List of foreign-born United States Cabinet members

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Henry Kissinger.jpg
Albrightmadeleine.jpg
Henry Kissinger (left) and Madeleine Albright (right) are the highest-ranking foreign-born citizens to lead the Federal Executive Department; each held the post of Secretary of State.

As of 2023, there have been 23 members appointed to the Cabinet of the United States who had been born outside the present-day United States.

Contents

Alexander Hamilton, one of the Founding Fathers who signed the United States Constitution, was the first Cabinet member to be born outside of the United States. [1] President George Washington appointed Hamilton, born in Nevis in 1755 or in 1757, as the United States' first Secretary of Treasury in 1789. [2] [3] Irish-born James McHenry, whom Washington appointed as Secretary of War in 1796 and who served in the same post in John Adams's administration, was the other foreign-born individual in Washington's cabinet. [4]

Albert Gallatin, born in the Republic of Geneva (in present-day Switzerland) in 1761, became the third foreign-born member of the Cabinet when named Secretary of Treasury by President Thomas Jefferson in 1801. [5] [6] Gallatin, his successor George Campbell, William Duane, Carl Schurz and James Wilson were the only foreign-born members to hold Cabinet positions in the 19th century. In the 20th century, nine foreign-born individuals were appointed to the Cabinet, including German-born Oscar Straus and Mexican-born George Romney (George Romney, born to American parents, became the father of former Governor of Massachusetts, 2012 Republican U.S. presidential candidate and current U.S. Senator from Utah Mitt Romney. [7] [8] ) During the 2001 to 2009 presidency of President George W. Bush, three foreign-born individuals became members of his Cabinet—Elaine Chao and Mel Martinez in 2001; Carlos Gutierrez in 2005. [1]

The Department of Treasury has had the most foreign-born secretaries, with five. The Department of Labor and the Department of the Interior follow with three, and the departments of Housing and Urban Development and State have each had two. Former secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright were the highest-ranking foreign-born Cabinet members ever in accordance to the United States presidential line of succession. [1] The majority of foreign-born Cabinet members were born in Europe. Most European-born Cabinet members originated from the United Kingdom and Germany (with five and four respectively), and the others were born in Ireland, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland and Italy. Four Cabinet members were born in the Americas, and one was born in Asia. The departments of Defense, Justice, Health and Human Services, and Education have not had foreign-born secretaries.

Since most foreign-born Cabinet members are not natural-born citizens—meaning that they were not born in the United States or born abroad to American parents—they are ineligible to exercise the powers of the president of the United States in the event that "neither a President nor Vice President" is able to "discharge the powers and duties" of the presidency as specified in the Presidential Succession Act of 1947. [9] [10] A notable exception was HUD Secretary George W. Romney, who was a birthright U.S. citizen because his parents were U.S. citizens and, in fact, had been a candidate in the Republican presidential primaries the prior year.

Permanent Cabinet members

Current departments

The Department of Defense was established in 1947; no foreign-born person has served yet. [11] The Department of Justice was established in 1870; no foreign-born person has served as Attorney General yet. The Department of Education was established in 1979; no foreign-born person has served yet.

 *  denotes the first foreign-born secretary of that particular department
No.PersonPosition Succession [12] Year appointedCountry of birthPartyAdministrationRef.
1 Alexander Hamilton portrait by John Trumbull 1806.jpg Alexander Hamilton* Secretary of the Treasury 51789 Saint Kitts and Nevis (then the British Leeward Islands) Federalist Washington [2] [3]
2 Albert Gallatin (by Gilbert Stuart).jpg Albert Gallatin Secretary of the Treasury 51801 Switzerland (then the Republic of Geneva) Democratic-Republican Jefferson
3 GeorgeWCampbell.jpg George W. Campbell Secretary of the Treasury 51814 United Kingdom Madison [13]
4 William J Duane.jpg William J. Duane Secretary of the Treasury 51833 Ireland (then the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland) Democratic Jackson [14]
5 Carl-Schurz.jpg Carl Schurz* Secretary of the Interior 81877 Germany (then Prussia) Republican Hayes [1] [15]
6 James Wilson (Secretary of Agriculture 1897-1913) 2003 902 275 f1881m24x.tiff James Wilson* Secretary of Agriculture 91897 United Kingdom McKinley [16]
Roosevelt
Taft
7 Franklin Knight Lane cph.3a02985 (cropped).jpg Franklin Knight Lane Secretary of the Interior 81913 Canada (then Prince Edward Island) Democratic Wilson [17]
8 Wilson-William-Bauchop-130313.jpg William Bauchop Wilson* Secretary of Labor 11 United Kingdom [18]
9 James J. Davis, 6-5-25 LCCN2016850450 (cropped).jpg James J. Davis Secretary of Labor 111921 United Kingdom Republican Harding [19] [20]
Coolidge
Hoover
10 Celebrez (1).jpg Anthony J. Celebrezze* Secretary of Health and Human Services [lower-alpha 1] 121962 Italy Democratic Kennedy [22]
Johnson
11 George W. Romney official portrait.jpg George W. Romney* Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 131969 Mexico Republican Nixon [7]
12 Henry A. Kissinger, U.S. Secretary of State, 1973-1977.jpg Henry Kissinger* Secretary of State 41973 Germany [23] [24]
Ford
13 Portrait of W. Michael Blumenthal.jpg W. Michael Blumenthal Secretary of the Treasury 51977 Germany Democratic Carter [25] [26]
14 Secalbright.jpg Madeleine Albright Secretary of State 41997 Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia) Clinton [27] [28]
15 Elaine Chao large (cropped).jpg Elaine Chao Secretary of Labor 112001 Taiwan Republican Bush Jr. [1] [29]
16 Former HUD Secretaries- Mel Martinez - Former HUD Secretaries- Mel Martinez (copies) - DPLA - ea6e4fab6418e4325d33e11ff9aa5bed.jpg Mel Martínez Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 13 Cuba [1]
17 Carlos Gutierrez official portrait.jpg Carlos Gutierrez* Secretary of Commerce 102005 Cuba [30] [31]
18 Sally Jewell official portrait.jpg Sally Jewell Secretary of the Interior 82013 United Kingdom Democratic Obama [32]
(15) Elaine Chao official portrait 2.jpg Elaine Chao* Secretary of Transportation 142017 Taiwan Republican Trump [33]
19 Robert Wilkie official portrait.jpg Robert Wilkie* Secretary of Veterans Affairs 172018 Germany (then West Germany) [34]
20 Secretary Jennifer Granholm (June 2021).jpg Jennifer Granholm* Secretary of Energy 152021 Canada Democratic Biden
21 Secretary Mayorkas Official Photo.jpg Alejandro Mayorkas* Secretary of Homeland Security 18 Cuba

Defunct departments

 *  denotes the first foreign-born secretary of that particular department
No.PersonPositionYear appointedCountry of birthPartyAdministrationRef.
1 JMcHenry.jpg James McHenry* Secretary of War 1796 United Kingdom (then the Kingdom of Ireland) Independent Washington [4]
Federalist John Adams
2 Oscar Solomon Straus cph.3b35056.jpg Oscar Straus* Secretary of Commerce and Labor 1906 Germany (then the Kingdom of Bavaria) Republican Roosevelt [38]

Cabinet-level officials

The president may designate additional officials as members of the Cabinet. These positions have not always been in the Cabinet, so some female officeholders may not be listed.

The following list includes those who were born outside of the United States and have held cabinet-level positions other than the 15 executive departments.

 *  denotes the first foreign-born head of that particular agency
No.PersonPositionYear appointedCountry of birthPartyAdministrationRef.
1 Zbigniew Brzezinski, 1977.jpg Zbigniew Brzezinski* National Security Advisor 1977 Poland Democratic Carter
2 Secalbright.jpg Madeleine Albright* Ambassador to the United Nations 1993 Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia) Clinton [27] [28]
3 John Deutch, Undersecretary of Defense, 1993 official photo.JPEG John M. Deutch* Director of Central Intelligence 1995 Belgium [39] [40]
4 Samantha Power official portrait.jpg Samantha Power Ambassador to the United Nations 2013 United Kingdom Obama [41]
5 Maria Contreras-Sweet official portrait (cropped).jpg Maria Contreras-Sweet* Administrator of the Small Business Administration 2014 Mexico [42]
6 Dr. Arati Prabhakar by Sun L. Vega, 2015.jpg Arati Prabhakar* Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy 2022 India Joe Biden [43]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ At the time of his appointment, the position was then called the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. [21]

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