Foreign Affairs Advisor

• According to the U.S. Department of State, the primary role of the U.S. Secretary of State consists of advising the President on foreign policy. The Secretary is the liaison and head of all diplomatic efforts between the U.S. and foreign governments and has the duty of keeping the President informed on the issues associated with the nation's foreign policy. Five former U.S. Secretaries of State have won the Nobel Peace Prize for their work while in that role.
  
  

Leading the Department of State

• According to the U.S. Department of State, its mission statement is to "Create a more secure, democratic, and prosperous world for the benefit of the American people and the international community." As director of this department, the Secretary of State watches over the actions of the various arms of the Department of State to make sure they are acting consistently toward the goal expressed in the mission statement.
  
  

Connected Departments

• The U.S. Department of State is in charge of a large number of divisions, including the Bureau of Resource Management, Office of Protocol, Office of Counter Terrorism and Office of Civil Rights. For the most part, the heads of these offices report to one of the Secretary of State's assistants or undersecretaries, who then relays the most critical information to the Secretary.
  
  

Departments That Report to the Secretary of State

• The Secretary of State most commonly represents the U.S. at the United Nations and oversees the actions and office of the country's permanent representative to the U.N. The office is not formally connected to the Department of State, but because it functions to promote U.S. interests on an international level it reports directly to and gets policy direction from the Secretary. The Bureau of Legislative Affairs, the Office of the Inspector General and the Office of the Legal Advisor all report directly to the Secretary even though their departments are not officially connected to the Department of State.
  
  

Diplomatic Travel

• One of the Secretary of State's formal duties involves promoting U.S. interests in foreign countries. For instance, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton traveled to 54 countries in 2009 and the first few months of 2010, making speeches on topics as diverse as international terrorism and European security. The Secretary also travels within the U.S., addressing issues of international importance.