secretary of state
The title of the cabinet official who is head of the State Department and has responsibility for conducting the foreign affairs of the US. It is the senior cabinet post and is fourth in line of succession to the presidency in the event of death or incapacitation.
The secretary of state is in formal charge of diplomatic negotiations, and has charge of all state papers; he or she publishes the statutes and resolutions of Congress and proclamations of the president, and is the custodian of the great seal. The first secretary of state was Thomas Jefferson, who was appointed in 1789.
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