The pages that follow trace the history of U.S. diplomacy from the first defensive steps of a fledgling nation to the global reach of a superpower. Benjamin Franklin is regarded as America’s first diplomat, and the four men pictured below were its first “ministers of foreign affairs.”
Robert R. Livingston |
 John Jay |
 Thomas Jefferson |
 Edmund Randolph |
This section is based on the exhibit, “A Brief History of American Diplomacy,” at the George P. Shultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center, which was originally made possible by a grant from Mrs. Jefferson Patterson. It was written by Henry Butterfield Ryan and ADST staff.
A bound print version of the exhibit can be obtained from the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training.