List of People Who Have Held Multiple United States Cabinet-level Positions

Unlike in many European parliamentary cabinets, in the Cabinet of the United States, it is generally less common for a cabinet secretary to hold multiple cabinet-level positions over the years. This is a list of the exceptions:

Name Offices
John Adams Vice President (1789–1797)
President (1797–1801)
Thomas Jefferson Secretary of State (1789–1793)
Vice President (1797–1801)
President (1801–1809)
Edmund Randolph Attorney General (1789–1794)
Secretary of State (1794–1795)
Timothy Pickering Postmaster General (1791–1795)
Secretary of War (1795)
Secretary of State (1795–1800)
Samuel Dexter Secretary of War (1800–1801)
Secretary of the Treasury (1801)
James Madison Secretary of State (1801–1809)
President (1809–1817)
Robert Smith Secretary of the Navy (1801–1809)
Secretary of State (1809–1811)
James Monroe Secretary of State (1811–1817)
Secretary of War (1814–1815)
President (1817–1825)
Richard Rush Attorney General (1814–1817)
Secretary of the Treasury (1825–1829)
William Crawford Secretary of War (1815–1816)
Secretary of the Treasury (1816–1825)
John Quincy Adams Secretary of State (1817–1825)
President (1825–1829)
John Calhoun Secretary of War (1817–1825)
Vice President (1825–1832)
Secretary of State (1844–1845)
Martin Van Buren Secretary of State (1829–1831)
Vice President (1833–1837)
President (1837–1841)
Louis McLane Secretary of the Treasury (1831–1833)
Secretary of State (1833–1834)
Roger Taney Attorney General (1831–1833)
Secretary of the Treasury (1833–1834)
Lewis Cass Secretary of War (1831–1836)
Secretary of State (1857–1860)
Levi Woodbury Secretary of the Navy (1831–1834)
Secretary of the Treasury (1834–1841)
John Tyler Vice President (1841)
President (1841–1845)
Daniel Webster Secretary of State (1841–1843)
Secretary of State (1850–1852)
Thomas Ewing Secretary of the Treasury (1841)
Secretary of the Interior (1849–1850)
John Crittenden Attorney General (1841)
Attorney General (1850–1853)
John Spencer Secretary of War (1841–1843)
Secretary of the Treasury (1843–1844)
Abel Upshur Secretary of the Navy (1841–1843)
Secretary of State (1843–1844)
John Mason Secretary of the Navy (1844–1845)
Attorney General (1845–1846)
Secretary of the Navy (1846–1849)
James Buchanan Secretary of State (1845–1849)
President (1857–1861)
William Marcy Secretary of War (1845–1849)
Secretary of State (1853–1857)
Isaac Toucey Attorney General (1848–1849)
Secretary of the Navy (1857–1861)
Millard Fillmore Vice President (1849–1850)
President (1850–1853)
Jeremiah Black Attorney General (1957–1960)
Secretary of State (1960–1961)
Joseph Holt Postmaster General (1859–1860)
Secretary of War (1861)
Edwin Stanton Attorney General (1860–1861)
Secretary of War (1862–1868)
Andrew Johnson Vice President (1865)
President (1865–1869)
Hugh McCulloch Secretary of the Treasury (1865–1869)
Secretary of the Treasury (1884–1885)
William Evarts Attorney General (1868–1869)
Secretary of State (1877–1881)
Alphonso Taft Secretary of War (1876)
Attorney General (1876–1877)
John Sherman Secretary of the Treasury (1877–1881)
Secretary of State (1897–1898)
Chester Arthur Vice President (1881)
President (1881–1885)
James Blaine Secretary of State (1881)
Secretary of State (1889–1892)
William Windom Secretary of the Treasury (1881)
Secretary of the Treasury (1889–1891)
Walter Gresham Postmaster General (1883–1884)
Secretary of the Treasury (1884)
Secretary of State (1893–1895)
Grover Cleveland President (1885–1889)
President (1893–1897)
William Vilas Postmaster General (1885–1888)
Secretary of the Interior (1888–1889)
Richard Olney Attorney General (1893–1895)
Secretary of State (1895–1897)
Elihu Root Secretary of War (1899–1904)
Secretary of State (1905–1909)
Theodore Roosevelt Vice President (1901)
President (1901–1909)
Philander Knox Attorney General (1901–1904)
Secretary of State (1909–1913)
William Moody Secretary of the Navy (1902–1904)
Attorney General (1904–1906)
George Cortelyou Secretary of Commerce and Labor (1903–1904)
Postmaster General (1905–1907)
Secretary of the Treasury (1907–1909)
William Taft Secretary of War (1904–1908)
President (1909–1913)
Victor Metcalf Secretary of Commerce and Labor (1904–1906)
Secretary of the Navy (1906–1908)
Charles Bonaparte Secretary of the Navy (1905–1906)
Attorney General (1906–1909)
George von Lengerke Meyer Postmaster General (1907–1909)
Secretary of the Navy (1909–1913)
Henry Stimson Secretary of War (1911–1913)
Secretary of State (1929–1933)
Secretary of War (1940–1945)
David Houston Secretary of Agriculture (1913–1920)
Secretary of the Treasury (1920–1921)
Calvin Coolidge Vice President (1921–1923)
President (1923–1929)
Herbert Hoover Secretary of Commerce (1921–1928)
President (1929–1933)
Charles Dawes Director of the Office of Management and Budget (1921–1922)
Vice President (1925–1929)
Hubert Work Postmaster General (1922–1923)
Secretary of the Interior (1923–1928)
Henry Wallace Secretary of Agriculture (1933–1940)
Vice President (1941–1945)
Secretary of Commerce (1945–1946)
James Forrestal Secretary of the Navy (1944–1947)
Secretary of Defense (1947–1949)
Harry Truman Vice President (1945)
President (1945–1953)
George Marshall Secretary of State (1947–1949)
Secretary of Defense (1950–1951)
Richard Nixon Vice President (1953–1961)
President (1969–1974)
William Rogers Attorney General (1957–1961)
Secretary of State (1969–1973)
Maurice Stans Director of the Office of Management and Budget (1958–1961)
Secretary of Commerce (1969–1972)
Christian Herter Secretary of State (1959–1961)
Trade Representative (1962–1966)
Lyndon Johnson Vice President (1961–1963)
President (1963–1969)
Marvin Watson White House Chief of Staff (1963–1968)
Postmaster General (1968–1969)
George Shultz Secretary of Labor (1969–1970)
Director of the Office of Management and Budget (1970–1972)
Secretary of the Treasury (1972–1974)
Secretary of State (1982–1989)
Elliot Richardson Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (1970–1973)
Secretary of Defense (1973)
Attorney General (1973)
Secretary of Commerce (1976–1977)
William Ruckelshaus Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (1970–1973)
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (1983–1985)
Rogers Morton Secretary of the Interior (1971–1975)
Secretary of Commerce (1975–1976)
Caspar Weinberger Director of the Office of Management and Budget (1972–1973)
Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (1973–1975)
Secretary of Defense (1981–1987)
Gerald Ford Vice President (1973–1974)
President (1974–1977)
James Schlesinger Secretary of Defense (1973–1974)
Secretary of Energy (1977–1979)
Frederick Dent Secretary of Commerce (1973–1975)
Trade Representative (1975–1977)
James Lynn Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (1973–1975)
Director of the Office of Management and Budget (1975–1976)
Alexander Haig White House Chief of Staff (1973–1974)
Secretary of State (1981–1982)
Donald Rumsfeld White House Chief of Staff (1974–1975)
Secretary of Defense (1975–1977)
Secretary of Defense (2001–2006)
Carla Anderson Hills Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (1975–1977)
Trade Representative (1989–1993)
Dick Cheney White House Chief of Staff (1975–1977)
Secretary of Defense (1989–1993)
Vice President (2001–2009)
Patricia Roberts Harris Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (1977–1979)
Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (1979)
Secretary of Health and Human Services (1979–1981)
George H. W. Bush Vice President (1981–1989)
President (1989–1993)
Donald Regan Secretary of the Treasury (1981–1985)
White House Chief of Staff (1985–1987)
James Baker White House Chief of Staff (1981–1985)
Secretary of the Treasury (1985–1988)
Secretary of State (1989–1992)
White House Chief of Staff (1992–1993)
Bill Brock Trade Representative (1981–1985)
Secretary of Labor (1985–1987)
Donald Hodel Secretary of Energy (1982–1985)
Secretary of the Interior (1985–1989)
Elizabeth Dole Secretary of Transportation (1983–1987)
Secretary of Labor (1989–1990)
Clayton Yeutter Trade Representative (1985–1989)
Secretary of Agriculture (1989–1991)
Samuel Skinner Secretary of Transportation (1989–1991)
White House Chief of Staff (1991–1992)
Andrew Card Secretary of Transportation (1992–1993)
White House Chief of Staff (2001–2006)
Federico Peña Secretary of Transportation (1993–1997)
Secretary of Energy (1997–1998)
Leon Panetta Director of the Office of Management and Budget (1993–1994)
White House Chief of Staff (1994–1997)
Secretary of Defense (2011–present)
Mickey Kantor Trade Representative (1993–1996)
Secretary of Commerce (1996–1997)
Madeleine Albright Ambassador to the United Nations (1993–1997)
Secretary of State (1997–2001)
William Daley Secretary of Commerce (1997–2000)
White House Chief of Staff (2011–2012)
Bill Richardson Ambassador to the United Nations (1997–1998)
Secretary of Energy (1998–2001)
Jacob Lew Director of the Office of Management and Budget (1998–2001)
Director of the Office of Management and Budget (2010–2012)
White House Chief of Staff (2012–present)
Norman Mineta Secretary of Commerce (2000–2001)
Secretary of Transportation (2001–2006)
Joshua Bolten Director of the Office of Management and Budget (2003–2006)
White House Chief of Staff (2006–2009)
Mike Leavitt Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (2003–2005)
Secretary of Health and Human Services (2005–2009)
Rob Portman Trade Representative (2005–2006)
Director of the Office of Management and Budget (2006–2007)

The following served in multiple cabinet positions in the Confederate States:

Name Offices
Judah Benjamin Attorney General (1861)
Secretary of War (1861–1862)
Secretary of State (1862–1865)
John Reagan Postmaster General (1861–1865)
Secretary of the Treasury (1865)

The following have served in cabinet positions in both the United States and Confederate States:

Name Offices
Jefferson Davis American Secretary of War (1853–1857)
Confederate President (1861–1865)
John Breckinridge American Vice President (1857–1861)
Confederate Secretary of War (1865)

Famous quotes containing the words list of, list, people, held, multiple, united, states and/or positions:

    Feminism is an entire world view or gestalt, not just a laundry list of women’s issues.
    Charlotte Bunch (b. 1944)

    All is possible,
    Who so list believe;
    Trust therefore first, and after preve,
    As men wed ladies by license and leave,
    All is possible.
    Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503?–1542)

    The little dog lay curled and did not rise
    But slept the deeper as the ashes rose
    And found the people incomplete,
    Richard Wilbur (b. 1921)

    Master and Doctor are my titles;
    For ten years now, without repose,
    I’ve held my erudite recitals
    And led my pupils by the nose.
    Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)

    Combining paid employment with marriage and motherhood creates safeguards for emotional well-being. Nothing is certain in life, but generally the chances of happiness are greater if one has multiple areas of interest and involvement. To juggle is to diminish the risk of depression, anxiety, and unhappiness.
    Faye J. Crosby (20th century)

    The city of Washington is in some respects self-contained, and it is easy there to forget what the rest of the United States is thinking about. I count it a fortunate circumstance that almost all the windows of the White House and its offices open upon unoccupied spaces that stretch to the banks of the Potomac ... and that as I sit there I can constantly forget Washington and remember the United States.
    Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)

    In it he proves that all things are true and states how the truths of all contradictions may be reconciled physically, such as for example that white is black and black is white; that one can be and not be at the same time; that there can be hills without valleys; that nothingness is something and that everything, which is, is not. But take note that he proves all these unheard-of paradoxes without any fallacious or sophistical reasoning.
    Savinien Cyrano De Bergerac (1619–1655)

    ... liberal intellectuals ... tend to have a classical theory of politics, in which the state has a monopoly of power; hoping that those in positions of authority may prove to be enlightened men, wielding power justly, they are natural, if cautious, allies of the “establishment.”
    Susan Sontag (b. 1933)