Sec. 2. Findings
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Congress finds the following: The diplomacy and foreign relations of the United States began in 1775 when the Second Continental Congress established the Committee of Secret Correspondence, and it was during the American Revolution that the first ambassadors, envoys, and secretaries, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams among them, helped secure the independence of the new nation, recognition by foreign nations, loans to finance the revolution, and negotiate treaties.
On September 15, 1789, the 1st United States Congress passed an Act creating the Department of State and appointing duties to it, including the keeping of the Great Seal of the United States. Initially there were 2 services devoted to diplomatic and to consular activity. The Diplomatic Service provided ambassadors and staff for embassies overseas, while the Consular Service provided consuls to assist United States sailors and promote international trade and commerce. After World War I ended, Congress complemented the earlier efforts for Civil Service reform, interrupted by World War I, to create a career, professional diplomatic service.
Representative John Jacob Rogers of Massachusetts introduced his first Foreign Service reform bill in 1919, followed by several others. He was strongly supported in his efforts by Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes. The legislation provided improvements in the Diplomatic and Consular Services to attract highly qualified candidates by keen competition . The objective was to create a real diplomatic career, open to any American citizen who has the necessary qualifications .
The Act entitled An Act for the reorganization and improvement of the Foreign Service of the United States, and for other purposes , approved May 24, 1924 (43 Stat. 140, chapter 182) (commonly known as the Rogers Act of 1924 ), unified the Diplomatic and Consular Services in one career organization based on competitive examination and merit promotion. It was named the Foreign Service of the United States of America . President Calvin Coolidge signed the bill into law on May 24, 1924.
The first class of new Foreign Service officers was held in 1925. The Foreign Service of the United States is the primary United States Federal Government professional cadre of generalists and specialists charged with the conduct of United States diplomacy under the aegis of the United States Department of State. It consists of a cadre of career professionals carrying out the foreign policy of the United States and aiding United States citizens abroad. In 1946, after World War II, Congress passed the Foreign Service Act of 1946 (60 Stat. 999, chapter 957) to update the 1924 Rogers Act.
In 1980, the Congress again updated the Rogers Act, passing the Foreign Service Act of 1980 ( 22 U.S.C. 3901 et seq. ), to promote the foreign policy of the United States by strengthening and improving the Foreign Service of the United States. Since its inception, the Foreign Service of the United States has included members of United States departments and agencies such as the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, the United States Agency for International Development, and the United States Information Agency.
Embassies and consulates house and support personnel of the Department of Homeland Security (Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection), the Federal Aviation Administration, the American Battle Monuments Commission, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Drug Enforcement Administration along with the attachés of the Department of Defense and the Armed Forces. Since the creation of the Foreign Service of the United States, generations of Foreign Service members and families have represented the United States around the world, in peace and war.
Over 320 names are inscribed in the memorial plaques erected by the American Foreign Service Association and located in the lobby of the Harry S. Truman Building, the headquarters of the Department of State, to honor diplomatic and consular officers of the United States who while on active duty lost their lives under heroic or tragic circumstances . Since its establishment in 1775, 250 years ago, the United States Marine Corps has supported United States diplomacy by protecting United States embassies.
For decades Marines were dispatched from ships, fleets, and squadrons when it was necessary to protect embassies and consulates in times of crisis, and since 1949, Marine Security Guard detachments at embassies have protected personnel, property, and classified information. The Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training is dedicated to capturing, preserving, and sharing the experiences of United States diplomats. The Association has created, managed, and maintained a Foreign Affairs Oral History program consisting of more than 2,600 first-person oral histories of United States diplomats to capture and share the legacy and contributions of modern United States diplomacy.
The Association is a nongovernmental, member-based, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization housed on the campus of the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center and dependent on funds from members, donations, contracts, and grants to sustain its work. In 2024, the Foreign Service of the United States celebrated the 100th anniversary of its creation.
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