TheĀ
Cabinet of the United States
The Cabinet of the United States is a body consisting of the vice president of the United States and the heads of the executive branch's departments in the federal government of the United States. It is the principal official advisory body to ...
, which is the principal advisory body to theĀ
president of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
, has had numerous officers serving as heads of multiple different
federal executive departments, or other cabinet-level positions, which can differ under each president. The
vice president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
historically is also part of the presidential cabinet, ready to assume the Presidency should the need arise. As the years progressed, some departments lost their original status in the president's cabinet, while other agencies were established or reorganized as such entitles. Unlike in many parliamentary
cabinets, it is generally less common in the United States for officeholders to obtain multiple such positions over the years.
Edmund Randolph
Edmund Jennings Randolph (August 10, 1753 September 12, 1813) was a Founding Father of the United States, attorney, and the 7th Governor of Virginia. As a delegate from Virginia, he attended the Constitutional Convention and helped to create ...
became the first person to have served in two different presidential cabinet posts when he was appointed
secretary of state by President
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...
in 1794
after previously serving as
attorney general during Washington's first term in office.
Patricia Roberts Harris
Patricia Roberts Harris (May 31, 1924March 23, 1985) was an American politician, diplomat and legal scholar. She served as the 6th United States secretary of housing and urban development from 1977 to 1979 and as the 13th United States secretary ...
was the first woman and the first
person of color to serve multiple posts in a president's cabinet when President
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...
appointed her
secretary of health and human services
The United States secretary of health and human services is the head of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all health matters. The secretary is ...
in 1979, having earlier served as
secretary of housing and urban development
The United States secretary of housing and urban development (or HUD secretary) is the head of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, a member of the president's Cabinet, and thirteenth in the presidential line of succe ...
through the first half of Carter's administration.
List of multiple cabinet-level officeholders
The following list includes people who have lead two or more different
executive departments or other cabinet-level offices, which can vary under each president. The table below is organized by date of second appointment or election to such a position. Officeholders whose terms begin the same day are ranked alphabetically by last name.
Former permanent Cabinet members
* The
Secretary of War
The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the ...
became defunct when the
Department of War was split between the
Department of the Army and the
Department of the Air Force
The United States Department of the Air Force (DAF) is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the United States of America. The Department of the Air Force was formed on September 18, 1947, per the National Sec ...
by the
National Security Act of 1947, and both were absorbed into the
Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to:
Current departments of defence
* Department of Defence (Australia)
* Department of National Defence (Canada)
* Department of Defence (Ireland)
* Department of National Defense (Philipp ...
in 1949.
* The
Postmaster General
A Postmaster General, in Anglosphere countries, is the chief executive officer of the postal service of that country, a ministerial office responsible for overseeing all other postmasters. The practice of having a government official responsib ...
ceased to be a member of the Cabinet when the
Post Office Department was re-organized into the
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...
(USPS) by the
Postal Reorganization Act, a special
agency independent of the executive branch.
* The
Secretary of the Army,
Secretary of the Navy
The secretary of the Navy (or SECNAV) is a statutory officer () and the head (chief executive officer) of the Department of the Navy, a military department (component organization) within the United States Department of Defense.
By law, the se ...
, and the
Secretary of the Air Force
A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a wh ...
ceased to be members of the Cabinet when their particular departments was absorbed into the
Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to:
Current departments of defence
* Department of Defence (Australia)
* Department of National Defence (Canada)
* Department of Defence (Ireland)
* Department of National Defense (Philipp ...
in 1949.
See also
*
Cabinet reshuffle
*
Notes
References
External links
The Cabinet- Provided by the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
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Multiple Cabinet
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