United States Secretary of Foreign Affairs

The United States Secretary of Foreign Affairs was a position that existed in the United States government from January 10, 1781, to September 15, 1789.

History

The Articles of Confederation permitted the Confederation Congress to select "such committees and civil officers as may be necessary for managing the general affairs of the United States."

On January 10, 1780, the Confederation Congress created the Department of Foreign Affairs.^[1]

On August 10, 1781, Congress selected Robert R. Livingston, a delegate from New York, as the first Secretary for Foreign Affairs. Livingston was unable to take office until October 20, 1781. He served until June 4, 1783 when he was succeeded by John Jay, who served until March 4, 1789, when the government under the Articles of Confederation gave way to the government under the Constitution.


No.	Portrait	Name	State of Residence	Took Office	Left Office
1		Robert R. Livingston	New York	October 20, 1781	June 4, 1783
2		John Jay	New York	May 7, 1784	March 4, 1789

The office of Secretary of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Foreign Affairs were reinstated by a law signed by George Washington on July 27, 1789. John Jay retained the post on an interim basis, pending the return of Thomas Jefferson from France. However, on September 15, 1789, before Jefferson could return to take the post, Washington signed into law another act which changed the name of the office from "Secretary of Foreign Affairs" to "Secretary of State," changed the name of the department to the Department of State, and added several domestic powers and responsibilities to both the office of secretary and the department.

No.	Name	State of Residence	Took Office	Left Office
–	John Jay	New York
			July 27, 1789	September 15, 1789

			September 15, 1789	March 22, 1790

On March 22, 1790, Thomas Jefferson took office as the first United States Secretary of State. For subsequent office holders, see List of Secretaries of State of the United States.

References

↑ "Secret Committee of Correspondence/Committee for Foreign Affairs, 1775–1777". U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on February 28, 2010. Retrieved January 17, 2010.

United States Secretaries of State

Secretary of Foreign Affairs 1781–89	R. Livingston Jay

Secretary of State 1789–present	Jefferson Randolph Pickering J. Marshall Madison Smith Monroe Adams Clay Van Buren E. Livingston McLane Forsyth Webster Upshur Calhoun Buchanan Clayton Webster Everett Marcy Cass Black Seward Washburne Fish Evarts Blaine Frelinghuysen Bayard Blaine Foster Gresham Olney Sherman Day Hay Root Bacon Knox Bryan Lansing Colby Hughes Kellogg Stimson Hull Stettinius Byrnes G. Marshall Acheson Dulles Herter Rusk Rogers Kissinger Vance Muskie Haig Shultz Baker Eagleburger Christopher Albright Powell Rice (tenure) Clinton (tenure) Kerry (tenure)

Government of the United States under the Articles of Confederation

Congresses	1st Continental Congress 2nd Continental Congress The US in Congress Assembled Delegates Committee of the States

Congressional Officers	President Secretary

Civil Officers	Postmaster General Superintendent of Finance/Agent of the Marine Secretary at War Secretary of Foreign Affairs

Military	Board of War Continental Army Commander in Chief Continental Navy Continental Marines

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