# United States Secretary of Commerce

| United States Secretary of Commerce |
| --- |
| Seal of the U.S. Department of Commerce |
| Flag of the secretary |
| **Incumbent Howard Lutnick** since February 19, 2025 |
| United States Department of Commerce |
| Style | Madam Secretary (informal) The Honorable (formal) |
| Member of | Cabinet |
| Reports to | President of the United States |
| Seat | Herbert C. Hoover Building, Washington, D.C. |
| Appointer | President of the United States with United States Senate advice and consent |
| Term length | No fixed term |
| Constituting instrument | 15 U.S.C. § 1501 |
| Precursor | Secretary of Commerce and Labor |
| Formation | March 5, 1913 (1913-03-05) |
| First holder | William C. Redfield |
| Succession | Tenth |
| Deputy | Deputy Secretary of Commerce |
| Salary | Executive Schedule, Level I |
| Website | Commerce.gov |

The **United States Secretary of Commerce** is the head of the United States Department of Commerce concerned with business and industry; the Department states its mission to be "to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce." Until 1913 there was one Secretary of Commerce and Labor, uniting this department with the Department of Labor, which is now headed by a separate Secretary of Labor.

## List of U.S. secretaries of commerce

Parties
  Independent (1)
  Democratic (21)
  Republican (19)

Status
  Denotes acting commerce secretary

| No. | Portrait | Name | State of residence | Took office | Left office | President(s) |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 |  | William C. Redfield | New York | March 5, 1913 | October 31, 1919 |  | Woodrow Wilson (1913–1921) |
| 2 |  | Joshua W. Alexander | Missouri | December 16, 1919 | March 4, 1921 |
| 3 |  | Herbert Hoover | California | March 5, 1921 | August 21, 1928 |  | Warren G. Harding (1921–1923) |
|  | Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929) |
| 4 |  | William F. Whiting | Massachusetts | August 22, 1928 | March 4, 1929 |
| 5 |  | Robert P. Lamont | Illinois | March 5, 1929 | August 7, 1932 |  | Herbert Hoover (1929–1933) |
| 6 |  | Roy D. Chapin | Michigan | August 8, 1932 | March 3, 1933 |
| 7 |  | Daniel C. Roper | South Carolina | March 4, 1933 | December 23, 1938 |  | Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1945) |
| 8 |  | Harry Hopkins | New York | December 24, 1938 | September 18, 1940 |
| 9 |  | Jesse H. Jones | Texas | September 19, 1940 | March 1, 1945 |
| 10 |  | Henry A. Wallace | Iowa | March 2, 1945 | September 20, 1946 |
|  | Harry S. Truman (1945–1953) |
| – |  | Alfred Schindler Acting | Missouri | September 20, 1946 | October 7, 1946 |
| 11 |  | W. Averell Harriman | New York | October 7, 1946 | April 22, 1948 |
| 12 |  | Charles W. Sawyer | Ohio | May 6, 1948 | January 20, 1953 |
| 13 |  | Sinclair Weeks | Massachusetts | January 21, 1953 | November 10, 1958 |  | Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953–1961) |
| - |  | Lewis Strauss | New York | November 13, 1958 | June 30, 1959 |
| 14 |  | Frederick H. Mueller | Michigan | June 30, 1959 | August 10, 1959 |
| August 10, 1959 | January 19, 1961 |
| 15 |  | Luther H. Hodges | North Carolina | January 21, 1961 | January 15, 1965 |  | John F. Kennedy (1961–1963) |
|  | Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–1969) |
| 16 |  | John T. Connor | New Jersey | January 18, 1965 | January 31, 1967 |
| 17 |  | Alexander Trowbridge | New York | January 31, 1967 | June 14, 1967 |
| June 14, 1967 | March 1, 1968 |
| 18 |  | C. R. Smith | New York | March 6, 1968 | January 19, 1969 |
| 19 |  | Maurice Stans | New York | January 21, 1969 | February 15, 1972 |  | Richard Nixon (1969–1974) |
| 20 |  | Peter G. Peterson | Illinois | February 29, 1972 | February 1, 1973 |
| 21 |  | Frederick B. Dent | South Carolina | February 2, 1973 | March 26, 1975 |
|  | Gerald Ford (1974–1977) |
| 22 |  | Rogers Morton | Maryland | May 1, 1975 | February 2, 1976 |
| 23 |  | Elliot Richardson | Massachusetts | February 2, 1976 | January 20, 1977 |
| 24 |  | Juanita M. Kreps | North Carolina | January 23, 1977 | October 31, 1979 |  | Jimmy Carter (1977–1981) |
| – |  | Luther H. Hodges Jr. Acting | North Carolina | October 31, 1979 | January 9, 1980 |
| 25 |  | Philip Klutznick | Illinois | January 9, 1980 | January 20, 1981 |
| 26 |  | Malcolm Baldrige Jr. | Connecticut | January 20, 1981 | July 25, 1987 |  | Ronald Reagan (1981–1989) |
| – |  | Bud Brown Acting | Ohio | July 25, 1987 | October 19, 1987 |
| 27 |  | William Verity Jr. | Ohio | October 19, 1987 | January 30, 1989 |
| 28 |  | Robert Mosbacher | Texas | January 31, 1989 | January 15, 1992 |  | George H. W. Bush (1989–1993) |
| – |  | Rockwell A. Schnabel Acting | California | January 15, 1992 | February 27, 1992 |
| 29 |  | Barbara Franklin | Pennsylvania | February 27, 1992 | January 20, 1993 |
| 30 |  | Ron Brown | New York | January 20, 1993 | April 3, 1996 |  | Bill Clinton (1993–2001) |
| – |  | Mary L. Good Acting | Texas | April 3, 1996 | April 12, 1996 |
| 31 |  | Mickey Kantor | Tennessee | April 12, 1996 | January 21, 1997 |
| 32 |  | William M. Daley | Illinois | January 30, 1997 | July 19, 2000 |
| – |  | Robert L. Mallett Acting | Texas | July 19, 2000 | July 21, 2000 |
| 33 |  | Norman Mineta | California | July 21, 2000 | January 20, 2001 |
| 34 |  | Donald Evans | Texas | January 20, 2001 | February 7, 2005 |  | George W. Bush (2001–2009) |
| 35 |  | Carlos Gutierrez | Florida | February 7, 2005 | January 20, 2009 |
| – |  | Otto J. Wolff Acting |  | January 20, 2009 | March 26, 2009 |  | Barack Obama (2009–2017) |
| 36 |  | Gary Locke | Washington | March 26, 2009 | August 1, 2011 |
| – |  | Rebecca Blank Acting | Minnesota | August 1, 2011 | October 21, 2011 |
| 37 |  | John Bryson | New York | October 21, 2011 | June 11, 2012 |
| – |  | Rebecca Blank Acting | Minnesota | June 11, 2012 | June 1, 2013 |
| – |  | Cameron Kerry Acting | Massachusetts | June 1, 2013 | June 26, 2013 |
| 38 |  | Penny Pritzker | Illinois | June 26, 2013 | January 20, 2017 |
| – | *Vacant* | January 20, 2017 | February 28, 2017 |  | Donald Trump (2017–2021) |
| 39 |  | Wilbur Ross | Florida | February 28, 2017 | January 20, 2021 |
| – |  | Wynn Coggins Acting | Virginia | January 20, 2021 | March 3, 2021 |  | Joe Biden (2021–2025) |
| 40 |  | Gina Raimondo | Rhode Island | March 3, 2021 | January 20, 2025 |
| – |  | Jeremy Pelter Acting |
Maryland | January 20, 2025 | February 19, 2025 |  | Donald Trump (2025–present) |
| 41 |  | Howard Lutnick | New York | February 19, 2025 | Incumbent |

## Living former secretaries of commerce

As of December 2025, there are nine living former secretaries of commerce, the oldest being Wilbur Ross (served 2017-2021). The most recent death of a former secretary of state was that of John Bryson (served 2011-2012) on May 13, 2025.

* Barbara Franklin
(1992-1993)
* Mickey Kantor
(1996-1997)
* William M. Daley
(1997-2000)
* Donald Evans
(2001-2005)
* Carlos Gutierrez
(2005-2009)
* Gary Locke
(2009-2011)
* Penny Pritzker
(2013-2017)
* Wilbur Ross
(2017-2021)
* Gina Raimondo
(2021-2025)