The Office of the Secretary of State heads the Department of State which means that the holder is in charge of U.S. foreign policy. This position was traditionally seen as a stepping stone to the Presidency with Thomas Jefferson being the first Secretary and then becoming the third President.
Of recent however, Secretaries of State have not been very successful winning primaries( with the exception of Hillary Clinton in 2016) as parties seem to gravitate to those who have held democratic office but this position has however, produced 9 nominees for the Presidency since independence.
