Women Appointed to Presidential Cabinets

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.

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 -evel 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.
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.

¹The position of U.N. Ambassador was considered Cabinet-level in the Obama administration, as it was during the Clinton and Reagan administrations.
²Duke was appointed Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security and became Acting Secretary when the Secretary was appointed White House chief of staff.
³Yates was a holdover from the Obama administration, where she was Deputy Attorney General, and served briefly as acting Attorney General in the Trump administration.
⁴Harris 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.
⁵The position of Director, Office of Personnel Management, was a Cabinet-level position in the Clinton administration.