# List of African-American United States Cabinet members

The Cabinet of the United States, which is the principal advisory body to the President of the United States, has had 37 African-American members altogether, with one of them serving in multiple different positions for a total of 38 cabinet appointments. Of that particular number, 26 different Black individuals held a total of 27 permanent cabinet posts, serving as Vice President or head of one of the federal executive departments, and 11 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. 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, Black Americans were consigned to a status of second-class citizenship or enslaved. 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.
Robert C. Weaver became the first Black-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. 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, thus making her the first African-American to hold two different cabinet positions.
On January 20, 2001, Colin Powell assumed the post of Secretary of State under President George W. Bush, which made him the highest-ranked black Jamaican-American among cabinet secretaries to enter the presidential line of succession, standing fourth. Condoleezza Rice took over the same position in 2005, during Bush's second term, making her the highest-placed Black person 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 black Jamaican/Indian-American vice president on January 20, 2021, alongside President Joe Biden.
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.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development has had the most African-American secretaries, with seven. 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 the Treasury are the only existing executive departments that have not yet had African-American secretaries.
The totals for this list include only African-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.
Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, is the most senior African American to have held a role related to the U.S. Cabinet. Although not officially a member, he held the unique position of chairing the Cabinet during his presidency.

## 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. | Name | Office | Succession | Term start | Term end | Party | Administration(s) |
| 1 | Robert C. Weaver* | Secretary of Housing and Urban Development | 13 | January 18, 1966 | December 18, 1968 | Democratic | Johnson |
| 2 | William Coleman* | Secretary of Transportation | 14 | March 7, 1975 | January 20, 1977 | Republican | Ford |
| 3/4 | Patricia Harris | Secretary of Housing and Urban Development | 13 | January 23, 1977 | September 10, 1979 | Democratic | Carter |
| Secretary of Health and Human Services | Patricia Harris | 12 | August 3, 1979 | January 20, 1981 | | Democratic | Carter |
| 5 | Samuel Pierce | Secretary of Housing and Urban Development | 13 | January 23, 1981 | January 20, 1989 | Republican | Reagan |
| 6 | Louis W. Sullivan | Secretary of Health and Human Services | 12 | March 1, 1989 | January 20, 1993 | Republican | George H. W. Bush |
| 7 | Mike Espy* | Secretary of Agriculture | 9 | January 22, 1993 | December 31, 1994 | Democratic | Clinton |
| 8 | Ron Brown* | Secretary of Commerce | 10 | January 22, 1993 | April 3, 1996 | Democratic | Clinton |
| 9 | Hazel R. O'Leary* | Secretary of Energy | 15 | January 22, 1993 | January 20, 1997 | Democratic | Clinton |
| 10 | Jesse Brown* | Secretary of Veterans Affairs | 17 | January 22, 1993 | July 13, 1997 | Democratic | Clinton |
| 11 | Rodney E. Slater | Secretary of Transportation | 14 | February 14, 1997 | January 20, 2001 | Democratic | Clinton |
| 12 | Alexis Herman* | Secretary of Labor | 11 | May 1, 1997 | January 20, 2001 | Democratic | Clinton |
| 13 | Togo D. West | Secretary of Veterans Affairs | 17 | May 4, 1998 | July 25, 2000 | Democratic | Clinton |
| 14 | Colin Powell* | Secretary of State | 4 | January 20, 2001 | January 26, 2005 | Republican | George W. Bush |
| 15 | Rod Paige* | Secretary of Education | 16 | January 20, 2001 | January 20, 2005 | Republican | George W. Bush |
| 16 | Alphonso Jackson | Secretary of Housing and Urban Development | 13 | August 31, 2004 | April 18, 2008 | Republican | George W. Bush |
| 17 | Condoleezza Rice | Secretary of State | 4 | January 26, 2005 | January 20, 2009 | Republican | George W. Bush |
| 18 | Eric Holder* | Attorney General | 7 | February 3, 2009 | April 27, 2015 | Democratic | Obama |
| 19 | Anthony Foxx | Secretary of Transportation | 14 | July 2, 2013 | January 20, 2017 | Democratic | Obama |
| 20 | Jeh Johnson* | Secretary of Homeland Security | 18 | December 23, 2013 | January 20, 2017 | Democratic | Obama |
| 21 | Loretta Lynch | Attorney General | 7 | April 27, 2015 | January 20, 2017 | Democratic | Obama |
| 22 | John King | Secretary of Education | 16 | January 1, 2016 | January 20, 2017 | Democratic | Obama |
| 23 | Ben Carson | Secretary of Housing and Urban Development | 13 | March 2, 2017 | January 20, 2021 | Republican | Trump |
| 24 | Kamala Harris* | Vice President | 1 | January 20, 2021 | January 20, 2025 | Democratic | Biden |
| 25 | Lloyd Austin* | Secretary of Defense | 6 | January 22, 2021 | January 20, 2025 | Democratic | Biden |
| 26 | Marcia Fudge | Secretary of Housing and Urban Development | 13 | March 10, 2021 | March 22, 2024 | Democratic | Biden |
| 27 | Scott Turner | Secretary of Housing and Urban Development | 13 | February 5, 2025 | Incumbent | Republican | Trump II |

### Former permanent cabinet members

* 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, a special agency independent of the executive branch, by the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970. No African American 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 African American had ever served while they were cabinet posts.
* The Secretary of War became defunct when the Department of War became the Department of Defense in 1947. No African American had ever served while it was a cabinet post.
* The Secretary of Commerce and Labor became defunct when the Department of Commerce and Labor was subdivided into two separate entities in 1913. No African American had ever served while it was a cabinet post.

## 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. | Name | Office | Term start | Term end | Party | Administration(s) |
| 1 | Andrew Young* | United States Ambassador to the United Nations | January 30, 1977 | September 23, 1979 | Democratic | Carter |
| 2 | Donald McHenry | United States Ambassador to the United Nations | September 23, 1979 | January 20, 1981 | Democratic | Carter |
| 3 | Edward J. Perkins | United States Ambassador to the United Nations | May 12, 1992 | January 27, 1993 | Republican | H. W. Bush Clinton |
| 4 | Franklin Raines* | Director of the Office of Management and Budget | April 13, 1996 | May 21, 1998 | Democratic | Clinton |
| 5 | Lisa P. Jackson* | Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency | January 23, 2009 | February 19, 2013 | Democratic | Obama |
| 6 | Susan Rice | United States Ambassador to the United Nations | January 26, 2009 | June 30, 2013 | Democratic | Obama |
| 7 | Ron Kirk* | United States Trade Representative | March 18, 2009 | March 15, 2013 | Democratic | Obama |
| 8 | Linda Thomas-Greenfield | United States Ambassador to the United Nations | February 25, 2021 | January 20, 2025 | Democratic | Biden |
| 9 | Michael S. Regan | Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency | March 11, 2021 | December 31, 2024 | Democratic | Biden |
| 10 | Cecilia Rouse* | Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers | March 12, 2021 | March 31, 2023 | Democratic | Biden |
| 11 | Shalanda Young | Director of the Office of Management and Budget | March 17, 2022 | January 20, 2025 | Democratic | Biden |