The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services is the head of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, concerned with health matters. The Secretary reports to the President of the United States. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet.
United States Secretary of Health and Human Services | |
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![]() Seal of the department | |
![]() Flag of the secretary | |
United States Department of Health and Human Services | |
Style | Mr. Secretary (informal) The Honorable (formal) |
Member of | the United States Cabinet |
Reports to | President of the United States |
Seat | Hubert H. Humphrey Building, Washington, D.C. |
Appointer | President of the United States with Senate advice and consent |
Term length | At the President's Pleasure |
Constituting instrument | Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1953 67 Stat. 631 42 U.S.C. § 3501 |
Formation | April 11, 1953 |
First holder | Oveta Culp Hobby |
Succession | Twelfth[1] |
Deputy | United States Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services |
Salary | Executive Schedule, Level I |
Website | www.hhs.gov |
List of secretaries
change- Parties
Democratic (9) Republican (15) Independent (2)
Status Denotes acting HHS Secretary
Health, education, and welfare
changeNo. | Portrait | Name | State of residence | Took office | Left office | President(s) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Oveta Culp Hobby | Texas | April 11, 1953 | July 31, 1955 | Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953–1961) | ||
2 | Marion B. Folsom | New York | August 2, 1955 | July 31, 1958 | |||
3 | Arthur Flemming | Ohio | August 1, 1958 | January 19, 1961 | |||
4 | Abraham Ribicoff | Connecticut | January 21, 1961 | July 13, 1962 | John F. Kennedy (1961–1963) | ||
5 | Anthony J. Celebrezze | Ohio | July 31, 1962 | August 17, 1965 | |||
Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–1969) | |||||||
6 | John W. Gardner | California | August 18, 1965 | March 1, 1968 | |||
7 | Wilbur J. Cohen | Michigan | May 16, 1968 | January 20, 1969 | |||
8 | Robert Finch | California | January 21, 1969 | June 23, 1970 | Richard Nixon (1969–1974) | ||
9 | Elliot Richardson | Massachusetts | June 24, 1970 | January 29, 1973 | |||
10 | Caspar Weinberger | California | February 12, 1973 | August 8, 1975 | |||
Gerald Ford (1974–1977) | |||||||
11 | F. David Mathews | Alabama | August 8, 1975 | January 20, 1977 | |||
12 | Joseph A. Califano Jr. | District of Columbia | January 25, 1977 | August 3, 1979 | Jimmy Carter (1977–1981) | ||
13 | Patricia Roberts Harris | District of Columbia | August 3, 1979 | May 4, 1980[2] |
Health and human services
changeNo. | Portrait | Name | State of residence | Took office | Left office | President(s) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
13 | Patricia Roberts Harris | District of Columbia | May 4, 1980[2] | January 20, 1981 | Jimmy Carter (1977–1981) | ||
14 | Richard Schweiker | Pennsylvania | January 22, 1981 | February 3, 1983 | Ronald Reagan (1981–1989) | ||
15 | Margaret Heckler | Massachusetts | March 10, 1983 | December 13, 1985 | |||
16 | Otis Bowen | Indiana | December 13, 1985 | March 1, 1989 | |||
17 | Louis W. Sullivan | Georgia | March 1, 1989 | January 20, 1993 | George H. W. Bush (1989–1993) | ||
18 | Donna Shalala | Wisconsin | January 22, 1993 | January 20, 2001 | Bill Clinton (1993–2001) | ||
19 | Tommy Thompson | Wisconsin | February 2, 2001 | January 26, 2005 | George W. Bush (2001–2009) | ||
20 | Mike Leavitt | Utah | January 26, 2005 | January 20, 2009 | |||
– | Charles E. Johnson | Utah | January 20, 2009 | April 28, 2009 | Barack Obama (2009–2017) | ||
21 | Kathleen Sebelius | Kansas | April 28, 2009 | June 9, 2014 | |||
22 | Sylvia Mathews Burwell | West Virginia | June 9, 2014 | January 20, 2017 | |||
– | Norris Cochran | Florida | January 20, 2017 | February 10, 2017 | Donald Trump (2017–2021) | ||
23 | Tom Price | Georgia | February 10, 2017 | September 29, 2017 | |||
– | Don J. Wright | Virginia | September 29, 2017 | October 10, 2017 | |||
– | Eric Hargan | Illinois | October 10, 2017 | January 29, 2018 | |||
24 | Alex Azar | Indiana | January 29, 2018 | January 20, 2021 | |||
– | Norris Cochran | Florida | January 20, 2021 | March 19, 2021 | Joe Biden (2021–2025) | ||
25 | Xavier Becerra | California | March 19, 2021 | January 20, 2025 | |||
– | Dorothy Fink | Pennsylvania | January 20, 2025 | Incumbent | Donald Trump (2025–present) | ||
Nominee | Robert F. Kennedy Jr. | California | TBD |
References
change- ↑ "3 U.S. Code § 19 - Vacancy in offices of both President and Vice President; officers eligible to act". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved November 10, 2017.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Harris was Secretary on May 4, 1980, when the office changed names from Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to Secretary of Health and Human Services. Because the department merely changed names, she did not need to be confirmed again, and her term continued uninterrupted.