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List of foreign-born United States Cabinet members

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Henry Kissinger (left) and Madeleine Albright (right) are the highest-ranking foreign-born citizens to lead the Federal Executive Department; each held the post of Secretary of State.

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.[1] President George Washington appointed Hamilton, born in Nevis in 1755 or in 1757, as the United States' first Secretary of the Treasury in 1789.[2][3] 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.[4]

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.[5][6] 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.[7][8]) 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.[1]

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.[1] 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.[9][10] 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

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Current departments

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The Department of Defense was established in 1947; no foreign-born person has served yet.[11] 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[12] Year appointed Country of birth Party Administration Ref.
1 Alexander Hamilton* Secretary of the Treasury 5 1789 Saint Kitts and Nevis (then the British Leeward Islands) Federalist Washington [2][3]
2 Albert Gallatin Secretary of the Treasury 5 1801 Switzerland (then the Republic of Geneva) Democratic-Republican Jefferson
3 George W. Campbell Secretary of the Treasury 5 1814 United Kingdom Madison [13]
4 William J. Duane Secretary of the Treasury 5 1833 Ireland (then part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland) Democratic Jackson [14]
5 Carl Schurz* Secretary of the Interior 8 1877 Germany (then Prussia) Republican Hayes [1][15]
6 James Wilson* Secretary of Agriculture 9 1897 United Kingdom McKinley [16]
Roosevelt
Taft
7 Franklin Knight Lane Secretary of the Interior 8 1913 Canada (then Prince Edward Island) Democratic Wilson [17]
8 William B. Wilson* Secretary of Labor 11 United Kingdom [18]
9 James J. Davis Secretary of Labor 11 1921 United Kingdom Republican Harding [19][20]
Coolidge
Hoover
10 Anthony J. Celebrezze* Secretary of Health and Human Services[a] 12 1962 Italy Democratic Kennedy [22]
Johnson
11 George W. Romney* Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 13 1969 Mexico Republican Nixon [7]
12 Henry Kissinger* Secretary of State 4 1973 Germany [23][24]
Ford
13 W. Michael Blumenthal Secretary of the Treasury 5 1977 Germany Democratic Carter [25][26]
14 Madeleine Albright Secretary of State 4 1997 Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia) Clinton [27][28]
15 Elaine Chao Secretary of Labor 11 2001 Taiwan Republican Bush Jr. [1][29]
16 Mel Martínez Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 13 Cuba [1]
17 Carlos Gutierrez* Secretary of Commerce 10 2005 Cuba [30][31]
18 Sally Jewell Secretary of the Interior 8 2013 United Kingdom Democratic Obama [32]
(15) Elaine Chao* Secretary of Transportation 14 2017 Taiwan Republican Trump [33]
19 Robert Wilkie* Secretary of Veterans Affairs 17 2018 Germany (then West Germany) [34]
20 Jennifer Granholm* Secretary of Energy 15 2021 Canada Democratic Biden
21 Alejandro Mayorkas* Secretary of Homeland Security 18 Cuba

Defunct departments

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 *  denotes the first foreign-born secretary of that particular department
No. Person Position Year appointed Country of birth Party Administration Ref.
1 James McHenry* Secretary of War 1796 United Kingdom (then the Kingdom of Ireland) Independent Washington [4]
Federalist Adams
2 Oscar Straus* Secretary of Commerce and Labor 1906 Germany (then the Kingdom of Bavaria) Republican Roosevelt [38]

Cabinet-level officials

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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 Ref.
1 Zbigniew Brzezinski* National Security Advisor 1977 Poland Democratic Carter
2 Madeleine Albright* Ambassador to the United Nations 1993 Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia) Clinton [27][28]
3 John M. Deutch* Director of Central Intelligence 1995 Belgium [39][40]
4 Samantha Power Ambassador to the United Nations 2013 United Kingdom Obama [41]
5 Maria Contreras-Sweet* Administrator of the Small Business Administration 2014 Mexico [42]
6 Arati Prabhakar* Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy 2022 India Biden [43]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ At the time of his appointment, the position was then called the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare.[21]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Haddock, Vicki (November 2, 2003). "President Schwarzenegger? Some think it's time to stop excluding foreign-born citizens from serving in the Oval Office". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Communications Inc. Retrieved January 21, 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Alexander Hamilton". United States Department of the Treasury. Archived from the original on November 8, 2008. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
  3. ^ a b "Hamilton, Alexander, (1757–1804)". United States Congress. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
  4. ^ a b "James McHenry". United States Army. Archived from the original on August 10, 2020. Retrieved November 25, 2008.
  5. ^ "Albert Gallatin". United States Department of the Treasury. Archived from the original on September 21, 2008. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
  6. ^ "Gallatin, Albert, (1761–1849)". United States Congress. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
  7. ^ a b Dobner, Jennifer; Johnson, Glen (February 24, 2007). "Polygamy Prominent in GOP Presidential Hopeful Mitt Romney's Family Tree". Fox News. Associated Press. Archived from the original on November 30, 2011. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  8. ^ Rutenberg, Jim; Zeleny, Jeff. "Mitt Romney". The New York Times. Retrieved February 1, 2009.
  9. ^ "The Constitution of the United States: Article II. Executive Department (p.455-456)" (PDF). gpoaccess.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2008. Retrieved November 25, 2008.
  10. ^ "U.S. Code: Title 3, 19. Vacancy in offices of both President and Vice President; officers eligible to act". Cornell Law School. Retrieved November 16, 2008.
  11. ^ "Histories of the Secretaries of Defense". United States Department of Defense. Retrieved May 31, 2014.
  12. ^ Feerick, John. "Essays on Amendment XXV: Presidential Succession". The Heritage Guide to the Constitution. The Heritage Foundation. Archived from the original on August 22, 2020. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  13. ^ "Campbell, George Washington, (1769–1848)". United States Congress. Retrieved November 25, 2008.
  14. ^ "William J. Duane (1833 -1833): Secretary of the Treasury". University of Virginia. Archived from the original on September 17, 2008. Retrieved November 25, 2008.
  15. ^ "Schurz, Carl, (1829–1906)". United States Congress. Retrieved November 16, 2008.
  16. ^ "Former Secretaries". www.usda.gov. Retrieved 2021-01-07.
  17. ^ "Franklin Knight Lane". National Park Service. Retrieved November 25, 2008.
  18. ^ "William B. Wilson". United States Department of Labor. Archived from the original on October 28, 2008. Retrieved November 25, 2008.
  19. ^ "James J. Davis". United States Department of Labor. Archived from the original on 2008-11-05. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
  20. ^ "Davis, James John, (1873–1947)". United States Congress. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
  21. ^ "Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives, Title 20, Section 3508". house.gov. Archived from the original on June 19, 2012. Retrieved January 7, 2012.
  22. ^ "Anthony J. Celebrezze 1910–1998". Ohio Northern University. Archived from the original on September 27, 2008. Retrieved November 25, 2008.
  23. ^ "Henry Kissinger". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
  24. ^ "Secretary of State Henry Alfred Kissinger". United States Department of State. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
  25. ^ "Michael Blumenthal". United States Department of the Treasury. Archived from the original on September 21, 2008. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
  26. ^ "W. Michael Blumenthal". Jewish Museum Berlin. Retrieved November 10, 2008. [dead link‍]
  27. ^ a b "Secretary of State Madeleine Korbel Albright". United States Department of State. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
  28. ^ a b Brockes, Emma (October 30, 2003). "'I loved what I did'". The Guardian. London. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
  29. ^ "Profile: Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao". ABC News. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
  30. ^ "Carlos Gutierrez". United States Department of Commerce. Archived from the original on December 22, 2008. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
  31. ^ "Profile: Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez". ABC News. January 25, 2005. Retrieved November 10, 2008.
  32. ^ "REI's Sally Jewell wins confirmation as Interior secretary". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  33. ^ Jansen, Bart (January 31, 2017). "Elaine Chao Takes Oath to Become Transportation Secretary". USA Today. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  34. ^ Rosenbleeth, Herb (July 3, 2018). "Robert Wilkie Nominated for VA Secretary". Jewish War Veterans.
  35. ^ "The United States Postal Service — An American History 1775 – 2002" (PDF). United States Postal Service. September 2003. Retrieved May 31, 2014.
  36. ^ "Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense". National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved May 31, 2014.
  37. ^ "Secretaries of the Navy". Department of the Navy. Archived from the original on August 1, 2014. Retrieved May 31, 2014.
  38. ^ "Oscar S. Straus in Roosevelt's Cabinet; Will Be the First Jew to Hold Such a Post in This Country. Meyer Postmaster General Metcalf Secretary of the Navy -Cortelyou to Head the Treasury Department". The New York Times. October 24, 1906. Retrieved November 12, 2008.
  39. ^ Weiner, Tim (March 11, 1995). "Man in the News: John Mark Deutch; Reluctant Helmsman for a Troubled Agency". The New York Times. Retrieved January 20, 2009.
  40. ^ Lewis, Neil A. (September 17, 2000). "Investigation Of Ex-Chief Of the C.I.A. Is Broadened". The New York Times. Retrieved January 20, 2009.
  41. ^ Peters, Jeremy W. (August 1, 2013). "Senate Easily Approves Obama's U.N. Nominee". The New York Times. Retrieved February 7, 2016.
  42. ^ "Maria Contreras-Sweet Confirmed As SBA Administrator". NBC News. Retrieved 2014-03-27.
  43. ^ "Senate Votes to Confirm Dr. Arati Prabhakar as Director of White House Office of Science and Technology Policy". American Kahani. Retrieved 2022-09-22.

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