List of Jewish 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 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
editThe 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
editThe 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
editNotes
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.
- ^ "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.
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- ^ "Biographies of the Secretaries of State: Henry A. (Heinz Alfred) Kissinger (1923–)". U.S. Department of State – Office of the Historian.
- ^ Guttman, Nathan (October 3, 2007). "Former Secretary of Defense Puts Up Mezuza After D.C. Rabbi Reaches Out". The Forward. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
- ^ Kitaeff, Jack (2006). Jews in Blue: The Jewish American Experience in Law Enforcement. Cambria Press. p. 95. ISBN 978-0977356782.
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- ^ a b c "Jack Lew's Life Shaped by Faith and Service". The Forward. 17 January 2013. Retrieved 2017-01-22.
- ^ "Penny Pritzker, Jewish Hotel Heiress, Tapped for Commerce Job". The Forward. May 2, 2013. Archived from the original on March 10, 2017. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
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- ^ Jewish Woman's Archive: "Charlene Barshefsky" by Robert D. Johnson retrieved November 19, 2012
- ^ Tablet Magazine: "Talking to W’s Chief of Staff – At the GOP convention, Josh Bolten reminisces about introducing President Bush to shmurah matzo" By Yair Rosenberg August 30, 2012.
- ^ Steve Hendrix (August 22, 2006). "Fighting for the Spoils Lawmaker and Rainmaker Rahm Emanuel Wants a Nov. 7 Victory for the Democrats So Bad He Can Almost Taste It. If Only He Had Time to Eat". Washington Post. Retrieved 2006-11-09.
- ^ 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
- ^ Jewish News Service Algemeiner: "Obama Cites US-Israel Bond in Jewish American Heritage Month Declaration" May 1, 2013
- ^ "Who is Jason Furman?". mcalvanyintelligenceadvisor.com. Archived from the original on August 23, 2019. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
- ^ Kornbluh, Jacob (November 11, 2020). "Klain tapped as Biden's incoming White House chief of staff". Jewish Insider. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
- ^ "By Omri Nahmias, November 12, 2020 The Jerusalem Post". 12 November 2020. Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. Retrieved November 13, 2020.
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