Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Department of State was established on the 27th of July, 1789, when President George Washington signed legislation creating it as the Department of Foreign Affairs. It was renamed the Department of State that September. It was the first federal agency created under the new U.S. Constitution.
The State Department is the lead U.S. foreign affairs agency, responsible for advising the president on international relations, negotiating treaties, administering diplomatic missions, issuing passports and visas, and protecting American citizens abroad. It also manages the U.S. Foreign Service and administers the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, the oldest U.S. civilian intelligence agency.
The State Department maintains 271 diplomatic posts worldwide, second only to China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Madeleine Albright became the first woman appointed Secretary of State in 1997. She was also the first foreign-born woman to serve in the U.S. Cabinet.
The Fulbright Program is a merit-based international exchange program founded by Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946 and administered by the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. It provides 8,000 grants annually for graduate study, research, and teaching in over 160 countries. More than 360,000 people have participated, including 54 Nobel Prize winners and 82 Pulitzer Prize winners.
The Rogers Act of 1924 merged the State Department's separate diplomatic and consular services into a unified Foreign Service. It introduced a merit-based promotion system and a competitive examination to screen recruits, replacing an earlier system that had favored those with political connections and personal wealth.