United States Secretary of the Interior
The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. 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. The Secretary typically comes from a western state; only one of the last 16 Secretaries 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.
Secretaries of the Interior
- Parties
Whig (3)
Democratic (17)
Republican (33)
- Status
Denotes acting Secretary of the Interior
Number
|
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 B. Smith
|
Indiana
|
March 5, 1861
|
December 31, 1862
|
|
Abraham Lincoln
|
7
|
|
John P. Usher
|
Indiana
|
January 1, 1863
|
May 15, 1865
|
|
Abraham Lincoln Andrew Johnson
|
8
|
|
James Harlan
|
Iowa
|
May 16, 1865
|
August 31, 1866
|
|
Andrew Johnson
|
9
|
|
Orville H. Browning
|
Illinois
|
September 1, 1866
|
March 4, 1869
|
|
Andrew Johnson
|
10
|
|
Jacob D. 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 II
|
Mississippi
|
March 6, 1885
|
January 10, 1888
|
|
Grover Cleveland
|
17
|
|
William F. Vilas
|
Wisconsin
|
January 16, 1888
|
March 6, 1889
|
18
|
|
John W. Noble
|
Missouri
|
March 7, 1889
|
March 6, 1893
|
|
Benjamin Harrison
|
19
|
|
Hoke Smith
|
Georgia
|
March 6, 1893
|
September 1, 1896
|
|
Grover Cleveland
|
20
|
|
David R. Francis
|
Missouri
|
September 3, 1896
|
March 5, 1897
|
21
|
|
Cornelius N. Bliss
|
New York
|
March 6, 1897
|
February 19, 1899
|
|
William McKinley
|
22
|
|
Ethan A. Hitchcock
|
Missouri
|
February 20, 1899
|
March 4, 1907
|
|
Theodore Roosevelt
|
23
|
|
James R. Garfield
|
Ohio
|
March 5, 1907
|
March 4, 1909
|
24
|
|
Richard A. Ballinger
|
Washington
|
March 6, 1909
|
March 12, 1911
|
|
William Howard Taft
|
25
|
|
Walter L. Fisher
|
Illinois
|
March 13, 1911
|
March 5, 1913
|
26
|
|
Franklin K. Lane
|
California
|
March 6, 1913
|
February 29, 1920
|
|
Woodrow Wilson
|
–
|
|
Alexander T. Vogelsang Acting
|
California
|
February 29, 1920
|
March 13, 1920
|
27
|
|
John B. 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 O. 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 Acting
|
Colorado
|
February 15, 1946
|
March 18, 1946
|
33
|
|
Julius A. 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 Acting
|
Nebraska
|
April 15, 1956
|
June 8, 1956
|
36
|
|
Fred A. Seaton
|
Nebraska
|
June 8, 1956
|
January 20, 1961
|
37
|
|
Stewart L. 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 Acting
|
California
|
November 25, 1970
|
January 29, 1971
|
39
|
|
Rogers C. B. Morton
|
Maryland
|
January 29, 1971
|
April 30, 1975
|
|
Gerald Ford
|
–
|
|
D. Kent Frizzell Acting
|
Kansas
|
April 30, 1975
|
June 12, 1975
|
40
|
|
Stanley K. Hathaway
|
Wyoming
|
June 12, 1975
|
October 9, 1975
|
–
|
|
D. Kent Frizzell Acting
|
Kansas
|
October 9, 1975
|
October 17, 1975
|
41
|
|
Thomas S. Kleppe
|
North Dakota
|
October 17, 1975
|
January 20, 1977
|
–
|
|
Alfred G. Albert Acting
|
|
January 20, 1977
|
January 23, 1977
|
|
Jimmy Carter
|
42
|
|
Cecil D. Andrus
|
Idaho
|
January 23, 1977
|
January 20, 1981
|
43
|
|
James G. Watt
|
Colorado
|
January 23, 1981
|
November 8, 1983
|
|
Ronald Reagan
|
–
|
|
J. J. Simmons III Acting
|
New Jersey
|
November 8, 1983
|
November 18, 1983
|
44
|
|
William P. Clark
|
California
|
November 18, 1983
|
February 7, 1985
|
45
|
|
Donald P. Hodel
|
Virginia
|
February 8, 1985
|
January 20, 1989
|
–
|
|
Earl E. Gjelde Acting
|
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 E. Babbitt
|
Arizona
|
January 22, 1993
|
January 2, 2001
|
|
Bill Clinton
|
–
|
|
Thomas N. Slonaker Acting
|
Arizona
|
January 2, 2001
|
January 31, 2001
|
|
George W. Bush
|
48
|
|
Gale A. Norton
|
Colorado
|
January 31, 2001
|
March 31, 2006
|
–
|
|
Lynn Scarlett Acting
|
California
|
April 1, 2006
|
May 26, 2006
|
49
|
|
Dirk Kempthorne
|
Idaho
|
May 29, 2006
|
January 19, 2009
|
-
|
|
Lynn Scarlett Acting
|
California
|
January 19, 2009
|
January 20, 2009
|
|
Barack Obama
|
50
|
|
Ken Salazar
|
Colorado
|
January 20, 2009
|
April 12, 2013
|
51
|
|
Sally Jewell
|
Washington
|
April 12, 2013[2]
|
January 20, 2017
|
–
|
|
Kevin Haugrud Acting
|
|
January 20, 2017
|
March 1, 2017
|
|
Donald Trump
|
52
|
|
Ryan Zinke
|
Montana
|
March 1, 2017
|
January 2, 2019
|
53
|
|
David Bernhardt
|
Colorado
|
January 2, 2019
|
April 11, 2019
|
April 11, 2019
|
January 20, 2021
|
–
|
|
Scott de la Vega Acting
|
|
January 20, 2021
|
March 16, 2021
|
|
Joe Biden
|
54
|
|
Deb Haaland
|
New Mexico
|
March 16, 2021
|
January 20, 2025
|
–
|
|
Walter Cruickshank Acting
|
|
January 20, 2025
|
|
|
Donald Trump
|
Nominee
|
|
Doug Burgum
|
North Dakota
|
TBD
|
|
|
References
|