The
Cabinet of the United States , which is the principal advisory body to the
president of the United States , has had 35
African-American members altogether, with one of them serving in multiple different positions for a total of 36 cabinet appointments. Of that particular number, 25 different Black individuals held a total of 26 permanent cabinet posts, serving as
vice president or head of one of the
federal executive departments , and 10 more held cabinet-level positions, which can differ under each president; no one officeholder served in both cabinet and cabinet-rank roles. 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 .
[1] 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 .
[2] 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 .
[3]
Robert C. Weaver became the first African-American to serve in a president's cabinet when he was appointed
secretary of housing and urban development by President
Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966.
[4]
Patricia Roberts Harris was the first black woman to serve in a presidential cabinet when she was named to the same position by President
Jimmy Carter in 1977. Two years later, Carter tapped her for
secretary of health and human services ,
[a] thus making her the first African-American to hold two different cabinet positions.
[5]
On January 20, 2001,
Colin Powell assumed the post of
secretary of state under President
George W. Bush , which made him the highest-ranked African-American among cabinet secretaries to enter the
presidential line of succession , standing fourth.
[6]
Condoleezza Rice took over the same position in 2005, during Bush's second term, making her the highest-placed Black woman in line to the presidency.
Kamala Harris replaced both Powell and Rice to become the highest-ranking Black person ever to be in the line of succession upon
being inaugurated as the first African-American vice president on January 20, 2021, alongside President
Joe Biden .
[7]
[6]
President
Bill Clinton named the most African-Americans as secretaries to his first-term Cabinet, with four: former
U.S. representative
Mike Espy (D-MS) as
secretary of agriculture ;
DNC chairman
Ron Brown as
secretary of commerce ; corporate director
Hazel R. O'Leary as
secretary of energy ; and
DAV executive director
Jesse Brown as
secretary of veterans affairs . Clinton exceeded that record by three, including
cabinet reshuffles during his second term in office.
[8]
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 the
Interior and
Treasury are the only existing executive departments that have not yet had African-American secretaries.
[9]
[10]
The 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 listed according to the presidential order of succession.
* denotes the first African-American holder of that particular office
No.
Portrait
Name
Office
Succession
[6]
Term start
Term end
Party
Administration(s)
Ref.
1
Robert C. Weaver *
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
13
January 18, 1966
December 18, 1968
Democratic
Johnson
[4]
2
William Coleman *
Secretary of Transportation
14
March 7, 1975
January 20, 1977
Republican
Ford
[11]
3
Patricia Harris
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
13
January 23, 1977
September 10, 1979
Democratic
Carter
[5]
Secretary of Health and Human Services
[a]
12
August 3, 1979
January 20, 1981
4
Samuel Pierce
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
13
January 23, 1981
January 20, 1989
Republican
Reagan
[13]
5
Louis W. Sullivan
Secretary of Health and Human Services
12
March 1, 1989
January 20, 1993
George H. W. Bush
[14]
6
Mike Espy *
Secretary of Agriculture
9
January 22, 1993
December 31, 1994
Democratic
Clinton
[15]
6
Ron Brown *
Secretary of Commerce
10
January 22, 1993
April 3, 1996
[16]
6
Hazel R. O'Leary *
Secretary of Energy
15
January 22, 1993
January 20, 1997
[17]
6
Jesse Brown *
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
17
January 22, 1993
July 13, 1997
[18]
10
Rodney E. Slater
Secretary of Transportation
14
February 14, 1997
January 20, 2001
[19]
11
Alexis Herman *
Secretary of Labor
11
May 1, 1997
January 20, 2001
[20]
[21]
12
Togo D. West
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
17
May 4, 1998
July 25, 2000
[22]
13
Colin Powell *
Secretary of State
4
January 20, 2001
January 26, 2005
Republican
George W. Bush
[23]
13
Rod Paige *
Secretary of Education
16
January 20, 2001
January 20, 2005
[24]
15
Alphonso Jackson
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
13
August 31, 2004
April 18, 2008
[25]
16
Condoleezza Rice
Secretary of State
4
January 26, 2005
January 20, 2009
[26]
17
Eric Holder *
Attorney General
7
February 3, 2009
April 27, 2015
Democratic
Obama
[27]
18
Anthony Foxx
Secretary of Transportation
14
July 2, 2013
January 20, 2017
[28]
19
Jeh Johnson *
Secretary of Homeland Security
18
December 23, 2013
January 20, 2017
[29]
20
Loretta Lynch
Attorney General
7
April 27, 2015
January 20, 2017
[30]
21
John King
Secretary of Education
16
January 1, 2016
January 20, 2017
[31]
22
Ben Carson
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
13
March 2, 2017
January 20, 2021
Republican
Trump
[32]
23
Kamala Harris *
Vice President
1
January 20, 2021
Incumbent
Democratic
Biden
[7]
24
Lloyd Austin *
Secretary of Defense
6
January 22, 2021
Incumbent
[33]
25
Marcia Fudge
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
13
March 10, 2021
Incumbent
[34]
Former permanent Cabinet members
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 was raised to cabinet-level status. Officeholders whose terms begin the same day are listed alphabetically by last name.
* denotes the first African-American holder of that particular office
No.
Portrait
Name
Office
Term start
Term start
Party
Administration(s)
Ref.
1
Andrew Young *
United States Ambassador to the United Nations
January 30, 1977
September 23, 1979
Democratic
Carter
[39]
2
Donald McHenry
United States Ambassador to the United Nations
September 23, 1979
January 20, 1981
[40]
3
Franklin Raines *
Director of the Office of Management and Budget
April 13, 1996
May 21, 1998
Clinton
4
Lisa P. Jackson *
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
January 23, 2009
February 19, 2013
Obama
[41]
5
Susan Rice
United States Ambassador to the United Nations
January 26, 2009
June 30, 2013
[42]
6
Ron Kirk *
United States Trade Representative
March 18, 2009
March 15, 2013
[43]
7
Linda Thomas-Greenfield
United States Ambassador to the United Nations
February 25, 2021
Incumbent
Biden
[44]
8
Michael S. Regan
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
March 11, 2021
Incumbent
[45]
9
Cecilia Rouse *
Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers
March 12, 2021
March 31, 2023
[46]
10
Shalanda Young
Director of the Office of Management and Budget
March 17, 2022
Incumbent
[47]
See also
Notes
^
a
b The position was established as Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare on April 11, 1953; renamed Secretary of Health and Human Services on May 4, 1980.
[12]
References
^
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^
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^
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^
a
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^
a
b Boyd, Gerald M. (March 24, 1985).
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
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^
a
b
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^
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^
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^ Lelyveld, Joseph (February 6, 1977).
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^
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