Changes

Its nickname is '''Foggy Bottom,''' a reference to its neighborhood in Washington, with a hint of muddled foggyness.

Its nickname is '''Foggy Bottom,''' a reference to its neighborhood in Washington, with a hint of muddled foggyness.

==History==

==History==

Shortly after the [[U.S. Constitution|Constitution]] was created it became clear that the President would need an executive department to support his foreign affairs.

Shortly after the [[U.S. Constitution|Constitution]] was created it became clear that the President would need an executive department to support his foreign affairs.

On July 21, 1789 the House of Representatives and Senate established a '''Department of Foreign Affairs'''.  On July 27 of that year, President [[George Washington]] signed the legislation into law making the Department of Foreign Affairs the first federal agency.  Later that year the name was changed to the present name of Department of State.

On July 21, 1789 the House of Representatives and Senate established a '''Department of Foreign Affairs'''.  On July 27 of that year, President [[George Washington]] signed the legislation into law making the Department of Foreign Affairs the first federal agency.  Later that year the name was changed to the present name of Department of State.

===1933-1953===

==Presidential control==

 

The history of [[American foreign policy]] shows periods of presidential control and periods where the State Department shaped policy.

[[Cordell Hull]] assumed the office of [[Secretary of State]] on March 4, 1933.

 

In 1939, Hull said: " Roosevelt …doesn't consult me or confide in me and I have to feel my way in the dark."<ref>''Jim Farley's Story'', James A. Farley (New York, 1948), pg. 233; ''Memoirs of Cordell Hull'', Cordell Hull (New York, 1948), pg. 1227.</ref>

 

Throughout [[World War II]], Hull had been a very sick man and [[Sumner Welles]] had been Secretary in all but name. After Hull’s  his visit to Moscow in September 1943, Hull forced President [[Franklin Roosevelt]] to dismiss Welles. [[Edward Stettinius]] then became Under-Secretary and when Hull resigned in October 1944, Stettinius moved up as Secretary of State.  [[Joseph C. Grew]], who had been ambassador in Japan for many years, was made Under-Secretary. Grew held that post for only nine months.

 

[[Dean Acheson]] had been appointed an Assistant Secretary of State in 1941. When Grew resigned in 1945, Acheson became Under-Secretary and remained in that post during the term as Secretary of [[James F. Byrnes]] and part of the term of [[George C. Marshall]]. In 1949 Acheson became Secretary of State upon Marshall's resignation.

 

 

The State Department had a Coordinating Committee with immense power throughout the Deparment.  It had "responsibility for considering matters of policy or actions and questions of inter-office relations referred to it by the Secretary, Under Secretary and Secretary's Staff Committee or initiated by the members." Acheson was chairman, Hiss was the next most powerful, and John Carter Vincent was also a member. In 1946 Hiss drew up a plan for reorganizing the State Department. Another official presented a protest in which he pointed out it was designed to give Hiss and his group "astounding control of the Department." A suggestion was made that the matter be brought to the attention of the [[FBI]].  

[[Adolph Berle]], who had been an Assistant Secretary of State, testified before a Congressional investigating committee,  

The White House ran policy under [[Theodore Roosevelt]] (1901-1909), [[Woodrow Wilson]] (1913-21), [[Franklin Roosevelt]] (1933-45)<ref> During the war Roosevelt worked through [[Harry Hopkins]]. In 1939, Secratary Cordell Hull complained, "Roosevelt …doesn't consult me or confide in me and I have to feel my way in the dark." Hull ''Memoirs of Cordell Hull'', (1948), pg. 1227.</ref>, [[Lyndon Johnson]] (1963-69), [[Richard Nixon]] (1969-74), and [[Ronald Reagan]] (1981-89).

:"in the fall of 1944, there was a difference of opinion in the State Department. I felt that the  Russians were not going to be sympathetic and cooperative. Victory was then assured… and the intelligence reports which were in my charge, among other things, indicated a very aggressive policy, not at all in line with the kind of cooperation everyone was hoping for…The opposite group in the State Department was largely the men—Mr. Acheson's group, of course—with Mr. Hiss as a principal assistant in the matter.”<ref>Testimony of Adolph Berle before the [[House Committee on Un-American Activities]], August

30, 1948.</ref>

Marshall, being unfamiliar with the world of Communist revolutionary activity, during his tenure fell under the influence of State Department [[China hands]], [[John Stewart Service]], [[John Paton Davies]], [[John Carter Vincent]], and others.

The State Department was in charge during the presidencies of [[Warren Harding]] (1921-23), [{Calvin Coolidge]] (1923-29), [[Hewrbert Hoover]] (1929-33), [[Harry Truman]] (1945-53)<ref>[{Dean Acheson]] was the main policy maker.<ref> and [[Dwight Eisenhower]] (1953-61).

==Past Responsibilities==

==Past Responsibilities==

*Coordinating and supporting U.S. agencies in the international activities and official overseas visits.

*Coordinating and supporting U.S. agencies in the international activities and official overseas visits.

*Keeping the public informed about U.S. foreign policy

*Keeping the public informed about U.S. foreign policy

==References==

==References==