# List of foreign-born United States Cabinet members

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.
Alexander Hamilton, one of the Founding Fathers who signed the U.S. Constitution, was the first cabinet member to be born outside of the United States. President George Washington appointed Hamilton, born in Nevis in 1755 or in 1757, as the United States' first Secretary of the Treasury in 1789. 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.
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 the Treasury by President Thomas Jefferson in 1801. Gallatin, his successor George W. Campbell, William J. 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.) During the 2001 to 2009 presidency of President George W. Bush, three foreign-born individuals became members of his cabinet—Elaine Chao and Mel Martínez in 2001; Carlos Gutierrez in 2005.
The Department of the 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. 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. 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. 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. | Person | Position | Succession | Year appointed | Country of birth | Party | Administration |
| 1 | Alexander Hamilton* | Secretary of the Treasury | 0 | 1789 | Saint Kitts and Nevis (then the British Leeward Islands) | Federalist | Washington |
| 2 | Albert Gallatin | Secretary of the Treasury | 0 | 1801 | Switzerland (then the Republic of Geneva) | Democratic-Republican | Jefferson |
| 3 | George W. Campbell | Secretary of the Treasury | 0 | 1814 | United Kingdom | Democratic-Republican | Madison |
| 4 | William J. Duane | Secretary of the Treasury | 0 | 1833 | Ireland (then part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland) | Democratic | Jackson |
| 5 | Carl Schurz* | Secretary of the Interior | 8 | 1877 | Germany (then Prussia) | Republican | Hayes |
| 6 | James Wilson* | Secretary of Agriculture | 0 | 1897 | United Kingdom | Republican | McKinley |
| 6 | James Wilson* | Secretary of Agriculture | 0 | 1897 | United Kingdom | Republican | Roosevelt |
| 6 | James Wilson* | Secretary of Agriculture | 0 | 1897 | United Kingdom | Republican | Taft |
| 7 | Franklin Knight Lane | Secretary of the Interior | 8 | 1913 | Canada (then Prince Edward Island) | Democratic | Wilson |
| 8 | William B. Wilson* | Secretary of Labor | 0 | 1913 | United Kingdom | Democratic | Wilson |
| 9 | James J. Davis | Secretary of Labor | 0 | 1921 | United Kingdom | Republican | Harding |
| 9 | James J. Davis | Secretary of Labor | 0 | 1921 | United Kingdom | Republican | Coolidge |
| 9 | James J. Davis | Secretary of Labor | 0 | 1921 | United Kingdom | Republican | Hoover |
| 10 | Anthony J. Celebrezze* | Secretary of Health and Human Services | 13 | 1962 | Italy | Democratic | Kennedy |
| 10 | Anthony J. Celebrezze* | Secretary of Health and Human Services | 13 | 1962 | Italy | Democratic | Johnson |
| 11 | George W. Romney* | Secretary of Housing and Urban Development | 14 | 1969 | Mexico | Republican | Nixon |
| 12 | Henry Kissinger* | Secretary of State | 4 | 1973 | Germany | Republican | Nixon |
| 12 | Henry Kissinger* | Secretary of State | 4 | 1973 | Germany | Republican | Ford |
| 13 | W. Michael Blumenthal | Secretary of the Treasury | 5 | 1977 | Germany | Democratic | Carter |
| 14 | Madeleine Albright | Secretary of State | 4 | 1997 | Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia) | Democratic | Clinton |
| 15 | Elaine Chao | Secretary of Labor | 11 | 2001 | Taiwan | Republican | Bush Jr. |
| 16 | Mel Martínez | Secretary of Housing and Urban Development | 13 | 2001 | Cuba | Republican | Bush Jr. |
| 17 | Carlos Gutierrez* | Secretary of Commerce | 10 | 2005 | Cuba | Republican | Bush Jr. |
| 18 | Sally Jewell | Secretary of the Interior | 8 | 2013 | United Kingdom | Democratic | Obama |
| (15) | Elaine Chao* | Secretary of Transportation | 14 | 2017 | Taiwan | Republican | Trump |
| 19 | Robert Wilkie* | Secretary of Veterans Affairs | 17 | 2018 | Germany (then West Germany) | Republican | Trump |
| 20 | Jennifer Granholm* | Secretary of Energy | 15 | 2021 | Canada | Democratic | Biden |
| 21 | Alejandro Mayorkas* | Secretary of Homeland Security | 18 | 2021 | Cuba | Democratic | Biden |

### Defunct departments

* The Postmaster General ceased to be a member of the cabinet when the Post Office Department was re-organized into the United States Postal Service (USPS), a special agency independent of the executive branch, by the 1970 Postal Reorganization Act. No foreign-born person had ever served while it was a cabinet post.
* The Secretaries of the Navy, Air Force, and Army ceased to be members of the cabinet when the Department of the Navy was absorbed into the Department of Defense in 1947. No foreign-born person had ever served while they were a cabinet posts.
    * denotes the first foreign-born secretary of that particular department
| No. | Person | Position | Year appointed | Country of birth | Party | Administration |
| 1 | James McHenry* | Secretary of War | 1796 | United Kingdom (then the Kingdom of Ireland) | Independent | Washington |
| 1 | James McHenry* | Secretary of War | 1796 | United Kingdom (then the Kingdom of Ireland) | Federalist | Adams |
| 2 | Oscar Straus* | Secretary of Commerce and Labor | 1906 | Germany (then the Kingdom of Bavaria) | Republican | Roosevelt |

## 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. | Person | Position | Year appointed | Country of birth | Party | Administration |
| 1 | Zbigniew Brzezinski* | National Security Advisor | 1977 | Poland | Democratic | Carter |
| 2 | Madeleine Albright* | Ambassador to the United Nations | 1993 | Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia) | Democratic | Clinton |
| 3 | John M. Deutch* | Director of Central Intelligence | 1995 | Belgium | Democratic | Clinton |
| 4 | Samantha Power | Ambassador to the United Nations | 2013 | United Kingdom | Democratic | Obama |
| 5 | Maria Contreras-Sweet* | Administrator of the Small Business Administration | 2014 | Mexico | Democratic | Obama |
| 6 | Arati Prabhakar* | Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy | 2022 | India | Democratic | Biden |