"Restatement of Policy on Germany" is a speech given by James F. Byrnes, the United States Secretary of State, in Stuttgart on September 6, 1946.

Also known as the "Speech of hope" it set the tone of future US policy, as it repudiated the economic policies of the Morgenthau Plan and, with its message of a change to a policy of economic reconstruction, gave the Germans hope for the future.

The United States secretary of state is an officer of the United States who implements foreign policy for the U.S. government as the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Cabinet, and ranks the first in the U.S. presidential line of succession among Cabinet secretaries.

Created in 1789 with Thomas Jefferson as its first office holder, the secretary of state represents the United States to foreign countries, and is therefore considered analogous to a foreign minister in other countries. The secretary of state is nominated by the president of the United States and, following a confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, is confirmed by the United States Senate. The secretary of state, along with the secretary of the treasury, secretary of defense, and attorney general, are generally regarded as the four most crucial Cabinet members because of the importance of their respective departments.Secretary of State is a Level I position in the Executive Schedule and thus earns the salary prescribed for that level (US$221,400, as of January 2021). The current secretary of state is Antony Blinken, who was confirmed on January 26, 2021 by the Senate by a vote of 78–22.