Fodor's Expert Review U.S. Department of State Diplomatic Reception Rooms
Editor's Note: This property is currently undergoing renovations.
U.S. foreign policy is administered by battalions of brainy analysts in the huge Department of State building (often referred to as the State Department). All is presided over by the secretary of state, who is fourth in line for the presidency (after the vice president, Speaker of the House, and president pro tempore of the Senate). On the top floor are the opulent Diplomatic Reception Rooms, decorated like the great halls of Europe and the rooms of wealthy Colonial American plantations, and where the business of diplomacy takes place to this day. Furnishings include a Portsmouth high chest and dressing table, Paul Revere silver, and the desk on which the Treaty of Paris, ending the Revolutionary War, was signed in 1783.
To visit the reception rooms, register online for a tour three months in advance.
