(Redirected from U.S. Secretary of the Treasury)
The United States 'Secretary of the Treasury' is the head of the
United States Department of the Treasury, concerned with ''finance and monetary matters'', and, until 2003, some issues of ''national security and defense''. This position in the
Federal Government of the United States is analogous to the
finance ministers of other nations. Most of the Department's
law enforcement agencies such as the
ATF,
Customs Service, and
Secret Service were reassigned to other Departments in 2003 in conjunction with the creation of the
Department of Homeland Security. The Secretary is a member of the
President's Cabinet and, since the Clinton years, has sat on the
United States National Security Council. The Secretary of the Treasury is fifth in the United States
presidential line of succession.
From the U.S. Department of the Treasury website:
:"The Secretary of the Treasury is the principal economic advisor to the
President and plays a critical role in policy-making by bringing an economic and government financial policy perspective to issues facing the government. The Secretary is responsible for formulating and recommending domestic and international financial, economic, and tax policy, participating in the formulation of broad fiscal policies that have general significance for the economy, and managing the public debt. The Secretary oversees the activities of the Department in carrying out its major law enforcement responsibilities; in serving as the financial agent for the
United States Government; and in manufacturing
coins and
currency.
:"The Chief Financial Officer of the government, the Secretary serves as Chairman Pro Tempore of the President's Economic Policy Council, Chairman of the Boards and Managing Trustee of the
Social Security and
Medicare Trust Funds, and as U.S. Governor of the
International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development."
The Secretary along with the
Treasurer must sign
Federal Reserve notes before they can become legal tender.
Secretaries of the Treasury

Peale portrait of Robert Morris
Note:
Robert Morris was the first person appointed Secretary of the Treasury by
George Washington, but Morris declined this office; thus the 1st Secretary of the Treasury was
Alexander Hamilton - appointed at Morris's suggestion. Morris had held a similar position as Superintendent of Finance under the
Continental Congress. From Morris's 1784 resignation until 1789, the young union's finances were overseen by a three-member Treasury Board.
[1]
Henry Paulson, the current Treasury Secretary.
| No. | Picture | Name | State of Residence | Term of Office | President(s) served under |
|---|
| 1 | | Alexander Hamilton | New York | September 11, 1789 | January 31, 1795 | George Washington |
| 2 | | Oliver Wolcott, Jr. | Connecticut | February 3, 1795 | December 31, 1800 | George Washington, John Adams |
| 3 | | Samuel Dexter | Massachusetts | January 1, 1801 | May 13, 1801 | John Adams, Thomas Jefferson |
| 4 | | Albert Gallatin | Pennsylvania | May 14, 1801 | February 8, 1814 | Thomas Jefferson, James Madison |
| 5 | | George W. Campbell | Tennessee | February 9, 1814 | October 5, 1814 | James Madison |
| 6 | | Alexander J. Dallas | Pennsylvania | October 6, 1814 | October 21, 1816 | James Madison |
| 7 | | William H. Crawford | Georgia | October 22, 1816 | March 6, 1825 | James Madison, James Monroe |
| 8 | | Richard Rush | Pennsylvania | March 7, 1825 | March 5, 1829 | John Quincy Adams |
| 9 | | Samuel D. Ingham | Pennsylvania | March 6, 1829 | June 20, 1831 | Andrew Jackson |
| 10 | | Louis McLane | Delaware | August 8, 1831 | May 28, 1833 | Andrew Jackson |
| 11 | | William J. Duane | Pennsylvania | May 29, 1833 | September 22, 1833 | Andrew Jackson |
| 12 | | Roger B. Taney | Maryland | September 23, 1833 | June 25, 1834 | Andrew Jackson |
| 13 | | Levi Woodbury | New Hampshire | July 1, 1834 | March 3, 1841 | Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren |
| 14 | | Thomas Ewing, Sr. | Ohio | March 4, 1841 | September 11, 1841 | William Henry Harrison, John Tyler |
| 15 | | Walter Forward | Pennsylvania | September 13, 1841 | March 1, 1843 | John Tyler |
| 16 | | John C. Spencer | New York | March 8, 1843 | May 2, 1844 | John Tyler |
| 17 | | George M. Bibb | Kentucky | July 4, 1844 | March 7, 1845 | John Tyler |
| 18 | | Robert J. Walker | Mississippi | March 8, 1845 | March 5, 1849 | James Knox Polk |
| 19 | | William M. Meredith | Pennsylvania | March 8, 1849 | July 22, 1850 | Zachary Taylor |
| 20 | | Thomas Corwin | Ohio | July 23, 1850 | March 6, 1853 | Millard Fillmore |
| 21 | | James Guthrie | Kentucky | March 7, 1853 | March 6, 1857 | Franklin Pierce |
| 22 | | Howell Cobb | Georgia | March 7, 1857 | December 8, 1860 | James Buchanan |
| 23 | | Philip F. Thomas | Maryland | December 12, 1860 | January 14, 1861 | James Buchanan |
| 24 | | John Adams Dix | New York | January 15, 1861 | March 6, 1861 | James Buchanan |
| 25 | | Salmon P. Chase | Ohio | March 7, 1861 | June 30, 1864 | Abraham Lincoln |
| 26 | | William P. Fessenden | Maine | July 5, 1864 | March 3, 1865 | Abraham Lincoln |
| 27 | | Hugh McCulloch | Indiana | March 9, 1865 | March 3, 1869 | Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson |
| 28 | | George S. Boutwell | Massachusetts | March 12, 1869 | March 16, 1873 | Ulysses S. Grant |
| 29 | | William A. Richardson | Massachusetts | March 17, 1873 | June 3, 1874 | Ulysses S. Grant |
| 30 | | Benjamin H. Bristow | Kentucky | June 4, 1874 | June 20, 1876 | Ulysses S. Grant |
| 31 | | Lot M. Morrill | Maine | July 7, 1876 | March 9, 1877 | Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes |
| 32 | | John Sherman | Ohio | March 10, 1877 | March 3, 1881 | Rutherford B. Hayes |
| 33 | | William Windom | Minnesota | March 8, 1881 | November 13, 1881 | James A. Garfield, Chester A. Arthur |
| 34 | | Charles J. Folger | New York | November 14, 1881 | September 4, 1884 | Chester A. Arthur |
| 35 | | Walter Q. Gresham | Indiana | September 5, 1884 | October 30, 1884 | Chester A. Arthur |
| 36 | | Hugh McCulloch | Indiana | October 31, 1884 | March 7, 1885 | Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland |
| 37 | | Daniel Manning | New York | March 8, 1885 | March 31, 1887 | Grover Cleveland |
| 38 | | Charles S. Fairchild | New York | April 1, 1887 | March 6, 1889 | Grover Cleveland |
| 39 | | William Windom | Minnesota | March 7, 1889 | January 29, 1891 | Benjamin Harrison |
| 40 | | Charles Foster | Ohio | February 25, 1891 | March 6, 1893 | Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland |
| 41 | | John G. Carlisle | Kentucky | March 7, 1893 | March 5, 1897 | Grover Cleveland, William McKinley |
| 42 | | Lyman J. Gage | Illinois | March 6, 1897 | January 31, 1902 | William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt |
| 43 | | L.M. Shaw | Iowa | February 1, 1902 | March 3, 1907 | Theodore Roosevelt |
| 44 | | George B. Cortelyou | New York | March 4, 1907 | March 7, 1909 | Theodore Roosevelt |
| 45 | | Franklin MacVeagh | Illinois | March 8, 1909 | March 5, 1913 | William Howard Taft |
| 46 | | William G. McAdoo | New York | March 6, 1913 | December 15, 1918 | Woodrow Wilson |
| 47 | | Carter Glass | Virginia | December 16, 1918 | February 1, 1920 | Woodrow Wilson |
| 48 | | David F. Houston | Missouri | February 2, 1920 | March 3, 1921 | Woodrow Wilson |
| 49 | | Andrew W. Mellon | Pennsylvania | March 4, 1921 | February 12, 1932 | Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover |
| 50 | | Ogden L. Mills | New York | February 13, 1932 | March 4, 1933 | Herbert Hoover |
| 51 | | William H. Woodin | New York | March 5, 1933 | December 31, 1933 | Franklin D. Roosevelt |
| 52 | | Henry Morgenthau, Jr. | New York | January 1, 1934 | July 22, 1945 | Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman |
| 53 | | Fred M. Vinson | Kentucky | July 23, 1945 | June 23, 1946 | Harry S. Truman |
| 54 | | John W. Snyder | Missouri | June 25, 1946 | January 20, 1953 | Harry S. Truman |
| 55 | | George M. Humphrey | Ohio | January 21, 1953 | July 29, 1957 | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| 56 | | Robert B. Anderson | Connecticut | July 29, 1957 | January 20, 1961 | Dwight D. Eisenhower |
| 57 | | C. Douglas Dillon | New Jersey | January 21, 1961 | April 1, 1965 | John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson |
| 58 | | Henry H. Fowler | Virginia | April 1, 1965 | December 20, 1968 | Lyndon Johnson |
| 59 | | Joseph W. Barr | Indiana | December 21, 1968 | January 20, 1969 | Lyndon Johnson |
| 60 | | David M. Kennedy | Utah | January 22, 1969 | February 10, 1971 | Richard Nixon |
| 61 | | John B. Connally | Texas | February 11, 1971 | June 12, 1972 | Richard Nixon |
| 62 | | George P. Shultz | Illinois | June 12, 1972 | May 8, 1974 | Richard Nixon |
| 63 | | William E. Simon | New Jersey | May 8, 1974 | January 20, 1977 | Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford |
| 64 | | W. Michael Blumenthal | Michigan | January 23, 1977 | August 4, 1979 | Jimmy Carter |
| 65 | | G. William Miller | Rhode Island | August 7, 1979 | January 20, 1981 | Jimmy Carter |
| 66 | | Donald T. Regan | New Jersey | January 22, 1981 | February 1, 1985 | Ronald Reagan |
| 67 | | James A. Baker III | Texas | February 4, 1985 | August 17, 1988 | Ronald Reagan |
| 68 | | Nicholas F. Brady | New Jersey | September 15, 1988 | January 17, 1993 | Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush |
| 69 | | Lloyd Bentsen | Texas | January 20, 1993 | December 22, 1994 | Bill Clinton |
| 70 | | Robert Rubin | New York | January 11, 1995 | July 2, 1999 | Bill Clinton |
| 71 | | Lawrence H. Summers | Massachusetts | July 2, 1999 | January 20, 2001 | Bill Clinton |
| 72 | | Paul H. O'Neill | Pennsylvania | January 20, 2001 | December 31, 2002 | George W. Bush |
| 73 | | John W. Snow | Virginia | February 3, 2003 | June 30 2006 | George W. Bush |
| 74 | | Henry Merritt Paulson Jr. | Illinois | July 10, 2006 | present | George W. Bush |
Acting Secretaries of the Treasury
★
William Jones served as acting secretary between the resignation of
Alexander J. Dallas and appointment of
William H. Crawford.
★ Because of the resignation of Deputy Secretary of Treasury
Roger Altman in August 1994,
Under Secretary of Treasury for Domestic Finance Frank Newman served from
December 22,
1994 to
January 11,
1995 as Acting Secretary of Treasury.
★ Deputy Secretary of Treasury
Kenneth W. Dam served as Acting Secretary of Treasury from
December 31,
2002 to
February 3,
2003.
★ Deputy Secretary of Treasury
Robert Kimmitt served as Acting Secretary of Treasury from
June 30,
2006 to
July 9,
2006.
If both the Secretary and the
Deputy Secretary of the Treasury are unable to carry out the duties of the office of Secretary of the Treasury, then whichever Treasury official of Under Secretary rank sworn in earliest assumes the role of Acting Secretary. Positions listed on the Department of the Treasury website include the
Under Secretary for Domestic Finance, the
Under Secretary for International Affairs, and the
Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. This has been the case since 2001, when President
George W. Bush modified the line of succession.
[2]
References
★
Secretaries of the Treasury