List of African-American United States Cabinet Secretaries

List Of African-American United States Cabinet Secretaries

The United States Cabinet has had 17 African American appointed officers. By definition, African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa. The term is generally used for Americans with at least partial Sub-Saharan African ancestry. Originally, African Americans were regarded as second-class citizens or slaves in America. No African American ever held a Cabinet position before the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned discrimination in public accommodations, employment, and labor unions.

Robert C. Weaver became the first African-American to hold a Cabinet-level position when he was appointed United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in 1966 by President Lyndon B. Johnson. In 1975, Secretary of Transportation William Thaddeus Coleman, Jr. became the first Republican African American appointed to the Cabinet. Patricia Roberts Harris became the first African American female cabinet member when she was appointed Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in 1977. In 1979, Harris became the first African American to be head of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, which was split into the departments of Education and Health and Human Services in the same year. Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice's appointments as Secretary of State made them the highest-ranking African Americans in the United States presidential line of succession.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has had the most African American Secretaries, with four. The departments of Health and Human Services, State, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs have each had two. The four existing departments of Defense, Homeland Security, Interior, and Treasury have not had African American Secretaries. President Bill Clinton has appointed the most African Americans to the Cabinet during his tenure, with seven.