United States federal executive departments. The United States federal executive departments are among the oldest primary units of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States—the Departments of State, War, and the Treasury all having been established within a few weeks of each other in 1789.
Since 1792, by statutory specification, the cabinet constituted a line of succession, after the Speaker of the House and the president pro tempore of the Senate to the presidency in the event of a vacancy in both that office and the vice presidency. The Constitution refers to these officials when it authorizes the President, in Article II, section 2, to "require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices.
" In brief, they and their organizations are the administrative arms of the President. Executive Departments of the present[edit] Seals[edit] Executive Departments of the past[edit] See also[edit] Notes[edit] United States Department of State. The United States Department of State (DoS),[3] often referred to as the State Department, is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministry of other countries. The Department was created in 1789 and was the first executive department established. The Department is headquartered in the Harry S Truman Building located at 2201 C Street, NW, a few blocks away from the White House in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
The Department 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. The Department is also the depositary for more than 200 multilateral treaties. The Department is led by the Secretary of State, who is nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate and is a member of the Cabinet. The current Secretary of State is John Kerry. History[edit] The U.S. U.S. Department of State. United States Department of Defense. The Pentagon, headquarters of the United States Department of Defense.
The Department of Defense (Defense Department, USDOD, DOD, DoD or the Pentagon[4]) is the executive department of the government of the United States charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government concerned directly with national security and the United States Armed Forces. The Department is also the largest employer in the world,[5] with more than 2.13 million active duty soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, and civilian workers, and over 1.1 million National Guardsmen and members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Reserves.
The grand total is just over 3.2 million servicemen, servicewomen, and civilians. The Department – headed by the Secretary of Defense – has three subordinate military departments: the U.S. Department of the Army, the U.S. Department of the Navy, and the U.S. History[edit] President Harry Truman signs the National Security Act Amendment of 1949. U.S. Department of Defense Official Website.