| Nr | Bild | Namn | Delstat | Tillträdde | Avgick | Tjänstgjorde under: |
| 1 |  | Henry Knox | Massachusetts | 12 september 1789 | 31 december 1794 | George Washington |
| 2 |  | Timothy Pickering | Pennsylvania | 2 januari 1795 | 10 december 1795 | George Washington |
| 3 |  | James McHenry | Maryland | 27 januari 1796 | 1 juni 1800 | George Washington
John Adams |
| 4 |  | Samuel Dexter | Massachusetts | 1 juni 1800 | 31 januari 1801 | John Adams |
| 5 |  | Henry Dearborn | Massachusetts | 5 mars 1801 | 4 mars 1809 | Thomas Jefferson |
| 6 |  | William Eustis | Massachusetts | 7 mars 1809 | 13 januari 1813 | James Madison |
| 7 |  | John Armstrong, Jr. | New York | 13 januari 1813 | 27 september 1814 | James Madison |
| 8 |  | James Monroe | Virginia | 27 september 1814 | 2 mars 1815 | James Madison |
| 9 |  | William H. Crawford | Georgia | 1 augusti 1815 | 22 oktober 1816 | James Madison |
| 10 |  | John Caldwell Calhoun | South Carolina | 8 oktober 1817 | 4 mars 1825 | James Monroe |
| 11 |  | James Barbour | Virginia | 7 mars 1825 | 23 maj 1828 | John Quincy Adams |
| 12 |  | Peter Buell Porter | New York | 23 maj 1828 | 4 mars 1829 | John Quincy Adams |
| 13 |  | John Henry Eaton | Tennessee | 9 mars 1829 | 18 juni 1831 | Andrew Jackson |
| 14 |  | Lewis Cass | Michigan | 1 augusti 1831 | 5 oktober 1836 | Andrew Jackson |
| 15 |  | Joel Roberts Poinsett | South Carolina | 7 mars 1837 | 4 mars 1841 | Martin Van Buren |
| 16 |  | John Bell | Tennessee | 5 mars 1841 | 13 september 1841 | William Henry Harrison
John Tyler |
| 17 |  | John Canfield Spencer | New York | 12 oktober 1841 | 4 mars 1843 | John Tyler |
| 18 |  | James Madison Porter | Pennsylvania | 8 mars 1843 | 14 februari 1844 | John Tyler |
| 19 |  | William Wilkins | Pennsylvania | 15 februari 1844 | 4 mars 1845 | John Tyler |
| 20 |  | William L. Marcy | New York | 6 mars 1845 | 4 mars 1849 | James K. Polk |
| 21 |  | George W. Crawford | Georgia | 8 mars 1849 | 22 juli 1850 | Zachary Taylor |
| 22 |  | Charles Magill Conrad | Louisiana | 15 augusti 1850 | 4 mars 1853 | Millard Fillmore |
| 23 |  | Jefferson Davis | Mississippi | 7 mars 1853 | 4 mars 1857 | Franklin Pierce |
| 24 |  | John Buchanan Floyd | Virginia | 6 mars 1857 | 29 december 1860 | James Buchanan |
| 25 |  | Joseph Holt | Kentucky | 18 januari 1861 | 4 mars 1861 | James Buchanan |
| 26 |  | Simon Cameron | Pennsylvania | 5 mars 1861 | 14 januari 1862 | Abraham Lincoln |
| 27 |  | Edwin M. Stanton | Ohio | 20 januari 1862 | 28 maj 1868 | Lincoln
Andrew Johnson |
| 28 |  | John McAllister Schofield | Missouri | 1 juni 1868 | 13 mars 1869 | Andrew Johnson |
| 29 |  | John Aaron Rawlins | Illinois | 13 mars 1869 | 6 september 1869 | Ulysses S. Grant |
| 30 |  | William W. Belknap | Iowa | 25 oktober 1869 | 2 mars 1876 | Ulysses S. Grant |
| 31 |  | Alphonso Taft | Ohio | 8 mars 1876 | 22 maj 1876 | Ulysses S. Grant |
| 32 |  | James Donald Cameron | Pennsylvania | 22 maj 1876 | 4 mars 1877 | Ulysses S. Grant |
| 33 |  | George Washington McCrary | Iowa | 12 mars 1877 | 10 december 1879 | Rutherford B. Hayes |
| 34 |  | Alexander Ramsey | Minnesota | 10 december 1879 | 4 mars 1881 | Rutherford B. Hayes |
| 35 |  | Robert Todd Lincoln | Illinois | 5 mars 1881 | 4 mars 1885 | James A. Garfield
Chester A. Arthur |
| 36 |  | William Crowninshield Endicott | Massachusetts | 5 mars 1885 | 4 mars 1889 | Grover Cleveland |
| 37 |  | Redfield Proctor | Vermont | 5 mars 1889 | 5 november 1891 | Benjamin Harrison |
| 38 |  | Stephen Benton Elkins | West Virginia | 17 december 1891 | 4 mars 1893 | Benjamin Harrison |
| 39 |  | Daniel S. Lamont | New York | 5 mars 1893 | 4 mars 1897 | Grover Cleveland |
| 40 |  | Russell Alexander Alger | Michigan | 5 mars 1897 | 1 augusti 1899 | William McKinley |
| 41 |  | Elihu Root | New York | 1 augusti 1899 | 31 januari 1904 | William McKinley
Theodore Roosevelt |
| 42 |  | William Howard Taft | Ohio | 1 februari 1904 | 30 juni 1908 | Theodore Roosevelt |
| 43 |  | Luke Edward Wright | Tennessee | 1 juli 1908 | 4 mars 1909 | Theodore Roosevelt |
| 44 |  | Jacob M. Dickinson | Illinois | 12 mars 1909 | 21 maj 1911 | William Howard Taft |
| 45 |  | Henry L. Stimson | New York | 22 maj 1911 | 4 mars 1913 | William Howard Taft |
| 46 |  | Lindley Miller Garrison | New Jersey | 5 mars 1913 | 10 februari 1916 | Woodrow Wilson |
| 47 |  | Newton Diehl Baker | Ohio | 9 mars 1916 | 4 mars 1921 | Woodrow Wilson |
| 48 |  | John Wingate Weeks | Massachusetts | 5 mars 1921 | 13 oktober 1925 | Warren G. Harding
Calvin Coolidge |
| 49 |  | Dwight Filley Davis | Missouri | 14 oktober 1925 | 4 mars 1929 | Calvin Coolidge |
| 50 |  | James William Good | Iowa | 6 mars 1929 | 18 november 1929 | Herbert Hoover |
| 51 |  | Patrick Jay Hurley | Oklahoma | 9 december 1929 | 4 mars 1933 | Herbert Hoover |
| 52 |  | George Dern | Utah | 4 mars 1933 | 27 augusti 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| 53 |  | Harry Hines Woodring | Kansas | 25 september 1936 | 20 juni 1940 | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| 54 |  | Henry L. Stimson | New York | 10 juli 1940 | 21 september 1945 | F. D. Roosevelt
Harry S. Truman |
| 55 |  | Robert P. Patterson | New York | 27 september 1945 | 18 juli 1947 | Harry S. Truman |
| 56 |  | Kenneth Claiborne Royall | North Carolina | 19 juli 1947 | 18 september 1947 | Harry S. Truman |
