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.
The first Jewish cabinet member of 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. Janet Yellen, the incumbent 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|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
[edit]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
Cabinet-level officials
[edit]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
See also
[edit]- List of Jewish American politicians
- List of Hispanic and Latino American United States Cabinet members
- List of African-American United States Cabinet members
- List of female United States Cabinet members
- List of foreign-born United States Cabinet members
Notes
[edit]- ^ a b 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]
- ^ a b c d The department established on February 14, 1903; it was later split into the Departments of Commerce and Labor on March 4, 1913.
- ^ a b 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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- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Louis Sandy Maisel (2001). Jews in American Politics. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 445–. ISBN 978-0-7425-0181-2.
- ^ "Prior Secretaries". United States Department of the Treasury. Retrieved August 21, 2019.
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- ^ Kitaeff, Jack (2006). Jews in Blue: The Jewish American Experience in Law Enforcement. Cambria Press. p. 95. ISBN 978-0977356782.
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- ^ Eden, Ami (December 29, 2009). "Mazal tov: Peter Orszag and Bianna Golodryga". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 6 November 2013.
- ^ The Jewish Daily Forward: "Meet the Four Jews Shaping the U.S. Economy" By Nathan Guttman Archived March 22, 2015, at the Wayback Machine February 28, 2013
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- ^ "By Omri Nahmias, November 12, 2020 The Jerusalem Post". 12 November 2020. Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
- ^ Bloom, Nate (10 December 2020). "Jewz in the Newz: 3 Great Actresses on a Cruise; Jewish Woman Intelligence Chief, More Bourla". The American Israelite. Archived from the original on December 17, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
- ^ Guttman, Nathan (February 28, 2013). "Meet the Four Jews Shaping the U.S. Economy". The Jewish Daily Forward. Retrieved September 3, 2017.
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