List of people who have held multiple United States Cabinet-level positions
From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
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(1):
| 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) |
| Lewis Cass | Secretary of War (1831–1836) Secretary of State (1857–1860) |
| 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) |
| Levi Woodbury | Secretary of the Navy (1831–1834) Secretary of the Treasury (1834–1841) |
| John Crittenden | Attorney General (1841) Attorney General (1850–1853) |
| Thomas Ewing | Secretary of the Treasury (1841) Secretary of the Interior (1849–1850) |
| John Spencer | Secretary of War (1841–1843) Secretary of the Treasury (1843–1844) |
| John Tyler | Vice President (1841) President (1841–1845) |
| Abel Upshur | Secretary of the Navy (1841–1843) Secretary of State (1843–1844) |
| Daniel Webster | Secretary of State (1841–1843) Secretary of State (1850–1852) |
| 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 (1857–1860) Secretary of State (1860–1861) |
| 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) |
| Philander Knox | Attorney General (1901–1904) Secretary of State (1909–1913) |
| Theodore Roosevelt | Vice President (1901) President (1901–1909) |
| 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) |
| Victor Metcalf | Secretary of Commerce and Labor (1904–1906) Secretary of the Navy (1906–1908) |
| William Taft | Secretary of War (1904–1908) President (1909–1913) |
| 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) |
| Charles Dawes | Director of the Office of Management and Budget (1921–1922) Vice President (1925–1929) |
| Herbert Hoover | Secretary of Commerce (1921–1928) President (1929–1933) |
| 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) |
| Frederick Dent | Secretary of Commerce (1973–1975) Trade Representative (1975–1977) |
| Gerald Ford | Vice President (1973–1974) President (1974–1977) |
| Alexander Haig | White House Chief of Staff (1973–1974) Secretary of State (1981–1982) |
| James Lynn | Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (1973–1975) Director of the Office of Management and Budget (1975–1976) |
| James Schlesinger | Secretary of Defense (1973–1974) Secretary of Energy (1977–1979) |
| Donald Rumsfeld | White House Chief of Staff (1974–1975) Secretary of Defense (1975–1977) Secretary of Defense (2001–2006) |
| Dick Cheney | White House Chief of Staff (1975–1977) Secretary of Defense (1989–1993) Vice President (2001–2009) |
| Carla Hills | Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (1975–1977) Trade Representative (1989–1993) |
| Patricia Harris | Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (1977–1979) Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (1979) Secretary of Health and Human Services (1979–1981) |
| 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) |
| 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) |
| 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) |
| Madeleine Albright | Ambassador to the United Nations (1993–1997) Secretary of State (1997–2001) |
| Mickey Kantor | Trade Representative (1993–1996) Secretary of Commerce (1996–1997) |
| Leon Panetta | Director of the Office of Management and Budget (1993–1994) White House Chief of Staff (1994–1997) Secretary of Defense (2011–2013) |
| Federico Peña | Secretary of Transportation (1993–1997) Secretary of Energy (1997–1998) |
| Robert Rubin | Director of the National Economic Council (1993–1995) Secretary of the Treasury (1995–1999) |
| Laura Tyson | Chairperson of the Council of Economic Advisers (1993–1995) Director of the National Economic Council (1995–1996) |
| 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) |
| Jack 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 (2012–2013) Secretary of the Treasury (2013–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) |
| Sylvia Mathews Burwell | Director of the Office of Management and Budget (2013–2014) Secretary of Health and Human Services (2014–present) |
| Shaun Donovan | Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (2009–2014) Director of the Office of Management and Budget (2014–present) |
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) |
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) |
(1)The office of Vice President was not a cabinet, or cabinet level position until Franklin Roosevelt invited John Nance Garner to attend cabinet meetings, although Calvin Coolidge had done so in the 1920s. Vice President Thomas Marshall attended Cabinet meetings when President Wilson was out of the country participating at the Versailles Conference in 1918-19.
