womenapptdtoprescabinets

WOMEN APPOINTED TO PRESIDENTIAL CABINETS

Thirteen women have been confirmed to serve in cabinet (6) and cabinet level (7) positions in the Biden

administration. A total of 66 women have held a total of 74 such positions in presidential administrations,

with eight women serving in two different posts. (These figures do not include acting officials.) Among the

66 women, 43 were appointed by Democratic presidents and 23 by Republican presidents. Only 12 U.S

presidents (5D, 7R) have appointed women to cabinet or cabinet-level positions since the first woman was

appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933.

Cabinet or Cabinet-level Firsts:

First Woman

Appointed

First Black Woman

Appointed

First Latina

Appointed

First Asian Pacific

Islander Woman

Appointed

First Native

American Woman

Appointed

Frances Perkins

Secretary of Labor

1933 (Roosevelt)

Patricia Roberts

Harris

Secretary of

Housing and Urban

Development

1977 (Carter)

Aída Álvarez

Administrator,

Small Business

Administration

1997 (Clinton)

Elaine Chao

Secretary of Labor

2001 (G.W. Bush)

Debra Haaland

Secretary of the

Interior

2021 (Biden)

To date, 28 cabinet or cabinet-level posts have been filled by women. Cabinet and cabinet-level positions

vary by presidential administration. Our final authority for designating cabinet or cabinet-level in an

administration is that president's official library.

In addition, although President Truman did not appoint any women, Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins, a holdover from the Roosevelt

administration, served in his cabinet.

43D

23R

Party breakdown of women appointed to Presidential Cabinets:

Position

# of

women

Position

# of

women

Secretary of Labor

Secretary of Homeland Security

Secretary of Health and Human Services

Vice President

U.N. Ambassador

Chair, National Economic Council

Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency

Counselor to the President

Administrator, Small Business Administration

Director, Office of Personnel Management

Chair, Council of Economic Advisers

Secretary of Agriculture

Secretary of Commerce

Secretary of Energy

Secretary of Education

Secretary of Health, Education, Welfare

Secretary of State

Special Trade Representative

Attorney General

Director, Central Intelligence Agency

Director, Office of Management and Budget

Director, National Intelligence

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

Secretary of the Treasury

Secretary of the Interior

Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy

Secretary of Transportation

Secretary of Veterans Affairs

U.S. Trade Representative

Secretary of Defense

A. Patricia Roberts Harris was appointed as Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, but became Secretary of Health and

Human Services when the department was renamed in May 1980. We count these as a single appointment.

B. The position of Chair of the National Economic Council was considered cabinet-level in the Clinton administration.

C. The position of Counselor to the President was considered cabinet-level during the Nixon and Ford administrations.

D. The position of Director, Office of Personnel Management, was a cabinet-level position in the Clinton administration.

Among the appointees:

Twenty-five have been attorneys:

Barshefsky, Browner, Clinton, Dole, Fudge, Granholm, Haaland, Haines, K. Harris, P.

Harris, Heckler, Hills, Hufstedler, LaChance, Lynch, Napolitano, Nielsen, Norton, O’Leary,

Power, Pritzker, Raimondo, Reno, Tai, and Veneman.

Fourteen had backgrounds in academe:

Albright, Granholm, P. Harris, Kirkpatrick, Kreps, Prabhakar, Rice, Rivlin, Romer, Rouse,

Schwab, Shalala, Tyson, and Yellen.

Fourteen held federal or statewide elective offices before serving in cabinets:

Six who served as governors (Granholm, Haley, Napolitano, Raimondo, Sebelius,

Whitman)

Three who were an elected state attorney general (Granholm, K. Harris, Norton)

One served as an elected state treasurer (Raimondo)

Two who served in the U.S. Senate (Clinton, K. Harris)

Five who served in the U.S. House (Fudge, Haaland, Heckler, Martin, Solis)

Totals include only women presidential appointees confirmed by the Senate to cabinet or cabinet-level positions; they do not include

acting officials or nominees awaiting confirmation. Cabinet and cabinet-level positions vary by presidential administration. Our final

authority for designating cabinet or cabinet-level in an administration is that president's official library. See notes below this table for

more details on appointments within presidential administrations, as well on variance in cabinet or cabinet-level positions across and

within presidential administrations.

President

Total # of Women

appointed this term

Total # of

Women

Appointees

Maximum # of

Women Serving

Concurrently

# of Cabinet or

Cabinet-Level

Positions

% of

Women at

Maximum Level

Biden

Trump

Obama (second term)

Obama (first term)

G.W. Bush (second term)

G.W. Bush (first term)

Clinton (second term)

Clinton

(first term)

G.H.W. Bush

Reagan (second term)

Reagan (first term)

Carter

Ford

Nixon (second term)

see note #E

Nixon (first term)

Johnson

Kennedy

Eisenhower (second term)

Eisenhower (first term)

Truman (second term)

Truman (first term)

F. Roosevelt (all four terms)

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A. The position of U.N. Ambassador was considered cabinet-level in the Trump administration until December 2018, when it was

removed from cabinet-level. From September 2019 through January 2021, a woman – Kelly Craft – served as U.N. Ambassador

when it was not considered cabinet-level.

B. The position of Administrator, Small Business Administration was elevated to cabinet status in January, 2012.

C. Clinton appointed seven different women to cabinet or cabinet level positions in his first term, but one woman (Laura D’Andrea

Tyson) held two different positions during that administration – first chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, then chair of the

National Economic Council (which she continued to hold during his second term). Another woman, Madeleine Albright, held different

positions in Clinton’s first administration (U.N. ambassador) and second administration (secretary of state).

D. Carter made four appointments of women, but those included one woman appointed to two different posts. During the Carter

administration, the position of Secretary of Education was created, and the position of Secretary of Health, Education and

Welfare was replaced by a Secretary of Health and Human Services; Patricia Roberts Harris moved from HEW to HHS when the

positions were redefined. Earlier, she had been Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

E. No women served in Nixon's 13-member cabinet. One woman held a cabinet-level position, as did a varying number of men at

different times, making it impossible for us to provide an exact total number of positions or percentage of women. The

position of Postmaster General was eliminated from the cabinet before Nixon’s first term ended.

F. When Truman took office, the cabinet included the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy. In 1947, these roles were

combined in the new post of Secretary of Defense.

Asterisks* indicate the first woman to hold that position. Italics signify women who have served in an acting capacity; no

biographical information is provided for those individuals.

Appointee

Position

Appointed By

Dates

Arati Prabhakar*

Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy

Biden (D)

2022-present

Alondra Nelson

Acting Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy

Biden (D)

2022

Shalanda Young

Director, Office of Management and Budget

Biden (D)

2022-present

Shalanda Young

Acting Director, Office of Management and Budget

Biden (D)

2021-2022

Katherine Tai

U.S. Trade Representative

Biden (D)

2021-present

Isabel Guzman

Administrator, Small Business Administration

Biden (D)

2021-present

Debra Haaland

Secretary of the Interior

Biden (D)

2021-present

Cecilia Rouse

Chair, Council of Economic Advisers

Biden (D)

2021-present

Marcia Fudge

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

Biden (D)

2021-present

Gina Raimondo

Secretary of Commerce

Biden (D)

2021-present

Jennifer Granholm

Secretary of Energy

Biden (D)

2021-present

Linda Thomas-Greenfield

U.N. Ambassador

Biden (D)

2021-present

Janet Yellen*

Secretary of the Treasury

Biden (D)

2021-present

Avril Haines*

Director of National Intelligence

Biden (D)

2021-present

Kamala Harris

Vice President

Biden (D)

2021-present

Jovita Carranza

Administrator, Small Business Administration

Trump (R)

2020-2021

Gina Haspel*

Director, Central Intelligence Agency

Trump (R)

2018-2021

Kirstjen Nielsen

Secretary of Homeland Security

Trump (R)

2017-2019

Elaine C. Duke

Acting Secretary of Homeland Security

Trump (R)

2017

Betsy DeVos

Secretary of Education

Trump (R)

2017-2021

Nikki Haley

U.N. Ambassador

Trump (R)

2017-2019

Elaine Chao

Secretary of Transportation

Trump (R)

2017-2021

Linda McMahon

Administrator, Small Business Administration

Trump (R)

2017-2019

Sally Yates

Acting Attorney General

Trump (R)

2017

Loretta Lynch

Attorney General

Obama (D)

2015-2017

Sylvia Mathews Burwell

Secretary of Health and Human Services

Obama (D)

2014-2017

Maria Contreras-Sweet

Administrator, Small Business Administration

Obama (D)

2014-2017

Samantha Power

U.N. Ambassador

Obama (D)

2013-2017

Gina McCarthy

Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency

Obama (D)

2013-2017

Penny Pritzker

Secretary of Commerce

Obama (D)

2013-2017

Sally Jewell

Secretary of the Interior

Obama (D)

2013-2017

Sylvia Mathews Burwell

Director, Office of Management and Budget

Obama (D)

2013-2014

Rosemary DiCarlo

Acting U.N. Ambassador

Obama (D)

2013

Miriam Sapiro

Acting U.S. Trade Representative

Obama (D)

2013

Karen G. Mills

Administrator, Small Business Administration

Obama (D)

2012-2013

Rebecca Blank

Acting Secretary of Commerce

Obama (D)

2012-2013

Rebecca Blank

Acting Secretary of Commerce

Obama (D)

2011

Kathleen Sebelius

Secretary of Health and Human Services

Obama (D)

2009-2014

Janet Napolitano*

Secretary of Homeland Security

Obama (D)

2009-2013

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Secretary of State

Obama (D)

2009-2013

Lisa Jackson

Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency

Obama (D)

2009-2013

Susan E. Rice

U. N. Ambassador

Obama (D)

2009-2013

Hilda Solis

Secretary of Labor

Obama (D)

2009-2013

Duke was appointed Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security and became Acting Secretary when the Secretary was appointed White House

chief of staff.

Yates was a holdover from the Obama administration, where she was Deputy Attorney General, and served briefly as acting Attorney General

in the Trump administration.

Christina D. Romer

Chair, Council of Economic Advisers

Obama (D)

2009-2010

Lynn Scarlett

Acting Secretary of Interior

Obama (D)

2009

Mary E. Peters

Secretary of Transportation

G.W. Bush (R)

2006-2009

Susan Schwab

U.S. Trade Representative

G.W. Bush (R)

2006-2009

Maria Cino

Acting Secretary of Transportation

G.W. Bush (R)

2006

Lynn Scarlett

Acting Secretary of Interior

G.W. Bush (R)

2006

Condoleezza Rice

Secretary of State

G.W. Bush (R)

2005-2009

Margaret Spellings

Secretary of Education

G.W. Bush (R)

2005-2009

Anne W. Patterson

Acting U.N. Ambassador

G.W. Bush (R)

2005

Elaine Chao

Secretary of Labor

G.W. Bush (R)

2001-2009

Gale Norton*

Secretary of Interior

G.W. Bush (R)

2001-2006

Ann Veneman*

Secretary of Agriculture

G.W. Bush (R)

2001-2005

Susan Livingstone

Acting Secretary of the Navy

G.W. Bush (R)

2003

Christine Todd Whitman

Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency

G.W. Bush (R)

2001-2003

Janice R. Lachance*

Director, Office of Personnel Management

Clinton (D)

1997-2001

Alexis Herman

Secretary of Labor

Clinton (D)

1997-2001

Charlene Barshefsky

U.S. Trade Representative

Clinton (D)

1997-2001

Aída Álvarez*

Administrator, Small Business Administration

Clinton (D)

1997-2001

Madeleine K. Albright*

Secretary of State

Clinton (D)

1997-2001

Janet L. Yellen

Chair, Council of Economic Advisors

Clinton (D)

1997-1999

Ginger Lew

Acting Administrator, Small Business

Clinton (D)

1997

Laura D’Andrea Tyson*

Chair, National Economic Council

Clinton (D)

1995-1996

Chair, Council of Economic Advisors

Clinton (D)

1993-1995

Alice M. Rivlin*

Director, Office of Management and Budget

Clinton (D)

1994-1996

Cassandra M. Pulley

Acting Administrator, Small Business

Clinton (D)

1994

Donna E. Shalala

Secretary of Health and Human Services

Clinton (D)

1993-2001

Carol M. Browner*

Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency

Clinton (D)

1993-2001

Janet Reno*

Attorney General

Clinton (D)

1993-2001

Madeleine K. Albright

U.N. Ambassador

Clinton (D)

1993-1997

Hazel R. O’Leary*

Secretary of Energy

Clinton (D)

1993-1997

Barbara H. Franklin

Secretary of Commerce

Bush (R)

1992-1993

Lynn Morley Martin

Secretary of Labor

Bush (R)

1991-1993

Carla Anderson Hills

Special Trade Representative

Bush (R)

1989-1993

Elizabeth Hanford Dole

Secretary of Labor

Bush (R)

1989-1990

Ann Dore McLaughlin

Secretary of Labor

Reagan (R)

1987-1989

Elizabeth Hanford Dole*

Secretary of Transportation

Reagan (R)

1983-1987

Margaret M. Heckler

Secretary of Health and Human Services

Reagan (R)

1983-1985

Jeane J. Kirkpatrick*

U.N. Ambassador

Reagan (R)

1981-1985

Patricia R. Harris

Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare/Health

and Human Services

Carter (D)

1979-1981

Shirley M. Hufstedler*

Secretary of Education

Carter (D)

1979-1981

Juanita A. Kreps*

Secretary of Commerce

Carter (D)

1977-1979

Patricia R. Harris

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

Carter (D)

1977-1979

Carla Anderson Hills*

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

Ford (R)

1975-1977

Anne Armstrong

Counselor to the President

Nixon (R), Ford (R)

1973-1974

Oveta Culp Hobby*

Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare

Eisenhower (R)

1953-1955

Frances Perkins*

Secretary of Labor

F.D. Roosevelt (D), Truman (D)

1933-1945

Harris was appointed as Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, but became Secretary of Health and Human Services

when the department was renamed in May 1980. She was the first woman to hold the position under the new title.

Brief Personal Histories of Appointees Listed Alphabetically

MADELEINE K. ALBRIGHT (D) — Secretary of State, 1997-2001; United Nations Ambassador, 1993-97

: Albright is the first woman to

serve as secretary of state and the highest ranking woman in the U.S. government. Before her appointment to the State Department,

she served as U.N. Ambassador from 1993 to 1997. Prior to her service in government, she was president of the Center for National

Policy. She was also a research professor of International Affairs and the director of Women in Foreign Service at Georgetown

University’s School of Foreign Service.

AIDA ALVAREZ (D) — Administrator, Small Business Administration, 1997-2001: Alvarez is the first Hispanic woman and the first

person of Puerto Rican heritage to hold a position in a president’s cabinet. Prior to her appointment as administrator, Alvarez

directed the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO). Before her service in Washington, DC, she was a Wall Street

investment banker, television journalist and president of the largest municipal health care system — the New York City Health

and Hospitals Corporation.

ANNE ARMSTRONG (R) — Counselor to the President, 1973-74: Armstrong was a Republican Party activist, co-chairing the

Republican National Committee from 1971 to 1973 and keynoting the party’s convention in 1972. As counselor to the President

with cabinet rank, she established the Office for Women’s Programs.

CHARLENE BARSHEFSKY (D) — U. S. Trade Representative, 1997-2001: Prior to her nomination as the U.S. Trade Representative,

Barshefsky served as Acting U.S. Trade Representative since April 1996. She served as the Deputy U.S. Trade Representative from

1993 to 1996. Before coming to government service, she was a partner in a Washington, D.C. law firm specializing in international

trade law and policy.

CAROL M. BROWNER (D) — Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency, 1993-2001: Prior to her appointment, she was

secretary of the Florida State Department of Environmental Regulation. Browner previously served as legislative director for then-

U.S. Senator Al Gore.

SYLVIA MATHEWS BURWELL (D) — Director, Office of Management and Budget, 2013-2014; Secretary of Health and Human

Services, 2014-2017: Prior to her appointment, Burwell was president of the Walmart Foundation. Earlier, she served as president

of the Global Development Program of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. From 1998 to 2001, Burwell was deputy director

of the Office of Management and Budget.

JOVITA CARRANZA (R) — Administrator, Small Business Administration 2020-present: Prior to her nomination, Carranza served at

Treasurer of the United States under President Donald J. Trump. In the Bush Administration, she served as the Deputy

Administrator for the SBA. She also worked for thirty years at the United Parcel Service (UPS).

ELAINE CHAO (R) — Secretary of Labor, 2001-2009; Secretary of Transportation 2017-21: Chao is the first Asian-American woman

to serve in a presidential cabinet. Prior to her appointment to the Trump administration, she was a Distinguished Fellow at the

Hudson Institute. Prior to her appointment in the Bush administration, she was senior editor and distinguished fellow at the

Heritage Foundation. She has been both president of the United Way and director of the Peace Corps. During the first Bush

administration, Chao was deputy secretary of the Department of Transportation. During the latter part of the Reagan

administration, she served as deputy administrator of the Federal Maritime Administration.

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D) — Secretary of State, 2009-2013: Prior to her appointment, Clinton was U.S. Senator from New

York from 2001 to 2008. She was a presidential candidate in 2008 and was first lady from 1993 to 2000. Prior to her governmental

service, she was a partner in an Arkansas law firm from 1979 to 1992.

MARIA CONTRERAS-SWEET (D) — Administrator, Small Business Administration, 2014-2017: Prior to her appointment, Contreras-

Sweet served as secretary of California’s Business, Transportation and Housing Agency from 1999 to 2003.

BETSY DEVOS (R) — Secretary of Education 2017 – 21: An activist for school choice, DeVos chaired the Michigan Republican party,

the American Federation for Children, and the Windquest Group. She has also served on national and local civic and charitable

boards.

ELIZABETH HANFORD DOLE (R) — Secretary of Transportation, 1983-87; Secretary of Labor, 1989-90: An attorney, Dole served as

a White House aide in the Johnson and Reagan administrations and was appointed by President Nixon to the Federal Trade

Commission. She left her Reagan administration cabinet post to work for the presidential campaign of her husband, Kansas

Senator Robert Dole. She was appointed Secretary of Labor by President Bush.

BARBARA H. FRANKLIN (R) — Secretary of Commerce, 1992-93: Franklin was one of the first women to graduate from Harvard

Business School. As an international trade and governmental management expert, Franklin held several non-cabinet-level

appointed positions during the Nixon and Reagan administrations prior to her appointment as Secretary of Commerce by

President Bush.

MARCIA FUDGE (D) — Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 2021-present: Prior to her appointment, Fudge served in the

U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio’s 11

congressional district (2008-2021). She also served as the first woman and first

The position of U.N. Ambassador was considered cabinet-level in the Trump administration, as it was during the Obama, Clinton and Reagan

administrations, until December 2018.

Black Mayor of Warrensville Heights, Ohio (2000-2008). Before becoming an elected officeholder, Fudge worked in various roles

for Cuyahoga County. In 2016, she served as Chair of the Democratic National Convention. Fudge earned her law degree from

Cleveland State University Cleveland-Marshall School of Law.

JENNIFER GRANHOLM (D) — Secretary of Energy, 2021-present: Prior to her appointment, Granholm served as the Governor (2003-

2011) and Attorney General (1999-2003) of Michigan, the first woman to hold both of those positions. She also served on the

transition team for President Barack Obama before he took office in January 2009. Granholm was also Assistant U.S. Attorney for

the Eastern District of Michigan and was appointed to the Wayne County (Michigan) Corporation Counsel prior to being elected

as the state’s Attorney General. After leaving the governor’s office, Granholm taught at University of California at Berkeley, hosted

a television show, and held various roles in Democratic political organizations.

ISABEL GUZMAN (D) — Administrator, Small Business Administration, 2021-present: Prior to her appointment, Guzman served as

Director of Office of the Small Business Advocate for the state of California (2019-2021). She previously served as Deputy Chief

of Staff and Senior Advisor to the Administrator of the Small Business Administration under President Obama (2014-2017).

Guzman’s work prior to serving in the Small Business Administration has been focused on business management, development,

and strategy.

DEBRA HAALAND (D) — Secretary of the Interior, 2021-present: Haaland is the first Native American person to serve in a

presidential cabinet. Prior to her appointment, she represented New Mexico’s 1

Congressional District in the U.S. House of

Representatives (2019-2021). She was one of the first two Native American women to serve in the U.S. Congress. Before being

elected to office, Haaland served as Chair of the New Mexico Democratic Party. She earned her law degree from the University

of New Mexico Law School. Haaland is an enrolled member of the Pueblo of Laguna, and also has Jemez Pueblo heritage.

AVRIL HAINES (D) — Director of National Intelligence, 2021-present: Haines was the first woman to be appointed Director of

National Intelligence. Haines is an attorney who prior to her appointment served as Deputy National Security Advisor and Deputy

Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in the Obama administration.

NIKKI HALEY (R) — United Nations Ambassador, 2017-2019: Prior to her appointment, Haley was governor of South Carolina,

elected in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. She also served in the South Carolina House of Representatives. One of two women of

color who were first to serve as governors of states, Haley is the first Indian-American woman appointed to a presidential cabinet

level position. She earned her degree in accounting.

KAMALA HARRIS (D) — Vice President, 2021-present: Harris is the first woman to hold the office of Vice President, an office

historically included in the Cabinet. She is also the first woman of color to hold this position as she identifies as both black and

South Asian. Previously, Harris was elected Senator from the state of California as well as Attorney General.

GINA HASPEL (R) — Director, Central Intelligence Agency, 2018-present: Haspel was the first woman to be appointed Director of

the Central Intelligence Agency. Previously, Haspel had been a member of the Central Intelligence Agency since 1985 and was

appointed Deputy Director in 2017.

PATRICIA ROBERTS HARRIS (D) — Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 1977-79; Secretary of Health and Human Services

1979-81: Harris was the first black woman to serve in a presidential cabinet and the first woman to hold two different cabinet

posts. An attorney and longtime Democratic party activist, she had taught law, served on corporate boards, and served as

Ambassador to Luxembourg under President Johnson.

MARGARET HECKLER (R) — Secretary of Health and Human Services, 1983-85: Heckler was a member of Congress (1967-83)

representing suburban Boston and lost a re-election bid when redistricting forced her to run against another incumbent

Congressman. Her cabinet service ended when President Reagan appointed her Ambassador to Ireland.

ALEXIS M. HERMAN (D) — Secretary of Labor, 1997-2001: Prior to her appointment to the Department of Labor, Herman served as

assistant to President Clinton and director of the White House public liaison office. In the Carter Administration, she served as

director of the Women’s Bureau at the Department of Labor. Before joining the Clinton White House, she was founder and president

of A.M. Herman & Associates, where she advised state and local governments.

CARLA ANDERSON HILLS (R) — Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, 1975-77; Special Trade Representative, 1989-

1993: An attorney, she served as assistant attorney general in the Ford administration before her appointment as Housing and

Urban Development secretary. Prior to her appointment to the Bush administration, she chaired the board of the Urban Institute

while practicing law in Washington.

OVETA CULP HOBBY (R) — Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, 1953-55: Hobby was named head of the Federal Security

Administration; when that agency became part of the newly-established Department of Health, Education and Welfare (HEW),

she became the first Secretary of HEW. She had been a colonel in the Women's Army Corps during World War II and had served

as president of the Texas League of Women Voters.

SHIRLEY MOUNT HUFSTEDLER (D) — Secretary of Education, 1979-81: An attorney, Hufstedler was the first person to head the

newly-created Department of Education. She had been a federal judge on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and returned to

practicing law when the Carter administration ended.

LISA JACKSON (D) — Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, 2009-2013: Jackson served as chief of staff to New

Jersey Governor Jon Corzine briefly at the end of 2008. She was commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental

Protection from 2006 to 2008, after working there since 2002. Prior to that she had spent 16 years with the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency.

SALLY JEWELL (D) — Secretary of Interior, 2013-2017: In 1996, after working in the banking industry for twenty years, Jewell

joined the board of REI; she was named chief operating officer in 2000, and became CEO in 2005. Jewell has served on the boards

of Premera, the National Parks Conservation Association, and the University of Washington Board of Regents. Prior to her

appointment, Jewell received the National Audubon Society's Rachel Carson Award for her leadership in and dedication to

conservation.

JEANE J. KIRKPATRICK (R) — United Nations Ambassador, 1981-85: A political scientist, Kirkpatrick taught at Georgetown

University before joining the Reagan administration. A Democrat at the time of her appointment, she later switched parties. She

wrote one of the earliest books about women and politics, Political Woman, based on information gathered at CAWP's first

Conference for Women State Legislators.

JUANITA KREPS (D) — Secretary of Commerce, 1977-79: Kreps was the first economist to serve as Secretary of Commerce. She

had been a professor and vice president at Duke University and had served on several corporate boards and on the board of the

New York Stock Exchange prior to her appointment by President Carter.

JANICE R. LACHANCE (D) — Director, Office of Personnel Management, 1997-2001: Prior to her appointment to the Office of

Personnel Management, Lachance served as OPM’s director of Communication. An attorney, she has served as director of

communications and political affairs for the American Federation of Government Employees (AFLCIO); served as communications

director in the office of Senator Tom Daschle; administrative assistant to Congresswoman Katie Hall. She was also part of the

Clinton-Gore transition team.

LORETTA LYNCH (D) – Attorney General, 2015-2017: Lynch was appointed by President Clinton as U.S. Attorney for Eastern

District of New York. She served as a board member of the Federal Reserve Board.

LYNN MORLEY MARTIN (R) — Secretary of Labor, 1991-93: Martin represented northwestern Illinois in the U.S. House of

Representatives from 1981to 1991. She was the first woman to achieve an elective leadership post in the House, vice chair of

the House Republican Conference. Prior to serving in the House she had served on the Winnebago County board and in both

houses of the Illinois State Legislature. Martin lost a bid for a U.S. Senate seat in 1990.

GINA MCCARTHY (R) — Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency, 2013-2017: Prior to her appointment, McCarthy served

as the assistant administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. From 2004 to 2009

she was commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. McCarthy served as an environmental advisor

to five Massachusetts governors.

ANN DORE MCLAUGHLIN (R) — Secretary of Labor, 1987-89: McLaughlin worked in a variety of communications-related posts

within and outside the government before becoming a cabinet member. She held two sub-cabinet posts in the Reagan

administration: Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Public Affairs and Undersecretary of Interior.

LINDA MCMAHON (R) — Administrator, Small Business Administration 2017-2019: McMahon is the co-founder and former CEO

of World Wrestling Entertainment, and has been an adviser to global businesses. She served on the Connecticut Board of

Education and on the boards of Sacred Heart University and the Close Up Foundation. She ran for the U.S. Senate seat in

Connecticut in 2010 and 2012, losing both times.

KAREN G. MILLS (D) — Administrator, Small Business Administration, 2012-2013: Initially appointed in 2009; SBA was later

elevated to cabinet-level status. She served as chair of the Maine Council on Competitiveness and the Economy.

JANET NAPOLITANO (D) — Secretary of Homeland Security, 2009-2013: Prior to her appointment, Napolitano served as governor

of Arizona. She was Arizona's elected attorney general from 1998 to 2002. Prior to that she served as U.S. Attorney and as a

federal prosecutor.

KIRSTJEN NIELSEN (R) — Secretary of Homeland Security, 2017-2019: Nielsen was assistant to the president and principal deputy

chief of staff under John Kelly in the Trump administration. Earlier, she served as chief of staff to Kelly when he was DHS secretary.

A cybersecurity expert, she worked at DHS during the George W. Bush administration and established a consulting firm, Sunesis

Consulting.

GALE NORTON (R) — Secretary of the Interior, 2001-2006: Norton is the first woman to serve as Secretary of the Interior. Prior to

her appointment, she was the first woman to be elected Colorado’s attorney general, where she served for two full terms. She is

the founder of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy. In 1996, she made an unsuccessful bid for a U.S. Senate

seat. During the Reagan administration, she worked for two years for the Department of the Interior. As an attorney, she began

her legal career at the Mountain States Legal Foundation.

HAZEL O’LEARY (D) — Secretary of Energy, 1993-1997: Prior to her appointment, O’Leary was the executive vice president of

Northern States Power in Minneapolis, Minnesota. O’Leary also served as a senior energy policy advisor in the Carter and Ford

administrations.

FRANCES PERKINS (D) — Secretary of Labor, 1933-1945: Perkins, the first woman to serve in a president's cabinet, had a long

background of labor-related public service, including serving as Industrial Commissioner in New York State, before coming to

Washington. She was one of only two people to remain in the cabinet throughout Roosevelt's presidency, helping to draft and

implement much of the New Deal legislation. She remained in office briefly after Roosevelt's death and later became a member

of the Civil Service Commission under President Truman.

MARY E. PETERS (R) — Secretary of Transportation, 2006-2009: Prior to her appointment, Peters was national director for

transportation policy and consulting at HDR, Inc. President G. W. Bush appointed her administrator of the Federal Highway

Administration, where she served from 2001 to 2005. From 1998 to 2001, she was director of the Arizona Department of

Transportation.

SAMANTHA POWER (D) — Ambassador to the United Nations, 2013-2017: Power was a senior adviser to Senator Barack Obama

early in his presidential campaign. She joined Obama's State Department transition team in November 2008, and was named

Special Assistant to President Obama and Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights on the National Security

Council. From 1998-2002, Power was a professor at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and the founding executive

director of the Kennedy School's Carr Center for Human Rights Policy.

ARATI PRABHAKAR (D) — Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy, 2022-Present: Prabhakar served as director

the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a Senate-confirmed position, from 1993 to 1997. She was the first

woman to hold that role. From 2012 to 2017, she served as director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Between her governmental leadership roles, Prabhakar spent 15 years in Silicon Valley as a company executive and venture

capitalist in science and technology. She earned her Ph.D. in applied physics from the California Institute of Technology.

PENNY PRITZKER (D) — Secretary of Commerce, 2013-2017: Prior to her appointment, Pritzker served on the President's Economic

Recovery Advisory Board and was appointed to the President's Council for Jobs and Competitiveness. She was the founder,

chairman and CEO of PSP Capital Partners and Pritzker Reality Group, as well as co-founder and chairman of Artemis Real Estate

Partners.

GINA RAIMONDO (D) — Secretary of Commerce, 2021-Present: Prior to her appointment, Raimondo served as Governor of Rhode

Island (2015-2021). She also served as Rhode Island’s General Treasurer from 2011 to 2015. Before her time in public service,

Raimondo served in leadership at multiple venture capital firms. She earned her J.D. from Yale Law School in 1998 and served as

a federal court law clerk upon graduating.

JANET RENO (D) — Attorney General, 1993-2001: As the first woman to serve as attorney general, Reno heads the Justice

Department. Prior to her appointment, she served as the state prosecutor of Dade County, Florida. Reno previously was an

associate and partner in several law firms, worked for the state prosecutor’s office, and was a staff director to the Florida House

of Representatives Judiciary Committee.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE (R) — Secretary of State, 2005-2009: Prior to being appointed Secretary of State, Rice served as national

security advisor from 2001 to 2005. Before that, she was a tenured professor at Stanford University. In 1993, she became the first

woman and African American to be appointed provost of Stanford, a post in which she served for six years. During the first Bush

administration, she rose from director to senior director for the National Security Council on Soviet and East European Affairs.

She began her academic career as a fellow in the arms control and disarmament program at Stanford.

SUSAN E. RICE (D) — Ambassador to the United Nations, 2009-2013: Rice served as a senior policy analyst to the Obama-Biden

campaign. She served in the Clinton administration in various capacities: at the National Security Council from 1993 to 1997; as

director for International Organizations and Peacekeeping from 1993 to 1995; and as special assistant to the President and Senior

Director for African Affairs from 1995 to 1997. She served as a foreign policy aide to Michael Dukakis during his 1988 presidential

campaign. In the early 1990's she was a consultant for the global management consulting firm of McKinsey and Company. She

left the U.N. post to become President Clinton’s national security adviser.

ALICE RIVLIN (D) — Director, Office of Management and Budget, 1994-96: Prior to her appointment as director, Rivlin was its

deputy director since 1993. She was the founding director of the Congressional Budget Office. She served as a Senior Fellow and

Director of Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution. Rivlin also served as Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation

at the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

CHRISTINA D. ROMER (D) — Chair, Council of Economic Advisers, 2009-2010: Romer, an economic historian, taught at University

of California, Berkeley since 1988, and became a full professor in 1993. She taught at Princeton University from 1985 to 1988. In

addition, she was co-director of the Program in Monetary Economics at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a former

vice president of the American Economic Association.

CECILIA ROUSE (D) — Chair, Council of Economic Advisers, 2021-Present: Rouse is the first Black woman to serve as Chair of the

Council of Economic Advisers. She previously served as a member of the Council of Economic Advisors under President Obama

(2009-2011) and as a member of the National Economic Council under President Clinton (1998-1999). Prior to joining the Biden

administration, she served as Dean of the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and the Lawrence and Shirley

Katzman and Lewis and Anna Ernst Professor in the Economics of Education. Rouse first joined the Princeton faculty in 1992. She

earned her doctorate in economics from Harvard University.

SUSAN SCHWAB (R) — U. S. Trade Representative, 2006-2009: Prior to her appointment, Schwab was deputy U.S. trade

representative. She served as president and CEO of the University System of Maryland Foundation, She has also worked in the

private sector and as a congressional aide, and she served as dean of the University of Maryland School of Public Policy. She was

assistant secretary of commerce and director general of the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service during the administration of

President George H. W. Bush.

DONNA SHALALA (D) — Secretary of Health and Human Services, 1993-2001: Prior to joining the Clinton administration, Shalala

was Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a professor of political science. She served as assistant secretary for

policy development in the Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Carter administration.

KATHLEEN SEBELIUS (D) — Secretary of Health and Human Services, 2009-2014: Prior to her appointment, Sebelius was governor

of Kansas from 2003 to 2009. From 1995 to 2003, she served as Kansas insurance commissioner. She served in the Kansas House

of Representatives from 1987 to 1994. She worked in the Kansas Department of Corrections and served on the Kansas

Governmental Ethics Commission.

HILDA SOLIS (D) — Secretary of Labor, 2009-2013: Prior to her appointment, Solis was a U.S. Representative from California. From

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1993 to 2001 she served first as a state assemblywoman and then as a state senator. She was an assistant in the White House

Office of Hispanic Affairs under President Jimmy Carter and served as a budget analyst for federal office of Personnel Management

in the Reagan administration.

MARGARET SPELLINGS (R) — Secretary of Education, 2005-2009: Prior to her appointment, Spellings was assistant to the

President for domestic policy. Before her White House appointment, she worked for six years as Governor George W. Bush’s senior

advisor with responsibility for education policy.

KATHERINE TAI (D) — U.S. Trade Representative, 2021-Present: Tai, who is Chinese-American, is the first woman of color to serve

as U.S. Trade Representative. Prior to her appointment, Tai served as Chief Trade Counsel to the U.S. House Committee on Ways

and Means (2014-2021). She served in the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office of General Counsel from 2007 to 2014, where she

became Chief Counsel for China trade enforcement. Tai received her law degree from Harvard University.

LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD (D) — U.N. Ambassador, 2021-Present: Prior to her appointment, Thomas-Greenfield served as

Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs at the Department of State from 2013 to 2017. She first joined the foreign service

in 1982 and went on to hold posts including Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (2004–

2006), Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs (2006-2008), Ambassador to Liberia (2008–2012), and Director

General of the Foreign Service (2012-2013). Immediately prior to becoming U.N. Ambassador, she was a senior vice president at

Albright Stonebridge Group in Washington, D.C.

LAURA D’ANDREA TYSON (D) — Chair, National Economic Council, 1995-1997: Prior to Tyson’s appointment, she was chair of the

Council of Economic Advisors.

Tyson was a professor of economics and business administration and director of the Institute of

International Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

ANN VENEMAN (R) — Secretary of Agriculture, 2001-2005: Veneman is the first woman to serve as Secretary of Agriculture. Prior

to her appointment, she was the first woman to serve as Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture. During

the Bush administration, she was deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the highest ranking woman ever

at USDA. She also served as deputy undersecretary of agriculture for international affairs and commodity programs. During the

Reagan administration, she was the associate administrator for the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. Before joining the Bush

administration, she was a partner with the law firm Nossaman, Gunther, Knox & Elliot.

CHRISTINE TODD WHITMAN (R) — Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency, 2001-2003: Whitman was the first female

former governor to serve in a presidential cabinet. Prior to being appointed, she was the first woman elected governor in New

Jersey, where she served two terms. For two years she headed the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. She began her political

career as a freeholder (New Jersey’s equivalent of a county commissioner) on the Somerset County Board of Freeholders.

JANET L. YELLEN (D) — Secretary of the Treasury, 2021-present; Chair, Council of Economic Advisers, 1997-1999: Yellen was the

first woman to serve as Secretary of the Treasury. Prior to that, she served as Chair of the Federal Reserve from 2014 to 2018

(appointed by President Barack Obama) and Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve from 2010 to 2014. She was appointed by President

Bill Clinton as Chair to the Council of Economic Advisers and served in that role from 1997 to 1999. Yellen served was a member

of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 1994 to 1997 and again from 2010 to 2018. In 1977 to 1978, she

served as an economist with the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors. Yellen taught at the Haas School of Business at the

University of California at Berkeley.

SHALANDA YOUNG (D) — Director, Office of Management and Budget, 2022-present: Prior to her appointment as director, Young

was acting and deputy director from 2021 to 2022. She was the staff director for the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations

from 2017 to 2021, serving previously as committee staff.