The United States secretary of commerce leads the Department of Commerce and advises the president of the United States on commerce-related matters. As a Cabinet member, the secretary is appointed by the president with the advice and consent of the United States Senate. The role promotes American businesses and industries, supporting the department's mission “to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce of the United States.” Historically, this position was combined with labor until 1913. The secretary is a Level I position in the Executive Schedule with a 2021 salary of US$221,400. The current secretary is Howard Lutnick.
List of U.S. secretaries of commerce
PartiesIndependent (1) Democratic (21) Republican (19)
Status Denotes acting commerce secretary| No. | Portrait | Name6 | State of residence | Took office | Left office | President(s) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | William C. Redfield | New York | March 5, 1913 | October 31, 1919 | Woodrow Wilson(1913–1921) | ||
| 2 | Joshua W. Alexander | Missouri | December 16, 1919 | March 4, 1921 | |||
| 3 | Herbert Hoover | California | March 5, 1921 | August 21, 1928 | Warren G. Harding(1921–1923) | ||
| Calvin Coolidge(1923-1929) | |||||||
| 4 | William F. Whiting | Massachusetts | August 22, 1928 | March 4, 1929 | |||
| 5 | Robert P. Lamont | Illinois | March 5, 1929 | August 7, 1932 | Herbert Hoover(1929–1933) | ||
| 6 | Roy D. Chapin | Michigan | August 8, 1932 | March 3, 1933 | |||
| 7 | Daniel C. Roper | South Carolina | March 4, 1933 | December 23, 1938 | Franklin D. Roosevelt(1933–1945) | ||
| 8 | Harry Hopkins | New York | December 24, 1938 | September 18, 1940 | |||
| 9 | Jesse H. Jones | Texas | September 19, 1940 | March 1, 1945 | |||
| 10 | Henry A. Wallace | Iowa | March 2, 1945 | September 20, 1946 | |||
| Harry S. Truman(1945–1953) | |||||||
| – | Alfred SchindlerActing | Missouri | September 20, 1946 | October 7, 1946 | |||
| 11 | W. Averell Harriman | New York | October 7, 1946 | April 22, 1948 | |||
| 12 | Charles W. Sawyer | Ohio | May 6, 1948 | January 20, 1953 | |||
| 13 | Sinclair Weeks | Massachusetts | January 21, 1953 | November 10, 1958 | Dwight D. Eisenhower(1953–1961) | ||
| - | Lewis Strauss | New York | November 13, 1958 | June 30, 1959 | |||
| 14 | Frederick H. Mueller | Michigan | June 30, 1959 | August 10, 1959 | |||
| August 10, 1959 | January 19, 1961 | ||||||
| 15 | Luther H. Hodges | North Carolina | January 21, 1961 | January 15, 1965 | John F. Kennedy(1961–1963) | ||
| Lyndon B. Johnson(1963–1969) | |||||||
| 16 | John T. Connor | New Jersey | January 18, 1965 | January 31, 1967 | |||
| 17 | Alexander Trowbridge | New York | January 31, 1967 | June 14, 1967 | |||
| June 14, 1967 | March 1, 1968 | ||||||
| 18 | C. R. Smith | New York | March 6, 1968 | January 19, 1969 | |||
| 19 | Maurice Stans | New York | January 21, 1969 | February 15, 1972 | Richard Nixon(1969–1974) | ||
| 20 | Peter G. Peterson | Illinois | February 29, 1972 | February 1, 1973 | |||
| 21 | Frederick B. Dent | South Carolina | February 2, 1973 | March 26, 1975 | |||
| Gerald Ford(1974–1977) | |||||||
| 22 | Rogers Morton | Maryland | May 1, 1975 | February 2, 1976 | |||
| 23 | Elliot Richardson | Massachusetts | February 2, 1976 | January 20, 1977 | |||
| 24 | Juanita M. Kreps | North Carolina | January 23, 1977 | October 31, 1979 | Jimmy Carter(1977–1981) | ||
| – | Luther H. Hodges Jr.Acting | North Carolina | October 31, 1979 | January 9, 1980 | |||
| 25 | Philip Klutznick | Illinois | January 9, 1980 | January 20, 1981 | |||
| 26 | Malcolm Baldrige Jr. | Connecticut | January 20, 1981 | July 25, 1987 | Ronald Reagan(1981–1989) | ||
| – | Bud BrownActing | Ohio | July 25, 1987 | October 19, 1987 | |||
| 27 | William Verity Jr. | Ohio | October 19, 1987 | January 30, 1989 | |||
| 28 | Robert Mosbacher | Texas | January 31, 1989 | January 15, 1992 | George H. W. Bush(1989–1993) | ||
| – | Rockwell A. SchnabelActing | California | January 15, 1992 | February 27, 1992 | |||
| 29 | Barbara Franklin | Pennsylvania | February 27, 1992 | January 20, 1993 | |||
| 30 | Ron Brown | New York | January 20, 1993 | April 3, 1996 | Bill Clinton(1993–2001) | ||
| – | Mary L. GoodActing | Texas | April 3, 1996 | April 12, 1996 | |||
| 31 | Mickey Kantor | Tennessee | April 12, 1996 | January 21, 1997 | |||
| 32 | William M. Daley | Illinois | January 30, 1997 | July 19, 2000 | |||
| – | Robert L. MallettActing | Texas | July 19, 2000 | July 21, 2000 | |||
| 33 | Norman Mineta | California | July 21, 2000 | January 20, 2001 | |||
| 34 | Donald Evans | Texas | January 20, 2001 | February 7, 2005 | George W. Bush(2001–2009) | ||
| 35 | Carlos Gutierrez | Florida | February 7, 2005 | January 20, 2009 | |||
| – | Otto J. WolffActing | January 20, 2009 | March 26, 2009 | Barack Obama(2009–2017) | |||
| 36 | Gary Locke | Washington | March 26, 2009 | August 1, 2011 | |||
| – | Rebecca BlankActing | Minnesota | August 1, 2011 | October 21, 2011 | |||
| 37 | John Bryson | New York | October 21, 2011 | June 11, 2012 | |||
| – | Rebecca BlankActing | Minnesota | June 11, 2012 | June 1, 2013 | |||
| – | Cameron KerryActing | Massachusetts | June 1, 2013 | June 26, 2013 | |||
| 38 | Penny Pritzker | Illinois | June 26, 2013 | January 20, 2017 | |||
| – | Vacant | January 20, 2017 | February 28, 2017 | Donald Trump(2017–2021) | |||
| 39 | Wilbur Ross | Florida | February 28, 2017 | January 20, 2021 | |||
| – | Wynn CogginsActing | Virginia | January 20, 2021 | March 3, 2021 | Joe Biden(2021–2025) | ||
| 40 | Gina Raimondo | Rhode Island | March 3, 2021 | January 20, 2025 | |||
| – | Jeremy PelterActing | January 20, 2025 | February 21, 2025 | Donald Trump(2025–present) | |||
| 41 | Howard Lutnick | New York | February 21, 2025 | Incumbent | |||
Line of succession
The line of succession for the secretary of commerce is as follows:7
- Deputy Secretary of Commerce
- General Counsel of the Department of Commerce
- Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade
- Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs
- Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology
- Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- Under Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration
- Chief Financial Officer of the Department of Commerce and Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Administration
- Boulder Laboratories Site Manager, National Institute of Standards and Technology
External links
References
"US Department of Commerce, Directives Management Program". Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved September 22, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070929201638/http://204.193.232.34/cgi-bin/doit.cgi?204:112:ca6ff65e72b6f38e4fe42ea2ba9cf9358ad6df26eae063a68a6e8f420a9ac897:245 ↩
"Milestones". U.S. Department of Commerce. Archived from the original on October 15, 2011. Retrieved October 2, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111015094052/http://2001-2009.commerce.gov/About_Us/Milestones/index.htm ↩
5 U.S.C. § 5312 /wiki/Title_5_of_the_United_States_Code ↩
"Salary Table No. 2021-EX Rates of Basic Pay for the Executive Schedule (EX)" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on January 23, 2021. https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/salary-tables/pdf/2021/EX.pdf ↩
Rappeport, Alan (February 18, 2025). "Senate Confirms Howard Lutnick as Commerce Secretary". The New York Times. Retrieved February 19, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/us/politics/howard-lutnick-confirmed-commerce.html ↩
Department of Commerce: Secretaries https://www.commerce.gov/about-commerce/secretaries ↩
"Providing an Order of Succession Within the Department of Commerce". federalregister.gov. Retrieved October 29, 2016. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2012/05/24/2012-12882/providing-an-order-of-succession-within-the-department-of-commerce ↩