United States Secretary of the Interior

United States
Secretary of the Interior

Official Seal
Incumbent
Ken Salazar
since January 20, 2009
Formation March 3, 1849
First holder Thomas Ewing
Succession Eighth
Website www.doi.gov

The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.

The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries. Ministries of the Interior correspond primarily to the Department of Homeland Security in the US cabinet and secondarily to the Department of Justice.

The Department of the Interior oversees such agencies as the Bureau of Land Management, the United States Geological Survey, and the National Park Service. The Secretary also serves on and appoints the private citizens on the National Park Foundation board. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet.

Because the policies and activities of the Department of the Interior and many of its agencies have a substantial impact in the western United States,[1] the Secretary of the Interior has typically come from a western state; only one of the individuals to hold the office since 1949 is not identified with a state lying west of the Mississippi River. The Secretary of the Interior is eighth in the United States presidential line of succession.

The current Secretary of the Interior in Barack Obama's administration is former Senator Ken Salazar of Colorado.

Contents

Secretaries of the Interior

Parties

      Whig       Democratic       Republican

Status
  Denotes acting Secretary of the Interior
No. Portrait Name State of Residence Took Office Left Office President(s)
1 Thomas Ewing Ohio March 8, 1849 July 22, 1850 Zachary Taylor
Millard Fillmore
2 Thomas M. T. McKennan Pennsylvania August 15, 1850 August 26, 1850
3 Alexander H. H. Stuart Virginia September 14, 1850 March 7, 1853
4 Robert McClelland Michigan March 8, 1853 March 9, 1857 Franklin Pierce
5 Jacob Thompson Mississippi March 10, 1857 January 8, 1861 James Buchanan
6 Caleb Blood Smith Indiana March 5, 1861 December 31, 1862 Abraham Lincoln
7 John Palmer Usher Indiana January 1, 1863 May 15, 1865
Andrew Johnson
8 James Harlan Iowa May 16, 1865 August 31, 1866
9 Orville Hickman Browning Illinois September 1, 1866 March 4, 1869
10 Jacob Dolson Cox Ohio March 5, 1869 October 31, 1870 Ulysses S. Grant
11 Columbus Delano Ohio November 1, 1870 September 30, 1875
12 Zachariah Chandler Michigan October 19, 1875 March 11, 1877
13 Carl Schurz Missouri March 12, 1877 March 7, 1881 Rutherford B. Hayes
14 Samuel J. Kirkwood Iowa March 8, 1881 April 17, 1882 James A. Garfield
Chester A. Arthur
15 Henry M. Teller Colorado April 18, 1882 March 3, 1885
16 Lucius Q. C. Lamar Mississippi March 6, 1885 January 10, 1888 Grover Cleveland
17 William Freeman Vilas Wisconsin January 16, 1888 March 6, 1889
18 John Willock Noble Missouri March 7, 1889 March 6, 1893 Benjamin Harrison
19 M. Hoke Smith Georgia March 6, 1893 September 1, 1896 Grover Cleveland
20 David R. Francis Missouri September 3, 1896 March 5, 1897
21 Cornelius Newton Bliss New York March 6, 1897 February 19, 1899 William McKinley
22 Ethan A. Hitchcock Alabama February 20, 1899 March 4, 1907
Theodore Roosevelt
23 James Rudolph Garfield Ohio March 5, 1907 March 5, 1909
24 Richard Achilles Ballinger Washington March 6, 1909 March 12, 1911 William Howard Taft
25 Walter L. Fisher West Virginia March 13, 1911 March 5, 1913
26 Franklin Knight Lane California March 6, 1913 February 29, 1920 Woodrow Wilson
- Alexander T. Vogelsang California February 29, 1920 March 13, 1920
27 John Barton Payne Illinois March 15, 1920 March 4, 1921
28 Albert B. Fall New Mexico March 5, 1921 March 4, 1923 Warren G. Harding
29 Hubert Work Colorado March 5, 1923 July 24, 1928
Calvin Coolidge
30 Roy Owen West Illinois July 25, 1928 March 4, 1929
31 Ray Lyman Wilbur California March 5, 1929 March 4, 1933 Herbert Hoover
32 Harold L. Ickes Illinois March 4, 1933 February 15, 1946 Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry S. Truman
- Oscar L. Chapman Colorado February 15, 1946 March 18, 1946
33 Julius Albert Krug Wisconsin March 18, 1946 December 1, 1949
34 Oscar L. Chapman Colorado December 1, 1949 January 20, 1953
35 Douglas McKay Oregon January 21, 1953 April 15, 1956 Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Clarence A. Davis Nebraska April 15, 1956 June 8, 1956
36 Fred Andrew Seaton Nebraska June 8, 1956 January 20, 1961
37 Stewart Udall Arizona January 21, 1961 January 20, 1969 John F. Kennedy
Lyndon B. Johnson
38 Walter J. Hickel Alaska January 24, 1969 November 25, 1970 Richard Nixon
- Fred J. Russell California November 25, 1970 January 29, 1971
39 Rogers Morton Maryland January 29, 1971 April 30, 1975
Gerald Ford
- D. Kent Frizzell Kansas April 30, 1975 June 12, 1975
40 Stanley K. Hathaway Wyoming June 12, 1975 October 9, 1975
- D. Kent Frizzell Kansas October 9, 1975 October 17, 1975
41 Thomas S. Kleppe North Dakota October 17, 1975 January 20, 1977
- Alfred G. Albert January 20, 1977 January 23, 1977 Jimmy Carter
42 Cecil D. Andrus Idaho January 23, 1977 January 20, 1981
43 James G. Watt Wyoming January 23, 1981 November 8, 1983 Ronald Reagan
- J. J. Simonds III New Jersey November 8, 1983 November 18, 1983
44 William P. Clark, Jr. California November 18, 1983 February 7, 1985
45 Donald P. Hodel Oregon February 8, 1985 January 20, 1989
- Earl E. Gjelde Virginia January 20, 1989 February 3, 1989 George H. W. Bush
46 Manuel Lujan, Jr. New Mexico February 3, 1989 January 20, 1993
47 Bruce Babbitt Arizona January 22, 1993 January 2, 2001 Bill Clinton
- Thomas N. Slonaker Arizona January 2, 2001 January 31, 2001
George W. Bush
48 Gale Ann Norton Colorado January 31, 2001 March 31, 2006
- Lynn Scarlett California April 1, 2006 May 26, 2006
49 Dirk Kempthorne Idaho May 29, 2006 January 19, 2009
- Lynn Scarlett California January 19, 2009 January 21, 2009
Barack Obama
50 Ken Salazar Colorado January 21, 2009 Incumbent

Living former Secretaries of the Interior

As of May 2010, eight former Secretaries of the Interior are alive. The most recent secretary to die was Walter Hickel (1969–1970), on 7 May 2010.

Name Term of office Date of birth
Cecil Andrus 1977–1981 August 25, 1931 (1931-08-25) (age 80)
James G. Watt 1981–1983 January 31, 1938 (1938-01-31) (age 74)
William P. Clark 1983–1985 October 23, 1931 (1931-10-23) (age 80)
Donald Hodel 1985–1989 May 23, 1935 (1935-05-23) (age 76)
Manuel Lujan 1989–1993 May 12, 1928 (1928-05-12) (age 83)
Bruce Babbitt 1993–2001 June 27, 1938 (1938-06-27) (age 73)
Gale Norton 2001–2006 March 11, 1954 (1954-03-11) (age 57)
Dirk Kempthorne 2006–2009 October 29, 1951 (1951-10-29) (age 60)

See also

References

  1. ^ Salazar, Vilsack: The West’s New Land Lords

External links

United States presidential line of succession
Preceded by
Attorney General		 8th in line Succeeded by
Secretary of Agriculture
United States Secretaries of the Interior
Ewing • McKennan • Stuart • McClelland • Thompson • C Smith • Usher • Harlan • Browning • Cox • Delano • Chandler • Schurz • Kirkwood • Teller • Lamar • Vilas • Noble • M Smith • Francis • Bliss • Hitchcock • Garfield • Ballinger • Fisher • Lane • Payne • Fall • Work • West • Wilbur • Ickes • Krug • Chapman • McKay • Seaton • Udall • Hickel • Morton • Hathaway • Kleppe • Andrus • Watt • Clark • Hodel • Lujan • Babbitt • Norton • Kempthorne • Salazar