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 secretary and the Department of the Interior are responsible for the management and conservation of most federal land and natural resources, leading such agencies as the Bureau of Land Management, the United States Geological Survey, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 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 United States Cabinet and reports to the president of the United States. The function of the U.S. Department of the Interior is different from that of the interior minister designated in many other countries.

United States Secretary of the Interior
Seal of the Department of the Interior
Flag of the Secretary of the Interior
Incumbent Scott de la Vega Acting since January 20, 2021
United States Department of the Interior
Style	Mr./Madam Secretary (informal) The Honorable (formal)
Member of	Cabinet
Reports to	President of the United States
Seat	Washington, D.C.
Appointer	President of the United States with Senate advice and consent
Term length	No fixed term
Constituting instrument	43 U.S.C. § 1451
Formation	March 3, 1849
First holder	Thomas Ewing
Succession	Eighth[1]
Deputy	United States Deputy Secretary of the Interior
Salary	Executive Schedule, Level I
Website	www.doi.gov

As the policies and activities of the Department of the Interior and many of its agencies have a substantial impact in the Western United States,[2] the secretary of the interior has typically come from a western state; only one secretary since 1949, Rogers Morton, was not a resident or native of a state lying west of the Mississippi River.

The acting U.S. secretary of the interior is Scott de la Vega, who succeeded David Bernhardt, who resigned on January 20, 2021.

President Joe Biden has nominated U.S. representative Deb Haaland as the secretary of the interior, the first Native-American woman selected for the position.

Line of succession

The line of succession for the secretary of interior is as follows:[3]

1. Deputy Secretary of the Interior
2. Solicitor of the Interior
3. Assistant Secretary for Policy, Management and Budget
4. Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management
5. Assistant Secretary for Water and Science
6. Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks
7. Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs
8. Director, Security, Safety, and Law Enforcement, Bureau of Reclamation
9. Central Region Director, US Geological Survey
10. Intermountain Regional Director, National Park Service
11. Region 6 (Mountain-Prairie Region) Director, US Fish and Wildlife Service
12. Colorado State Director, Bureau of Land Management
13. Regional Solicitor, Rocky Mountain Region

List of secretaries of the interior

Parties   Whig (3)   Democratic (16)   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 12, 2001 Bill Clinton – Thomas N. Slonaker Acting Arizona January 12, 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[4] 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 Joe Biden – Deb Haaland New Mexico Nominee —

Living former secretaries of the interior

The former flag of the United States Secretary of the Interior, which was used from 1917 to 1934

As of February 2021, eight former secretaries of the interior are alive (with all secretaries that have served since 1993 still living), the oldest being Donald P. Hodel (served 1985–1989, born 1935). The most recent to die was Manuel Lujan Jr. (served 1989–1993, born 1928), on April 25, 2019. He was also the most recently serving secretary to die.

Name	Term of office	Date of birth (and age)
James G. Watt	1981–1983	January 31, 1938
Donald P. Hodel	1985–1989	May 23, 1935
Bruce E. Babbitt	1993–2001	June 27, 1938
Gale A. Norton	2001–2006	March 11, 1954
Dirk Kempthorne	2006–2009	October 29, 1951
Ken Salazar	2009–2013	March 2, 1955
Sally Jewell	2013–2017	February 21, 1956
Ryan Zinke	2017–2019	November 1, 1961
David Bernhardt	2019–2021	August 17, 1969

References

1. https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/3/19
2. Salazar, Vilsack: The West's New Land Lords Archived December 20, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
3. "Chapter 3: SECRETARIAL SUCCESSION (2) - Laserfiche WebLink". elips.doi.gov. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
4. "About Secretary Jewell". U.S. Department of the Interior. Archived from the original on June 8, 2013. Retrieved May 23, 2013.

External links

• Official website
• List of Secretaries of the Interior (worldstatesmen.org)
• The Department of Everything Else: Highlights of Interior History (1989)