List of African-American United States Cabinet members

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Kamala Harris is the highest-ranking black person to serve in a Cabinet as Vice President of the United States.

Colin Powell (left) and Condoleezza Rice (right) are the highest-ranking black Jamaican-American and Black-American to lead the Federal Executive Department; each held the post of Secretary of State.

The Cabinet of the United States, which is the principal advisory body to the President of the United States, has had 37 African-American members altogether, with one of them serving in multiple different positions for a total of 38 cabinet appointments. Of that particular number, 26 different Black individuals held a total of 27 permanent cabinet posts, serving as Vice President or head of one of the federal executive departments, and 11 more held cabinet-level positions, which can differ under each president; no one officeholder served in both cabinet and cabinet-rank roles. The U.S. Census Bureau defines African Americans as 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 ancestry in any of the original peoples of sub-Saharan Africa. During the founding of the federal government, Black Americans were consigned to a status of second-class citizenship or enslaved. No African American ever held a cabinet position before the civil rights movement or 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 Black-American to serve in a president's cabinet when he was appointed Secretary of Housing and Urban Development by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966. Patricia Roberts Harris was the first black woman to serve in a presidential cabinet when she was named to the same position by President Jimmy Carter in 1977. Two years later, Carter tapped her for Secretary of Health and Human services, thus making her the first African-American to hold two different cabinet positions.

On January 20, 2001, Colin Powell assumed the post of Secretary of State under President George W. Bush, which made him the highest-ranked black Jamaican-American among cabinet secretaries to enter the presidential line of succession, standing fourth. Condoleezza Rice took over the same position in 2005, during Bush's second term, making her the highest-placed Black person in line to the presidency. Kamala Harris replaced both Powell and Rice to become the highest-ranking black person ever to be in the line of succession upon being inaugurated as the first black Jamaican/Indian-American vice president on January 20, 2021, alongside President Joe Biden.

President Bill Clinton named the most African-Americans as secretaries to his first-term cabinet, with four: former U.S. representative Mike Espy (D-MS) as Secretary of Agriculture; DNC chairman Ron Brown as Secretary of Commerce; corporate director Hazel R. O'Leary as Secretary of Energy; and DAV executive director Jesse Brown as Secretary of Veterans affairs. Clinton exceeded that record by three, including cabinet reshuffles during his second term in office.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has had the most African-American secretaries, with seven. The Department of Transportation has had three; the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Justice, State, and Veterans Affairs have had two; the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Homeland Security, and Labor have had one. The Departments of the Interior and the Treasury are the only existing executive departments that have not yet had African-American secretaries.

The totals for this list include only African-American presidential appointees confirmed (if necessary) by the U.S. Senate to cabinet or cabinet-level positions and taking their oath of office; they do not include acting officials or nominees awaiting confirmation.

Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, is the most senior African American to have held a role related to the U.S. Cabinet. Although not officially a member, he held the unique position of chairing the Cabinet during his presidency.

The following list includes African-Americans who have held permanent positions in the Cabinet, all of whom are in the line of succession to the presidency. The table below is organized based on the beginning of their terms in office. Officeholders whose terms begin the same day are listed according to the presidential order of succession.

 *  denotes the first African-American holder of that particular office

• The Postmaster General ceased to be a member of the cabinet when the Post Office Department was re-organized into the United States Postal Service, a special agency independent of the executive branch, by the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970. No African American had ever served while it was a cabinet post.
• The Secretaries of the Navy, Air Force, and Army ceased to be members of the cabinet when the Department of the Navy was absorbed into the Department of Defense in 1947. No African American had ever served while they were cabinet posts.
• The Secretary of War became defunct when the Department of War became the Department of Defense in 1947. No African American had ever served while it was a cabinet post.
• The Secretary of Commerce and Labor became defunct when the Department of Commerce and Labor was subdivided into two separate entities in 1913. No African American had ever served while it was a cabinet post.

The president may designate or remove additional officials as cabinet members. These positions have not always been in the cabinet, so some African American officeholders may not be listed.

The following list includes African-Americans who have held cabinet-rank positions, which can vary under each president. They are not in the line of succession and are not necessarily officers of the United States. The table below is organized based on the beginning of their terms in office while it was raised to cabinet-level status. Officeholders whose terms begin the same day are listed alphabetically by last name.

 *  denotes the first African-American holder of that particular office

• African Americans in the United States Congress
  • List of African-American United States senators
  • List of African-American United States representatives
• Black Cabinet
• List of female United States Cabinet members
• List of first African-American mayors
• List of foreign-born United States Cabinet members
• List of Hispanic and Latino American United States Cabinet members
• List of Jewish United States Cabinet members
• List of minority governors and lieutenant governors in the United States

• The Cabinet Archived 2022-11-10 at the Wayback Machine - Provided by the White House. Retrieved 24 January 2016.