List of Jewish United States Cabinet members

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Henry A. Kissinger, U.S. Secretary of State, 1973-1977.jpg
Secretary Blinken's Official Department Photo.jpg
Henry Kissinger and Antony Blinken are the highest-ranking Jewish Americans to lead a Federal Executive Department; both held the post of Secretary of State.

The Cabinet of the United States, which is the principal advisory body to the President of the United States, has had 47 Jewish American members altogether. Of that number, 27 different Jewish American individuals held a total of 27 permanent cabinet posts, having served as the heads of the federal executive departments; 20 different Jewish Americans have held 21 cabinet-level positions, which can differ under each president; and four officeholders served in both cabinet and cabinet-rank roles.

Contents

The first Jewish cabinet member of Oscar Straus, appointed Secretary of Commerce and Labor by President Theodore Roosevelt. The first Jewish woman to serve as cabinet member was Penny Pritzker who served as Secretary of Commerce under President Barack Obama. The greatest number of Jewish cabinet members appointed by a president is six by President Bill Clinton, followed by four each by Presidents Jimmy Carter and Joe Biden.

The highest ranking Jewish cabinet members are Henry Kissinger and Antony Blinken, both of whom served a Secretary of State. Before that, the highest ranking Jewish cabinet member was Henry Morgenthau Jr. who served as United States Secretary of the Treasury. Janet Yellen, the incumbent Treasury Secretary, is the highest ranking Jewish woman to hold a cabinet post. Two Jewish cabinet secretaries were immigrants to the United States: Kissinger, Secretary of State under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, and W. Michael Blumenthal, Secretary of the Treasury under President Jimmy Carter.

The United States Department of the Treasury has had the greatest number of Jewish appointees, with seven. The United States Department of Commerce has had four. The United States Department of Justice has had three. The Departments of State, Defense, Labor, Health, Education, and Welfare, [a] and Homeland Security each have had two. The Departments of Agriculture, Transportation, Veterans Affairs, and Commerce and Labour (now defunct) [b] have had one each. The Departments of Energy, Education, Housing and Urban Development|Housing and Urban Development, and the Interior have had none.

The totals for this list include only Jewish American presidential appointees confirmed (if necessary) by the U.S. 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 Jewish 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 Jewish holder of that particular office
No.PortraitNameOffice Succession [2] Term startTerm endPartyAdministration(s)Ref.
1 Oscar Solomon Straus, head-and-shoulders portrait, facing left LCCN93511287.jpg Oscar Straus * Secretary of Commerce and Labor [b] 10December 17, 1906March 5, 1909 Republican Roosevelt I [3]
2 Henry Morgenthau, Jr..jpg Henry Morgenthau * Secretary of the Treasury 5January 1, 1934July 22, 1945 Democratic Roosevelt II [3] [4]
Truman
3 Ajgoldberg.jpg Arthur Goldberg Secretary of Labor [b] 11January 21, 1961September 20, 1962 Kennedy [3]
4 Ribicoff.jpg Abraham Ribicoff * Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare [a] 12January 21, 1961July 13, 1962 [3]
5 Wilburportrait.jpg Wilbur J. Cohen Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare 12May 16, 1968January 20, 1969 Johnson [3]
6 Henry A. Kissinger, U.S. Secretary of State, 1973-1977.jpg Henry Kissinger * Secretary of State 4 [c] September 22, 1973January 20, 1977 Republican Nixon [3] [7]
Ford
7 Edward Levi Attorney General.jpg Edward H. Levi * Attorney General 7January 14, 1975January 20, 1977 [3]
8 Harold Brown photo portrait standing.jpg Harold Brown * Secretary of Defense 6January 20, 1977January 20, 1981 Democratic Carter [3]
9 Portrait of W. Michael Blumenthal.jpg W. Michael Blumenthal Secretary of the Treasury 5 [c] January 23, 1977August 4, 1979 [3]
10 Neil Goldschmidt.jpg Neil Goldschmidt * Secretary of Transportation 14August 15, 1979January 20, 1981 [3]
11 PhilipMorrisKlutznick.jpg Philip Klutznick Secretary of Commerce [b] 10January 9, 1980January 20, 1981 [3]
12 RobertAdamMosbacher.jpg Robert Mosbacher Secretary of Commerce 10January 31, 1989January 15, 1992 Republican Bush I [3]
13 Robert Reich.jpg Robert Reich Secretary of Labor 11January 22, 1993January 20, 1997 Democratic Clinton [3]
14 Pr4262ls-treasury-rubin.jpg Robert Rubin Secretary of the Treasury 5January 11, 1995July 2, 1999 [3]
15 Dan glickman.jpg Dan Glickman * Secretary of Agriculture 9March 30, 1995January 20, 2001 [3]
16 MichaelKantor.jpg Mickey Kantor Secretary of Commerce 10April 12, 1996January 21, 1997 [3]
17 William Cohen, official portrait.jpg William Cohen Secretary of Defense 6January 24, 1997January 20, 2001 Republican [8]
18 Lawrence Summers 2012.jpg Lawrence Summers Secretary of the Treasury 5July 2, 1999January 20, 2001 Democratic [3]
19 Michael Chertoff, official DHS photo portrait, 2007 (cropped).jpg Michael Chertoff * Secretary of Homeland Security 18February 15, 2005January 21, 2009 Republican Bush II [9]
20 Michael Mukasey, official AG photo portrait, 2007.jpg Michael Mukasey Attorney General 7November 9, 2007January 20, 2009 [10]
21 Jacob Lew official portrait.jpg Jack Lew Secretary of the Treasury 5February 28, 2013January 20, 2017 Democratic Obama [11]
22 Penny Pritzker official portrait.jpg Penny Pritzker Secretary of Commerce 10June 26, 2013January 20, 2017 [12]
23 Steven Mnuchin official photo (cropped).jpg Steven Mnuchin Secretary of the Treasury 5February 13, 2017January 20, 2021 Republican Trump [13] [14]
24 David Shulkin official photo (cropped).jpg David Shulkin * Secretary of Veteran Affairs 17February 14, 2017March 28, 2018 Independent [15]
25 Secretary Blinken's Official Department Photo (cropped).jpg Antony Blinken Secretary of State 4January 26, 2021Incumbent Democratic Biden [16]
26 Secretary Janet Yellen portrait (cropped).jpg Janet Yellen Secretary of the Treasury 5January 26, 2021Incumbent [16]
27 Secretary Mayorkas Official Photo.jpg Alejandro Mayorkas Secretary of Homeland Security 18February 2, 2021Incumbent [16]
28 Attorney General Merrick Garland (cropped).jpg Merrick Garland Attorney General 7March 11, 2021Incumbent [16]

Cabinet-level officials

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

The following list includes Jewish 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 Jewish holder of that particular office
No.PortraitNameOfficeTerm startTerm startPartyAdministration(s)Ref.
1 Ajgoldberg.jpg Arthur Goldberg * United States Ambassador to the United Nations July 28, 1965June 24, 1968 Democratic Johnson [3]
2 RobertStrauss.jpg Robert S. Strauss * United States Trade Representative March 30, 1977August 17, 1979 Carter [17]
3 Portraits of Assistants to President Ronald Reagan (cropped10).jpg Kenneth Duberstein * White House Chief of Staff July 1, 1988January 20, 1989 Republican Reagan [18]
4 MichaelKantor.jpg Mickey Kantor United States Trade Representative January 22, 1993April 12, 1996 Democratic Clinton [3]
5 John Deutch, Undersecretary of Defense, 1993 official photo.JPEG John M. Deutch * Director of Central Intelligence May 10, 1995December 15, 1996 [19]
6 Joseph Stiglitz.jpg Joseph Stiglitz *Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers June 28, 1995February 10, 1997 [20] [21]
7 Janet Yellen official CEA portrait.jpg Janet Yellen Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers February 18, 1997August 3, 1999 [22]
8 Charlene Barshefsky official portrait.jpg Charlene Barshefsky United States Trade Representative March 18, 1997January 20, 2001 [23]
9 Jacob Lew official portrait.jpg Jack Lew *Director of the Office of Management and Budget May 21, 1998January 19, 2001 [11]
10 Bolten Joshua.jpg Joshua Bolten Director of the Office of Management and Budget June 26, 2003April 14, 2006 Republican Bush [24]
White House Chief of Staff April 14, 2006January 20, 2009
11 Rahm Emanuel, official photo portrait color (cropped).jpg Rahm Emanuel White House Chief of Staff January 20, 2009October 1, 2010 Democratic Obama [25]
12 Peter Orszag official portrait.jpg Peter Orszag Director of the Office of Management and Budget January 20, 2009July 30, 2010 [26]
13 Jacob Lew official portrait.jpg Jack Lew Director of the Office of Management and Budget November 18, 2010January 27, 2012 [11]
White House Chief of Staff January 27, 2012January 20, 2013
14 20170817 AlanKrueger FacultyPortrait CF 0011 (cropped).jpg Alan Krueger Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers November 7, 2011August 2, 2013 [27]
15 Michael Froman official portrait.jpg Michael Froman United States Trade Representative June 21, 2013January 20, 2017 [28]
16 Jason Furman official portrait.jpg Jason Furman Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers August 2, 2013January 20, 2017 [29]
17 Ron Klain, White House Chief of Staff.jpg Ron Klain White House Chief of Staff January 20, 2021February 8, 2023 Biden [30] [31]
18 Avril-Haines.jpg Avril Haines * Director of National Intelligence January 21, 2021Incumbent [32]
19 Eric Lander, PCAST Co-Chair (cropped).jpg Eric Lander *Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy June 2, 2021February 18, 2022 [16]
20 Jeff Zients, WHCOS.jpg Jeffrey Zients White House Chief of Staff February 8, 2023Incumbent [33] [34]
21 Jared Bernstein, CEA Member.jpg Jared Bernstein Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers July 10, 2023Incumbent [35] [36]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 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. [1]
  2. 1 2 3 4 The department established on February 14, 1903; it was later split into the Departments of Commerce and Labor on March 4, 1913.
  3. 1 2 Ineligible to serve in the line of succession due to being a naturalized citizen and not a natural-born citizen. [5] [6]

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References

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  11. 1 2 3 "Jack Lew's Life Shaped by Faith and Service". The Forward. 17 January 2013. Retrieved 2017-01-22.
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