The Secretary of State has in his keeping the treaties and laws of the United States, and also the Great Seal of the United States, which he affixes to proclamations, commissions, and other official papers.  Through him the rights of American citizens in foreign countries are looked after.  He is first in rank among the members of the cabinet, and by law would succeed to the Presidency in case of the death or disability of both the President and the Vice-President.

The department of the treasury has at its head the Secretary of the Treasury, who is the financial manager of the national government.  He prepares plans for, and superintends the collection of, the public revenues; determines the manner of keeping the public accounts; directs the coinage and printing of money.  He also controls the construction and maintenance of public buildings, and administers the public health service and the life-saving service.

The department of war is directed by the Secretary of War, who, under the President, controls the military establishment and superintends the national defense.  He also administers river and harbor improvements, the prevention of obstruction to navigation, and the building of bridges over navigable rivers when authorized by Congress.  He also has direction of the Bureau of Insular Affairs, which supervises the government of Porto Rico and the Philippines.

The department of justice has at its head the Attorney General, who is the chief law officer of the government, and represents it in all matters of a legal nature.  He is the legal adviser of the President and of the several executive departments, and supervises all United States attorneys and marshals in the judicial districts into which the country is divided.

The post-office department is administered by the Postmaster General.

The department of the navy, under the Secretary of the Navy, has charge of the “construction, manning, equipment, and employment of vessels of war.”

The department of the Interior was created to relieve the Department of State of work relating to internal affairs, and now embraces a wide variety of duties.  At its head is the Secretary of the Interior.  Through many bureaus and divisions it administers the public lands, the national parks, the giving of patents for inventions, the pensioning of soldiers, Indian affairs, education, the reclamation service, the geological survey, the improvement of mining methods for the safety of miners, certain matters pertaining to the territories of the United States, and certain institutions in the District of Columbia.

The department of agriculture is directed by the Secretary of Agriculture.  Its work is described in Chapter xii.

The department of commerce, under the Secretary of Commerce, promotes the commercial interests of the country in many ways.  It includes in its organization the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, the Bureau of Corporations, the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Lighthouses, the Bureau of Navigation, the Bureau of Fisheries, and the Bureau of Standards.