United States Secretary of Commerce

Seal of the United States Department of Commerce

The United States Secretary of Commerce is the head of the United States Department of Commerce concerned with business and industry; the Department states its mission to be "to foster, promote, and develop the foreign and domestic commerce."[1] Until 1913 there was one Secretary of Commerce and Labor, uniting this department with the Department of Labor, which is now headed by a separate Secretary of Labor.[2]

The office of the U.S. Secretary of Commerce in the mid-20th century.

The Office of the Secretary contains a Deputy Secretary of Commerce, a Chief of Staff, a Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, an Assistant Secretary for Commerce and Intergovernmental Affairs, a Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary for Administration, a Chief Information Officer, a General Counsel, an Inspector General, an Office of Business Liaison, an Office of Policy and Strategic Planning, an Office of Public Affairs, an Office of White House Liaison, and an International IPR Enforcement Coordinator.[3]

The line of succession for the Secretary of Commerce is as follows:[4]

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 Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Under Secretary of Commerce for Technology
Under Secretary of Commerce for Export Administration
Chief Financial Officer of the Department of Commerce and Assistant Secretary of Commerce in charge of Administration
Assistant Secretary for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs

List of Secretaries of Commerce[5]

No. Picture Secretary Start of Term End of Term President(s)1 William Cox Redfield March 5, 1913 October 31, 1919 Woodrow Wilson2 Joshua Willis Alexander December 16, 1919 March 4, 1921 Woodrow Wilson3 Herbert Clark Hoover March 5, 1921 August 21, 1928 Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge4 William Fairfield Whiting August 22, 1928 March 4, 1929 Calvin Coolidge5 Robert Patterson Lamont March 5, 1929 August 7, 1932 Herbert Hoover6 Roy Dikeman Chapin August 8, 1932 March 3, 1933 Herbert Hoover7 Daniel Calhoun Roper March 4, 1933 December 23, 1938 Franklin Delano Roosevelt8 Harry Lloyd Hopkins December 24, 1938 September 18, 1940 Franklin Delano Roosevelt9 Jesse Holman Jones September 19, 1940 March 1, 1945 Franklin Delano Roosevelt10 Henry Agard Wallace March 2, 1945 September 20, 1946 Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman11 William Averell Harriman October 7, 1946 April 22, 1948 Harry S. Truman12 Charles W. Sawyer May 6, 1948 January 20, 1953 Harry S. Truman13 Charles Sinclair Weeks January 21, 1953 November 10, 1958 Dwight D. Eisenhower Lewis Lichtenstein Strauss(Acting Secretary) 1958 1959 Dwight D. Eisenhower14 Frederick Henry Mueller August 10, 1959 January 19, 1961 Dwight D. Eisenhower15 Luther Hartwell Hodges January 21, 1961 January 15, 1965 John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson16 John Thomas Connor January 18, 1965 January 31, 1967 Lyndon Johnson17 Alexander Buel Trowbridge June 14, 1967 March 1, 1968 Lyndon Johnson18 Cyrus Rowlett Smith March 6, 1968 January 19, 1969 Lyndon Johnson19 Maurice Hubert Stans January 21, 1969 February 15, 1972 Richard Nixon20 Peter George Peterson February 29, 1972 February 1, 1973 Richard Nixon21 Frederick Baily Dent February 2, 1973 March 26, 1975 Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford22 Rogers Clark Ballard Morton May 1, 1975 February 2, 1976 Gerald Ford23 Elliot Lee Richardson February 2, 1976 January 20, 1977 Gerald Ford24 Juanita Morris Kreps January 23, 1977 October 31, 1979 Jimmy Carter25 Philip Morris Klutznick January 9, 1980 January 19, 1981 Jimmy Carter26 Howard Malcolm Baldrige, Jr.January 20, 1981 July 25, 1987 Ronald Reagan27 Calvin William Verity, Jr.October 19, 1987 January 30, 1989 Ronald Reagan28 Robert Adam Mosbacher January 31, 1989 January 15, 1992 George H. W. Bush29 Barbara Hackman Franklin February 27, 1992 January 20, 1993 George H. W. Bush30 Ronald Harmon Brown January 22, 1993 April 3, 1996 Bill Clinton31 Michael Kantor April 12, 1996 January 21, 1997 Bill Clinton32 William Michael Daley January 30, 1997 July 19, 2000 Bill Clinton33 Norman Yoshio Mineta July 21, 2000 January 19, 2001 Bill Clinton34 Donald Louis Evans January 20, 2001 February 7, 2005 George W. Bush35 Carlos Miguel Gutierrez February 7, 2005present George W. Bush

Footnote: Under Secretary of Commerce Luther H. Hodges Jr served as Interim Secretary of Commerce October 31, 1979 to January 9, 1980.
From 25 July 1987 to 19 October 1987, Clarence J. Brown Jr. was Acting Secretary of Commerce.