List of Jewish United States Cabinet members

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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.

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 first Jewish cabinet member was 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, but he was higher ranking in the line of succession. Janet Yellen, who served as 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, 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
More information No., Portrait ...
No. Portrait Name Office Succession[2] Term start Term end Party Administration(s) Ref.
1 Oscar Straus* Secretary of Commerce and Labor[b] —[c] December 17, 1906 March 5, 1909 Republican T. Roosevelt [3]
2 Henry Morgenthau* Secretary of the Treasury 3[d] January 1, 1934 July 22, 1945 Democratic F. Roosevelt [3][4]
Truman
3 Arthur Goldberg Secretary of Labor[b] 13 January 21, 1961 September 20, 1962 Kennedy [3]
4 Abraham Ribicoff* Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare[a] 13 January 21, 1961 July 13, 1962 [3]
5 Wilbur J. Cohen Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare 13 May 16, 1968 January 20, 1969 Johnson [3]
6 Henry Kissinger* Secretary of State 4[e] September 22, 1973 January 20, 1977 Republican Nixon [3][7]
Ford
7 Edward H. Levi* Attorney General 7 January 14, 1975 January 20, 1977 [3]
8 Harold Brown* Secretary of Defense 6 January 20, 1977 January 20, 1981 Democratic Carter [3]
9 W. Michael Blumenthal Secretary of the Treasury 5[e] January 23, 1977 August 4, 1979 [3]
10 Neil Goldschmidt* Secretary of Transportation 13 August 15, 1979 January 20, 1981 [3]
11 Philip Klutznick Secretary of Commerce[b] 10 January 9, 1980 January 20, 1981 [3]
12 Robert Mosbacher Secretary of Commerce 10 January 31, 1989 January 15, 1992 Republican Bush Sr. [3]
13 Robert Reich Secretary of Labor 11 January 22, 1993 January 20, 1997 Democratic Clinton [3]
14 Robert Rubin Secretary of the Treasury 5 January 11, 1995 July 2, 1999 [3]
15 Dan Glickman* Secretary of Agriculture 9 March 30, 1995 January 20, 2001 [3]
16 Mickey Kantor Secretary of Commerce 10 April 12, 1996 January 21, 1997 [3]
17 William Cohen Secretary of Defense 6 January 24, 1997 January 20, 2001 Republican [8]
18 Lawrence Summers Secretary of the Treasury 5 July 2, 1999 January 20, 2001 Democratic [3]
19 Michael Chertoff* Secretary of Homeland Security 18 February 15, 2005 January 21, 2009 Republican Bush Jr. [9]
20 Michael Mukasey Attorney General 7 November 9, 2007 January 20, 2009 [10]
21 Jack Lew Secretary of the Treasury 5 February 28, 2013 January 20, 2017 Democratic Obama [11]
22 Penny Pritzker Secretary of Commerce 10 June 26, 2013 January 20, 2017 [12]
23 Steven Mnuchin Secretary of the Treasury 5 February 13, 2017 January 20, 2021 Republican Trump I [13][14]
24 David Shulkin* Secretary of Veteran Affairs 17 February 14, 2017 March 28, 2018 Independent [15]
25 Antony Blinken Secretary of State 4 January 26, 2021 January 20, 2025 Democratic Biden [16]
26 Janet Yellen Secretary of the Treasury 5 January 26, 2021 January 20, 2025 [16]
27 Alejandro Mayorkas Secretary of Homeland Security 18[e] February 2, 2021 January 20, 2025 [16]
28 Merrick Garland Attorney General 7 March 11, 2021 January 20, 2025 [16]
29 Howard Lutnick Secretary of Commerce 10 February 21, 2025 Incumbent Republican Trump II [17]
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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
More information No., Portrait ...
No. Portrait Name Office Term start Term end Party Administration(s) Ref.
1 Arthur Goldberg* United States Ambassador to the United Nations July 28, 1965 June 24, 1968 Democratic Johnson [3]
2 Robert S. Strauss* United States Trade Representative March 30, 1977 August 17, 1979 Carter [18]
3 Kenneth Duberstein* White House Chief of Staff July 1, 1988 January 20, 1989 Republican Reagan [19]
4 Mickey Kantor United States Trade Representative January 22, 1993 April 12, 1996 Democratic Clinton [3]
5 John M. Deutch* Director of Central Intelligence May 10, 1995 December 15, 1996 [20]
6 Joseph Stiglitz* Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers June 28, 1995 February 10, 1997 [21][22]
7 Janet Yellen Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers February 18, 1997 August 3, 1999 [23]
8 Charlene Barshefsky United States Trade Representative March 18, 1997 January 20, 2001 [24]
9 Jack Lew* Director of the Office of Management and Budget May 21, 1998 January 19, 2001 [11]
10 Joshua Bolten Director of the Office of Management and Budget June 26, 2003 April 14, 2006 Republican Bush Jr. [25]
White House Chief of Staff April 14, 2006 January 20, 2009
11 Rahm Emanuel White House Chief of Staff January 20, 2009 October 1, 2010 Democratic Obama [26]
12 Peter Orszag Director of the Office of Management and Budget January 20, 2009 July 30, 2010 [27]
13 Jack Lew Director of the Office of Management and Budget November 18, 2010 January 27, 2012 [11]
White House Chief of Staff January 27, 2012 January 20, 2013
14 Alan Krueger Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers November 7, 2011 August 2, 2013 [28]
15 Michael Froman United States Trade Representative June 21, 2013 January 20, 2017 [29]
16 Jason Furman Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers August 2, 2013 January 20, 2017 [30]
17 Ron Klain White House Chief of Staff January 20, 2021 February 8, 2023 Biden [31][32]
18 Avril Haines* Director of National Intelligence January 21, 2021 January 20, 2025 [33]
19 Eric Lander* Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy June 2, 2021 February 18, 2022 [16]
20 Jeffrey Zients White House Chief of Staff February 8, 2023 January 20, 2025 [34][35]
21 Jared Bernstein Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers July 10, 2023 January 20, 2025 [36][37]
22 Lee Zeldin* Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency January 29, 2025 Incumbent Republican Trump II [38]
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See also

Notes

  1. [a]
    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. [b]
    The department established on February 14, 1903; it was later split into the Departments of Commerce and Labor on March 4, 1913.
  3. [c]
    Labor was only included in the presidential line of succession under the Presidential Succession Act of 1947.
  4. [d]
    Speaker of the House and Senate pro tempore were not included in the presidential line of succession until the Presidential Succession Act of 1947.
  5. [e]
    Ineligible to serve in the line of succession due to being a naturalized citizen and not a natural-born citizen.[5][6]

References

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