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Department of State

The U. S. Department of State, created in 1789, operates the diplomatic missions of the United States abroad and is responsible for implementing the foreign policy of the United States and U.S. diplomacy efforts.

Department Mission Statement

Shape and sustain a peaceful, prosperous, just, and democratic world and foster conditions for stability and progress for the benefit of the American people and people everywhere.
          --From the FY 2011 Agency Financial Report,
         released November 2011

Thomas Jefferson, 1791

Portrait which hangs in the Thomas Jefferson State Reception Room on the 8th floor of the main U.S. Department of State building in Washington, D.C. It was painted by Charles Willson Peale while Jefferson was Secretary of State.

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.