Short answers, pulled from the story.
Thomas Jefferson accepted the role as the inaugural secretary when the Department of State reestablished itself in 1789. The original Congress of the Confederation had created a similar body called the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1781 to handle international relations.
The secretary of state holds the fourth position in the presidential line of succession behind the vice president and two legislative leaders. This ranking places the official third-highest within the executive branch after the president and vice president.
Richard Nixon resigned his presidency through an instrument delivered to Secretary Henry Kissinger in 1974. Spiro Agnew also submitted his resignation as vice president to Kissinger at the same time during these events.
Current secretaries earn $250,600 annually as Level I positions in the Executive Schedule. This salary matches that of cabinet members like the treasury secretary or defense secretary.
Congress passed the Sean and David Goldman International Child Abduction Prevention and Return Act in 2014. This law mandated specific actions the secretary must take regarding abducted children from Hague Convention nations.