This complete history of the partnership between the Department of State and the U.S. Marine Corps traces the evolving role that Marines have played in conjunction with the Foreign Service. From its formation in 1775, the Corps developed a close working relationship with the diplomatic service of the Continental Congress and later, in 1798, with the newly created United States Department of State. The Marines accompanied U.S. diplomats to France in 1778 and worked closely with the State Department during the Barbary Wars and the opening of China.In 1905, an executive order by Theodore Roosevelt established a Marine Legation Guard, and the Corps played an increasingly important role in embassies across the globe.

This relationship was solidified by a 1948 agreement between the State Department and the Department of the Navy, and, in the years that followed, these Marines saw action in revolutions, coups and civil wars, with service in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos during the Vietnam War. Today, the war on terrorism highlights this important relationship as Marines guard some of the most dangerous embassies in the world.