841	April 4, 1841
				April 4, 1841	May 8, 1843		John Tyler
–		Hugh S. Legaré Acting	South Carolina	May 9, 1843	June 20, 1843
–		William S. Derrick Acting	Pennsylvania	June 21, 1843	June 23, 1843
15		Abel P. Upshur	Virginia	June 24, 1843	July 23, 1843
				July 24, 1843	February 28, 1844
–		John Nelson Acting	Maryland	February 29, 1844	March 31, 1844
16		John C. Calhoun	South Carolina	April 1, 1844	March 10, 1845
17		James Buchanan	Pennsylvania	March 10, 1845	March 7, 1849		James K. Polk
18		John M. Clayton	Delaware	March 8, 1849	July 9, 1850		Zachary Taylor
				July 9, 1850	July 22, 1850		Millard Fillmore
19		Daniel Webster	Massachusetts	July 23, 1850	October 24, 1852
–		Charles M. Conrad Acting	Louisiana	October 25, 1852	November 5, 1852
20		Edward Everett	Massachusetts	November 6, 1852	March 3, 1853
–		William Hunter Acting	Rhode Island	March 4, 1853	March 7, 1853		Franklin Pierce
21		William L. Marcy	New York	March 7, 1853	March 6, 1857
22		Lewis Cass	Michigan	March 6, 1857	December 14, 1860		James Buchanan
–		William Hunter Acting	Rhode Island	December 15, 1860	December 16, 1860
23		Jeremiah S. Black	Pennsylvania	December 17, 1860	March 5, 1861
24		William H. Seward	New York	March 5, 1861	April 15, 1865		Abraham Lincoln
				April 15, 1865	March 4, 1869		Andrew Johnson
25		Elihu B. Washburne	Illinois	March 5, 1869	March 16, 1869		Ulysses S. Grant
26		Hamilton Fish	New York	March 17, 1869	March 4, 1877
				March 4, 1877	March 12, 1877		Rutherford B. Hayes
27		William M. Evarts	New York	March 12, 1877	March 7, 1881
28		James G. Blaine	Maine	March 7, 1881	September 19, 1881		James A. Garfield
				September 19, 1881	December 19, 1881		Chester A. Arthur
29		Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen	New Jersey	December 19, 1881	March 6, 1885
30		Thomas F. Bayard	Delaware	March 7, 1885	March 6, 1889		Grover Cleveland
31		James G. Blaine	Maine	March 7, 1889	June 4, 1892		Benjamin Harrison
–		William F. Wharton Acting	Massachusetts	June 4, 1892	June 29, 1892
32		John W. Foster	Indiana	June 29, 1892	February 23, 1893
-		William F. Wharton Acting	Massachusetts	February 24, 1893	March 6, 1893
							Grover Cleveland
33		Walter Q. Gresham	Indiana	March 7, 1893	May 28, 1895
–		Edwin F. Uhl Acting	Michigan	May 28, 1895	June 9, 1895
34		Richard Olney	Massachusetts	June 10, 1895	March 5, 1897
35		John Sherman	Ohio	March 6, 1897	April 27, 1898		William McKinley
36		William R. Day	Ohio	April 28, 1898	September 16, 1898
–		Alvey A. Adee Acting	New York	September 17, 1898	September 29, 1898
37		John Hay	District of Columbia	September 30, 1898	September 14, 1901
				September 14, 1901	July 1, 1905		Theodore Roosevelt
–		Francis B. Loomis Acting	Ohio	July 1, 1905	July 18, 1905
38		Elihu Root	New York	July 19, 1905	January 27, 1909
39		Robert Bacon	New York	January 27, 1909	March 5, 1909
40		Philander C. Knox	Pennsylvania	March 6, 1909	March 5, 1913		William Howard Taft
41		William Jennings Bryan	Nebraska	March 5, 1913	June 9, 1915		Woodrow Wilson
42		Robert Lansing	New York	June 9, 1915	June 23, 1915
				June 24, 1915	February 13, 1920
–		Frank Polk Acting	New York	February 14, 1920	March 12, 1920
43		Bainbridge Colby	New York	March 23, 1920	March 4, 1921
44		Charles Evans Hughes	New York	March 5, 1921	August 2, 1923		Warren G. Harding
				August 2, 1923	March 4, 1925		Calvin Coolidge
45		Frank B. Kellogg	Minnesota	March 5, 1925	March 4, 1929
				March 4, 1929	March 28, 1929		Herbert Hoover
46		Henry L. Stimson	New York	March 28, 1929	March 4, 1933
47		Cordell Hull	Tennessee	March 4, 1933	November 30, 1944		Franklin D. Roosevelt
48		Edward Stettinius Jr.	Virginia	December 1, 1944	April 12, 1945
				April 12, 1945	June 27, 1945		Harry S. Truman
–		Joseph Grew Acting	New Hampshire	June 28, 1945	July 3, 1945
49		James F. Byrnes	South Carolina	July 3, 1945	January 21, 1947
50		George C. Marshall	Pennsylvania	January 21, 1947	January 20, 1949
51		Dean Acheson	Connecticut	January 21, 1949	January 20, 1953
–		Harrison F. Matthews Acting	Maryland	January 20, 1953	January 21, 1953		Dwight D. Eisenhower
52		John Foster Dulles	New York	January 21, 1953	April 22, 1959
53		Christian Herter	Massachusetts	April 22, 1959	January 20, 1961
–		Livingston T. Merchant Acting	District of Columbia	January 20, 1961	January 21, 1961		John F. Kennedy
54		Dean Rusk	Georgia	January 21, 1961	November 22, 1963
				November 22, 1963	January 20, 1969		Lyndon B. Johnson
–		Charles E. Bohlen Acting	District of Columbia	January 20, 1969	January 22, 1969		Richard Nixon
55		William P. Rogers	Maryland	January 22, 1969	September 3, 1973
–		Kenneth Rush Acting	Florida	September 3, 1973	September 22, 1973
56		Henry Kissinger	District of Columbia	September 22, 1973	August 9, 1974
				August 9, 1974	January 20, 1977		Gerald Ford
–		Philip Habib Acting	California	January 20, 1977	January 23, 1977		Jimmy Carter
57		Cyrus Vance	West Virginia	January 23, 1977	April 28, 1980
–		Warren Christopher Acting	California	April 28, 1980	May 2, 1980
–		David D. Newsom Acting		May 2, 1980	May 3, 1980
–		Richard N. Cooper Acting		May 3, 1980
–		David D. Newsom Acting		May 3, 1980	May 4, 1980
–		Warren Christopher Acting	California	May 4, 1980	May 8, 1980
58		Edmund Muskie	Maine	May 8, 1980	January 20, 1981
59		Alexander Haig	Connecticut	January 22, 1981	July 5, 1982		Ronald Reagan
–		Walter J. Stoessel Jr. Acting	California	July 5, 1982	July 16, 1982
60		George P. Shultz	California	July 16, 1982	January 20, 1989
–		Michael Armacost Acting	Maryland	January 20, 1989	January 25, 1989		George H. W. Bush
61		James Baker	Texas	January 25, 1989	August 23, 1992
62		Lawrence Eagleburger	Wisconsin	August 23, 1992	December 8, 1992
				December 8, 1992	January 19, 1993
–		Arnold Kanter Acting	Virginia	January 20, 1993			Bill Clinton
–		Frank G. Wisner Acting	District of Columbia	January 20, 1993
63		Warren Christopher	California	January 20, 1993	January 17, 1997
64		Madeleine Albright	District of Columbia	January 23, 1997	January 20, 2001
65		Colin Powell	Virginia	January 20, 2001	January 26, 2005		George W. Bush
66		Condoleezza Rice	California	January 26, 2005	January 20, 2009
–		William Joseph Burns Acting	District of Columbia	January 20, 2009	January 21, 2009		Barack Obama
67		Hillary Clinton	New York	January 21, 2009	February 1, 2013
68		John Kerry	Massachusetts	February 1, 2013	January 20, 2017
–		Tom Shannon Acting	Minnesota	January 20, 2017	February 1, 2017		Donald Trump
69		Rex Tillerson	Texas	February 1, 2017	March 31, 2018
–		John J. Sullivan Acting	Massachusetts	April 1, 2018	April 26, 2018
70		Mike Pompeo	Kansas	April 26, 2018	Incumbent