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United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, a Secretary of State is a
senior Cabinet Minister in charge of a Government Department. Secretary of State positions can be created without
primary legislation; and legislation refers to 'Secretary of State', which is a notional position split between all the
Secretaries of State depending upon the functions.
History
The ancient English monarchs always had in attendance a learned ecclesiastic, known at first as their clerk, and afterwards as
"secretary", who conducted the royal correspondence; but it was not until the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (reigned 1558 - 1603) that these functionaries
gained the title "Secretaries of State". Upon the direction of public affairs passing from the privy council to the cabinet
after 1688 the secretaries of state began to assume those high duties which now render their office one of the most influential
of an administration.
Until the time of Henry VIII (reigned 1509 - 1547),
monarchs generally had only one secretary of state, but at the end of his reign a second principal secretary appeared. Owing to
the increase of business consequent upon the union of Scotland, a third secretary gained appointment in 1708, but a vacancy
occurring in this office in 1746 the third secretaryship disappeared until 1768, when a newly re-instituted Third Secretary began
to take charge of the increasing colonial administrative work. In 1782 the office was again abolished, and the charge of the
colonies transferred to the Home Secretary; but owing to the war of the
First Coalition with France in 1794 a third secretary re-appeared to
superintend the activities of the war department, and seven years later the colonial business became attached to his department.
In 1854 a fourth secretary of state gained the exclusive charge of the war department, and in 1858 a fifth secretary (for India)
began duties.
Principal Secretary of State (c. 1253-1539)
- John Maunsell 1253
- Francis Accursii 1278
- John de Benstede 1299
- William de Melton 1308
- Robert Braybrooke 1379
- John Profit (1402-1412)
- John Stone (1415-c. 1420)
- William Alnwick (c. 1420-c. 1422)
- William Hayton (? - 1432)
- Thomas Beckington (1439-1443)
- Thomas Manning (1460-1464)
- William Hatcliffe (1464-1480)
- Oliver King (1480-1483)
- John Kendal (1483-1485)
- Richard Fox (1485-1487)
- Oliver King (1487-1492) (probably)
- Thomas Routhall (1500-1509)
- Thomas Routhall (1509-1516)
- Richard Pace (1516-1526)
- William Knight (1526-1528)
- Stephen Gardiner (1528-1531)
- Thomas Cromwell (1533-1536)
- Thomas
Wriothesley (1536- January 1544)
Two Secretaries of State, 1539-1668
- Sir Ralph Sadler (April
1540-April 23, 1543)
- William Paget (April 23, 1543 -April 1548)
- Sir William Petre (January
1544-March 1557)
- Sir Thomas Smith (April
17, 1548 - October 15, 1549)
- Nicholas Wotton
(October 15, 1549 - September 5, 1550)
- Sir William Cecil (September 5, 1550 - July 1553)
- Sir John Cheke (served as a third Secretary of State June 1553 - July
1553)
- Sir John Bourne (July 1553 -
April 1558)
- John Boxall (March 1557 -
November 1558)
- Sir William Cecil (November 1558 - July 13, 1572)
- Sir Thomas Smith (July 13,
1572 - August 12, 1577)
- Sir Francis Walsingham (December 1573 - April 1590)
- Thomas Wilson (November 12, 1577 - June 16, 1581)
- William Davison
(September 1586 - February 1587)
- Sir Robert Cecil
(July 5, 1590 - May 24, 1612)
- John Herbert (May 10, 1600 - July
9, 1617)
- Sir Ralph Winwood (March 29, 1614 - October 27, 1617)
- Sir Thomas Lake (January 3, 1616 - February 16, 1619)
- Sir Robert Naunton (January 8, 1618 - January
14, 1623)
- Sir George Calvert (February 16,
1619 - January 1625)
- Sir Edward Conway (January 14,
1623 - December 14, 1628)
- Sir Albertus Morton
(February 9, 1625 - September 6, 1625)
- Sir John Coke (September
9, 1625 - February 3, 1640)
- Dudley Carleton, 1st Viscount Dorchester (December 14, 1628 - February 15, 1632)
- Sir Francis Windebank (June 15, 1632 - December 1640)
- Sir Henry
Vane (February 3, 1640 - December
1641)
- Sir Edward Nicholas (November 27, 1641 - 1646 when he
left England; he was reappointed by King Charles II
September 1654 - October 2, 1662)
- Lucius Cary, 2nd Viscount
Falkland (January 8, 1642 - September 20, 1643)
- George Digby, 2nd Earl of
Bristol (September 28, 1643 -
1645)
- Sir William Morice (June
1660 - September 1668)
- Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of
Arlington (October 2, 1662 - September
1674)
Current Positions
Obsolete Positions
United States
In the federal government of the United States of
America, the main role of the Secretary of State is to supervise and conduct foreign policy. He (or she) is head of the
United States Department of
State.
In the individual states of the United States, the Secretary of State is normally an administrative officer responsible for
certifying elections and maintaining corporate registrations. In some states, the Secretary of State handles driver's licenses and license plates and certifies state documents and
notaries public. Ordinarily this not a particularly powerful position;
however, because the Secretary of State is generally responsible for certifying elections, this position can occasionally become
important. For example, the Secretary of State of Florida, Katherine
Harris, played an important role in deciding the outcome of the 2000 Presidential election.
Holy See
The so-called Cardinal Secretary of State
presides over the Secretariat of State, which is the most important dicastery of the Roman Curia.
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