The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on allforeign affairs matters. The secretary carries out the president's foreign policies through the U.S Department of State, which includes theForeign Service, Civil Service, andU.S. Agency for International Development. The office holder is the second-highest-ranking member of the president'scabinet, after the vice president, and ranks fourth in thepresidential line of succession; and is first amongst cabinet secretaries.
The stated duties of the secretary of state are to supervise the United Statesforeign service andimmigration policy and administer the Department of State. The secretary must also advise the president on U.S. foreign matters such as the appointment of diplomats and ambassadors, advising the president of the dismissal and recall of these people. The secretary of state can conduct negotiations, interpret, and terminate treaties relating to foreign policy. The secretary also can participate in international conferences, organizations, and agencies as a representative of the United States. The secretary communicates issues relating to the U.S. foreign policy to Congress and citizens. The secretary also provides services to U.S. citizens living or traveling abroad such as providing credentials in the form of passports. Doing this, the secretary also ensures the protection of citizens, their property, and interests in foreign countries.[13]
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.
Secretaries of state also have domestic responsibilities. Most of the historical domestic functions of the Department of State were gradually transferred to other agencies by the late 19th century as part of various administrative reforms and restructurings.[15] Those that remain include storage and use of the Great Seal, performance ofprotocol functions for theWhite House, and the drafting of certain proclamations. The secretary also negotiates with the individual states over the extradition of fugitives to foreign countries.[13] Under federal law, the resignation of a president or of a vice president is valid only if declared in writing, in an instrument delivered to the office of the secretary of state.[16] Accordingly, the resignations of PresidentRichard Nixon and of Vice PresidentSpiro Agnew were formalized in instruments delivered to then-Secretary of StateHenry Kissinger.
Although they have historically decreased over time, Congress may occasionally add to the responsibilities of the secretary of state. One such instance occurred in 2014, when Congress passed the Sean and David Goldman International Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act which mandated actions the secretary of state must take in order to facilitate the return of abducted children from nations who are party to theHague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.[17]
Bemis, Samuel Flagg, ed. (1963)The American Secretaries of State and Their Diplomacy (19 vols.), scholarly biographies
Graebner, Norman A., ed. (1961)An Uncertain Tradition: American Secretaries of State in the Twentieth Century scholarly essays on John Hay throughJohn Foster Dulles.
