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Key Dates in Department of State History
1789 through 2005
Key Dates in Department of State History Events
Congress establishes the Department of Foreign Affairs (1 Stat. 28)
July 27, 1789
But two months later changes this name to the Department of State (1 Stat. 68).
Thomas Jefferson is appointed the first secretary of state.
September 26, 1789
October 24, 1791
The results of the first U.S. Census, taken in 1790, are published the next year by Thomas Jefferson, the secretary of state, in a government document, which drew information “from the original returns deposited in the office of the Secretary of State.” Nearly 4 million people are counted in the 1790 census according to the final report in 1793.
Sultan Moulay Suleiman of Morocco gifts the first foreign property for a consulate to U.S. Consul John Mullowney.
December 4, 1821
The United States goes on to acquire other building sites overseas (36 Stat. 917) and today has consulates and embassies around the world.
July 4, 1836
By an act of July 4, 1836, the Patent Office, which had previously been under the department’s jurisdiction, is recognized as a separate entity. In 1949 it is incorporated into the Department of the Interior (5 Stat. 117).
Abel Upshur becomes the first secretary of state to die in office.
February 28, 1844
He is killed in an accidental cannon explosion aboard the USS Princeton on the Potomac River.
January 14, 1845
William Brown Hodgson, the first language student at the Department of State, studies in Algiers off the coast of North Africa and becomes the department’s first translator.
June 1, 1853
As representatives of the United States overseas, diplomats are encouraged by Secretary of State William Marcy to choose “the simple dress of an American citizen” during ceremonial occasions. The order proves difficult for some American diplomats. In Germany, in 1853, King Frederick William IV, as one diplomat records, found these American clothes disrespectful.
May 6, 1861
During the American Civil War, Secretary of State William Seward forbids the issuance of passports to persons whose loyalty to the Union is questionable.
April 14, 1865
On the night that John Wilkes Booth assassinates President Abraham Lincoln, fellow conspirator Lewis Payne (also known as Lewis Powell) attacks Secretary of State William Seward in his home on Lafayette Square. Seward, who was recovering from a carriage accident, is saved by his son, Frederick, who also works for the Department, and he and his son Frederick, an assistant secretary of state, are wounded. Both survive their injuries and resume their duties.
Secretary William Seward becomes the first secretary of state to travel outside the United States.
January 1-28, 1866
He visits the Danish Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Cuba while in office.
The Department of State sends its first diplomatic dispatch by telegraph.
November 23, 1866
The message between Secretary William Seward and Napoleon III of France costs $19,540.50.
Elihu B. Washburne begins what is the shortest term of any secretary of state.
March 5, 1869
Appointed by President Ulysses S. Grant, he resigns on March 16, less than two weeks later, and is appointed minister to France the next day.
August 1, 1914
With the outbreak of World War I in Europe, Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan sends a circular telegram to all U.S. chiefs of mission authorizing them to issue emergency passports to American citizens stranded overseas in war zones.
March 3, 1932
Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson dedicated the Foreign Service Memorial Tablet, which contained the names of 65 U.S. diplomats and consuls that had lost their lives under heroic or tragic circumstances. The Tablet was donated by members of the American Foreign Service Association.
The Department of State launches its first radio broadcast news service.
March 30, 1935
Germany’s invasion of Poland begins World War II in Europe.
September 1, 1939
The department responds by establishing the Special Division, which arranges the repatriation of American citizens from war zones in Europe (Department Order 810). It is later renamed the Special War Problems Division.
January 19, 1942
The department adopts new working hours during wartime: 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on weekdays and 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturdays. The new hours take effect February 2, 1942 (Department order).
November 30, 1944
Cordell Hull resigns after nearly 12 years, the longest term of any secretary of state thus far. Under Secretary Edward Stettinius Jr. succeeds him.
April 3, 1948
The Economic Cooperation Act (62 Stat. 138) establishes the Economic Cooperation Administration to administer the European Recovery Program, also known as the Marshall Plan.
July 20, 1950
A Senate subcommittee chaired by Senator Millard F. Tydings of Maryland issues a report denying Senator Joseph McCarthy’s charges of Communist infiltration at the Department of State.
May 18, 1955
Blair House, the President’s Guest House, becomes the official residence for visiting heads of state and other high-ranking foreign dignitaries, according to the department’s announcement.
The Department of State introduces its first computer, an IBM 1401.
September 1962
September 6, 1965
Navy personnel are assigned to U.S. embassies in Soviet-bloc countries to detect and remove listening devices
August 11, 1971
The department adopts enhanced equal employment opportunities for women. Under these rules, women entering the Foreign Service are not to be questioned on their marital status and women who formerly had to resign when they married may now apply for readmission.
January 3, 1992
The department’s Office of Soviet Affairs is renamed shortly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991, and former soviet republics are recognized as independent states.
Madeleine Albright becomes the first female secretary of state.
January 23, 1997
November 1997
Secretary of State Albright announces new goals for the department: national security, economic prosperity, protection of Americans abroad, control of entry into the United States (passports and visas), cooperation with international law enforcement, promotion of democracy and human rights, humanitarian assistance in conflicts and natural disasters, and international environmental protection (International Affairs Strategic Plan).
January 8, 1999
Following the August 7, 1998, bombings of two U.S. embassies in East Africa (in Nairobi, Kenya, and in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania) and the deaths of more than 200 people, two commissions headed by retired Admiral William J. Crowe Jr. issue reports recommending that $1.4 billion a year be spent over 10 years to improve embassy security.
December 31, 1999
The department replaces three email systems (MS Mail, Wang Office, and CC Mail) with Microsoft software and successfully makes the transition to Y2K, or the year 2000.
Colin Powell becomes the first African American secretary of state.
January 20, 2001
October 12, 2001
An anthrax-contaminated letter, sent just after the September 11 terrorist attacks, is routed to the Department of State’s mail processing center in Sterling, Virginia. Employee David Hose contracts inhalation anthrax but recovers.
Condoleezza Rice becomes the first African American female secretary of state.
January 26, 2005
