United States Secretary of the Treasury

The secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury,[2] which is concerned with all financial and monetary matters relating to the federal government, and, until 2003, also included several major federal law enforcement agencies. The secretary of the treasury is the principal economic advisor to the president of the United States and plays a critical role in policy-making by bringing an economic and government financial policy perspective to issues facing the federal government. The secretary of the treasury is a member of the United States Cabinet, and is nominated by the president of the United States. Nominees for Secretary of the Treasury undergo a confirmation hearing before the United States Senate Committee on Finance, prior to a vote by the United States Senate.

United States Secretary of the Treasury
Seal of the Department of the Treasury
Flag of the Secretary of the Treasury
Incumbent Janet Yellen since January 26, 2021
United States Department of the Treasury
Style	Madam Secretary (informal) The Honorable (formal)
Member of	Cabinet National Security Council
Reports to	President of the United States
Seat	Washington, D.C.
Appointer	President of the United States with Senate advice and consent
Term length	At the pleasure of the President
Constituting instrument	31 U.S.C. § 301
Formation	September 11, 1789
First holder	Alexander Hamilton
Succession	Fifth[1]
Deputy	United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury[2]
Salary	Executive Schedule, Level I[3]
Website	www.treasury.gov

The secretary of the treasury, the secretary of state, the attorney general, and the secretary of defense are generally regarded as the four most important Cabinet officials, due to the size and importance of their respective departments.[4] The secretary of the treasury is a non-statutory member of the United States National Security Council and is fifth in the United States presidential line of succession.

President Joe Biden has nominated former Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen as the 78th United States secretary of the treasury. As of her confirmation on January 25, 2021 (by a vote of 84-15 with one abstention)[5] and swearing-in the next day, Yellen is the first woman to lead the Department of the Treasury in its history.[6]

Powers and functions

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.

— U.S. Department of the Treasury Web site[7]

The secretary along with the treasurer of the United States must sign Federal Reserve notes before they can become legal tender. The secretary also manages the United States Emergency Economic Stabilization fund.

Most of the department's law enforcement agencies such as the U.S. Customs Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and the U.S. Secret Service were reassigned to other departments in 2003 in conjunction with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.

Secretary of the Treasury is a Level I position in the Executive Schedule and thus earns the salary prescribed for that level (currently US$210,700).[8]

List of secretaries of the treasury

Parties

  No party (1)   Federalist (4)   Democratic-Republican (4)   Democratic (29)   Whig (5)   Republican (34)

Status

  Denotes acting Secretary of the Treasury

No.	Portrait	Name	State of residence	Took office	Left office	President(s)
1		Alexander Hamilton	New York	September 11, 1789	January 31, 1795		George Washington
2		Oliver Wolcott, Jr.	Connecticut	February 3, 1795	December 31, 1800
							John Adams
3		Samuel Dexter	Massachusetts	January 1, 1801	May 13, 1801
							Thomas Jefferson
4		Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin	Pennsylvania	May 14, 1801	February 8, 1814
							James Madison
5		George W. Campbell	Tennessee	February 9, 1814	October 5, 1814
6		Alexander J. Dallas	Pennsylvania	October 6, 1814	October 21, 1816
–		William Jones^[1] Acting	Pennsylvania	October 21, 1816	October 22, 1816
7		William H. Crawford	Georgia	October 22, 1816	March 6, 1825
							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
11		William J. Duane	Pennsylvania	May 29, 1833	September 22, 1833
12		Roger B. Taney	Maryland	September 23, 1833	June 25, 1834
13		Levi Woodbury	New Hampshire	July 1, 1834	March 3, 1841
							Martin Van Buren
14		Thomas Ewing	Ohio	March 4, 1841	September 11, 1841		William Henry Harrison
							John Tyler
15		Walter Forward	Pennsylvania	September 13, 1841	March 1, 1843
16		John C. Spencer	New York	March 8, 1843	May 2, 1844
17		George M. Bibb	Kentucky	July 4, 1844	March 7, 1845
18		Robert J. Walker	Mississippi	March 8, 1845	March 5, 1849		James K. 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 Francis Thomas	Maryland	December 12, 1860	January 14, 1861
24		John Adams Dix	New York	January 15, 1861	March 6, 1861
25		Salmon P. Chase	Ohio	March 7, 1861	June 30, 1864		Abraham Lincoln
26		William P. Fessenden	Maine	July 5, 1864	March 3, 1865
27		Hugh McCulloch	Indiana	March 9, 1865	March 3, 1869
							Andrew Johnson
28		George S. Boutwell	Massachusetts	March 12, 1869	March 16, 1873		Ulysses S. Grant
29		William Adams Richardson	Massachusetts	March 17, 1873	June 3, 1874
30		Benjamin Bristow	Kentucky	June 4, 1874	June 20, 1876
31		Lot M. Morrill	Maine	July 7, 1876	March 9, 1877
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
35		Walter Q. Gresham	Indiana	September 5, 1884	October 30, 1884
36		Hugh McCulloch	Indiana	October 31, 1884	March 7, 1885
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
39		William Windom	Minnesota	March 7, 1889	January 29, 1891		Benjamin Harrison
40		Charles Foster	Ohio	February 25, 1891	March 6, 1893
41		John G. Carlisle	Kentucky	March 7, 1893	March 5, 1897		Grover Cleveland
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
44		George B. Cortelyou	New York	March 4, 1907	March 7, 1909
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
48		David F. Houston	Missouri	February 2, 1920	March 3, 1921
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
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
53		Fred M. Vinson	Kentucky	July 23, 1945	June 23, 1946		Harry S. Truman
54		John Wesley Snyder	Missouri	June 25, 1946	January 20, 1953
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
57		C. Douglas Dillon	New Jersey	January 21, 1961	April 1, 1965		John F. Kennedy
							Lyndon B. Johnson
58		Henry H. Fowler	Virginia	April 1, 1965	December 20, 1968
59		Joseph W. Barr	Indiana	December 21, 1968	January 20, 1969
60		David M. Kennedy	Utah	January 22, 1969	February 10, 1971		Richard Nixon
61		John Connally	Texas	February 11, 1971	June 12, 1972
62		George P. Shultz	Illinois	June 12, 1972	May 8, 1974
63		William E. Simon	New Jersey	May 8, 1974	January 20, 1977
							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
66		Donald Regan	New Jersey	January 22, 1981	February 1, 1985		Ronald Reagan
67		James Baker	Texas	February 4, 1985	August 17, 1988
–		M. Peter McPherson^[2] Acting	Michigan	August 17, 1988	September 15, 1988
68		Nicholas F. Brady	New Jersey	September 15, 1988	January 17, 1993
							George H. W. Bush
69		Lloyd Bentsen	Texas	January 20, 1993	December 22, 1994		Bill Clinton
–		Frank N. Newman^[3] Acting	Massachusetts	December 22, 1994	January 11, 1995
70		Robert Rubin	New York	January 11, 1995	July 2, 1999
71		Lawrence Summers	Massachusetts	July 2, 1999	January 20, 2001
72		Paul H. O'Neill	Pennsylvania	January 20, 2001	December 31, 2002		George W. Bush
–		Kenneth W. Dam^[4] Acting	Illinois	December 31, 2002	February 3, 2003
73		John W. Snow	Virginia	February 3, 2003	June 30, 2006
–		Robert M. Kimmitt^[5] Acting	Virginia	June 30, 2006	July 10, 2006
74		Henry Paulson	Illinois	July 10, 2006	January 20, 2009
–		Stuart A. Levey^[6] Acting	Ohio	January 20, 2009	January 26, 2009		Barack Obama
75		Timothy Geithner	New York	January 26, 2009	January 25, 2013
–		Neal S. Wolin^[7] Acting	Illinois	January 25, 2013	February 28, 2013
76		Jack Lew	New York	February 28, 2013	January 20, 2017
–		Adam J. Szubin^[8] Acting	Washington, D.C.	January 20, 2017	February 13, 2017		Donald Trump
77		Steven Mnuchin	California	February 13, 2017	January 20, 2021
–		Andy Baukol^[9] Acting	Virginia	January 20, 2021	January 25, 2021		Joe Biden
78		Janet Yellen	California	January 26, 2021	Incumbent

¹ William Jones served as acting secretary between the resignation of Alexander J. Dallas and appointment of William H. Crawford.

² Deputy Secretary of the Treasury M. Peter McPherson served as acting secretary of the treasury from August 17, 1988, to September 15, 1988.

³ Because of the resignation of Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Roger Altman in August 1994, Under Secretary of Treasury for Domestic Finance Frank N. Newman served from December 22, 1994, to January 11, 1995, as acting secretary of the treasury.

⁴ Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Kenneth W. Dam served as acting secretary of the treasury from December 31, 2002, to February 3, 2003.

⁵ Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Robert M. Kimmitt served as acting secretary of the treasury from June 30, 2006, to July 9, 2006.

⁶ Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart A. Levey served as acting secretary of the treasury from January 20, 2009, until the confirmation of Timothy Geithner, which occurred January 26, 2009.

⁷ Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Neal Wolin served as acting secretary of the treasury from January 25, 2013, until the confirmation of Jack Lew which occurred February 28, 2013.

⁸ Acting Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Adam J. Szubin served as acting secretary of the treasury from January 20, 2017, until the confirmation of Steven Mnuchin which occurred February 13, 2017.

⁹ Deputy Assistant Secretary for Monetary Policy Andy Baukol served as acting secretary of the treasury from January 20, 2021, until the confirmation of Janet Yellen occurred on January 25, 2021.

The former flag of the U.S. secretary of the treasury, originating from the 19th century.

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.

Living former secretaries of the treasury

As of February 2021, there are ten living former secretaries of the treasury (with all secretaries that have served since 2003 still living), the oldest being W. Michael Blumenthal (served 1977–1979, born 1926). The most recent secretary of the treasury to die was George Shultz (served 1972–1974, born 1920) on February 6, 2021. The most recently serving secretary to die was Paul H. O'Neill (served 2001–2002, born 1935), on April 18, 2020.

Name	Term of office	Date of birth (and age)
W. Michael Blumenthal	1977–1979	January 3, 1926
James A. Baker	1985–1988	April 28, 1930
Nicholas F. Brady	1988–1993	April 11, 1930
Robert Rubin	1995–1999	August 29, 1938
Lawrence H. Summers	1999–2001	November 30, 1954
John W. Snow	2003–2006	August 2, 1939
Henry Paulson	2006–2009	March 28, 1946
Timothy F. Geithner	2009–2013	August 18, 1961
Jack Lew	2013–2017	August 29, 1955
Steven Mnuchin	2017–2021	December 21, 1962

Notes

1. "3 U.S. Code § 19 - Vacancy in offices of both President and Vice President; officers eligible to act". LII / Legal Information Institute.
2. 31 U.S.C. § 301
3. 5 U.S.C. § 5312
4. Cabinets and Counselors: The President and the Executive Branch (1997). Congressional Quarterly. p. 87.
5. "U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 117th Congress - 1st Session". www.senate.gov.
6. Tappe, Anneken; Egan, Matt. "Janet Yellen is confirmed as the first female Treasury secretary in US history". CNN. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
7. "Duties & Functions: Secretaries of the Treasury". United States Department of the Treasury. Archived from the original on November 19, 2010. Retrieved November 30, 2012.

References

• "Secretaries of the Treasury". History of the Treasury. United States Department of the Treasury. Retrieved April 9, 2006.

External links

• Official website