List Of African-American United States Cabinet Secretaries

The Cabinet of the United States, which is the principal advisory body to the president of the United States, has had 25 permanent African-American members serving as vice president or head of one of the federal executive departments and 10 African-American as cabinet-level officials, which can differ under each president. Of that number, one African-American was elected vice president, one was appointed to the helm of multiple different departments, and no one served both as Cabinet and Cabinet-rank officeholders. The U.S. Census Bureau defines African Americans as citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. The term is generally used for Americans with at least partial ancestry in any of the original peoples of sub-Saharan Africa. During the founding of the federal government, African Americans were consigned to a status of second-class citizenship or enslaved. No African American ever held a cabinet position before the Civil Rights Movement or the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned discrimination in public accommodations, employment, and labor unions.

Robert C. Weaver became the first African-American to hold a cabinet position; he was appointed secretary of housing and urban development in 1966 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Patricia Roberts Harris became the first black woman to serve in the president's cabinet when she was appointed to the same position in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter. Harris was the first African-American person to have held two different cabinet positions during a single administration when appointed secretary of health and human services two years later.

On January 20, 2001, Colin Powell was appointed secretary of state, which is first in the United States presidential line of succession among Cabinet secretaries, which in turn makes him the highest-ranking African American in United States history. On January 26, 2005, Condoleezza Rice became the highest-ranking black woman in line when she was appointed to the same position. On January 20, 2021, Kamala Harris replaced both Powell and Rice as the highest-ranking African American person in the line of succession when she was inaugurated as vice president.

President Bill Clinton named four African-Americans as secretaries to his initial Cabinet—former DAV Executive Director Jesse Brown as secretary of veterans affairs, DNC Chairman Ron Brown as secretary of commerce, Congresswman Mike Espy (D-MS) as secretary of agriculture, and corporate director Hazel R. O'Leary as secretary of energy. Clinton exceeded that record to seven, including cabinet reshuffles during his second term in office.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has had the most African-American secretaries with six. The Department of Transportation has had three. The departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Justice, State, and Veterans Affairs have had two. The departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Homeland Security, and Labor have had one. The departments of Interior and Treasury are the only existing Cabinet departments that have not had African-American secretaries yet.

Totals for this list include only African-American presidential appointees confirmed (if necessary) by the United States Senate to cabinet or cabinet-level positions and taking their oath of office; they do not include acting officials or nominees awaiting confirmation.

Permanent Cabinet members

The following list includes African-Americans who have held permanent positions in the Cabinet, all of whom are in the line of succession to the presidency. The table below is organized based on the beginning of their terms in office. Officeholders whose terms begin the same day are ranked according to presidential order of succession.

:'' denotes the first African-American holder of that particular office''

Former permanent Cabinet members

* The Postmaster General ceased to be a member of the Cabinet when the Post Office Department was re-organized into the United States Postal Service, a special agency independent of the executive branch, by the 1970 Postal Reorganization Act. No African American had ever served while it was a Cabinet post.
* The Secretaries of the Navy, of the Air Force, and of the Army ceased to be members of the Cabinet when the Department of the Navy was absorbed into the Department of Defense in 1947. No African American had ever served while they were Cabinet posts.
* The Secretary of War became defunct when the Department of War became the Department of Defense in 1947. No African American had ever served while it was a Cabinet post.
* The Secretary of Commerce and Labor became defunct when the Department of Commerce and Labor was subdivided into two separate entities in 1913. No African American had ever served while it was a Cabinet post.

Cabinet-level positions

The president may designate or remove additional officials as cabinet members. These positions have not always been in the Cabinet, so some African American officeholders may not be listed.

The following list includes African-Americans who have held cabinet-rank positions, which can vary under each president. They are not in the line of succession and are not necessarily officers of the United States. The table below is organized based on the beginning of their terms in office while it raised to cabinet-level status. Officeholders whose terms begin the same day are ranked alphabetically by last name.

: '' denotes the first African-American holder of that particular office''

See also

*African Americans in the United States Congress
**List of African-American United States senators
**List of African-American United States representatives
*List of first African-American mayors
*Black Cabinet
*List of female United States Cabinet members
*List of foreign-born United States Cabinet members
*List of Hispanic and Latino American United States Cabinet members
*List of minority governors and lieutenant governors in the United States

Notes

References

External links

The Cabinet
- Provided by the White House. Retrieved 24 January 2016.

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Lists of African-American people