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The Cabinet of the United States, which is the principal advisory body to the President of the United States, has had 21 Hispanic and Latino American members altogether, with two of them serving in multiple positions for a total of 23 cabinet appointments. Of that number, 17 different Latino American individuals held a total of 18 permanent cabinet posts, having served as the heads of the federal executive departments; five more Latin Americans held cabinet-level positions, which can differ under each president; and one officeholder served in both cabinet and cabinet-rank roles. The U.S. Census Bureau defines Hispanic or Latino Americans as citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin regardless of race. [1] No Hispanic or Latino American ever held a cabinet position before the civil rights movement or the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned discrimination in public accommodations, employment, and labor unions. [2]
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Lauro Cavazos became the first Hispanic to serve in a president's cabinet when he was appointed Secretary of Education by President Ronald Reagan in 1988. [3] Federico Peña was appointed Secretary of Transportation by President Bill Clinton in 1993 and served as Secretary of Energy during part of Clinton's second term, thus making him the first Latino American to hold two different cabinet positions. [4] Aida Álvarez became the first Latina woman to serve in the president's cabinet when Clinton picked her for the cabinet-rank position of Administrator of the Small Business Administration in 1997. However, the first Latina to lead a permanent cabinet office was Hilda Solis when President Barack Obama appointed her Secretary of Labor in 2009. Mel Martínez, who was born in Cuba, became the first foreign-born Hispanic and Latino American to serve in the presidential cabinet when President George W. Bush named him Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in 2001. [5] [lower-alpha 1]
President Joe Biden named the most Hispanic and Latino Americans as secretaries to his initial Cabinet: former California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as Secretary of Health and Human Services; Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona as Secretary of Education; and DHS Deputy Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas as Secretary of Homeland security, exceeding by one the record set by President Bill Clinton and equaled by Barack Obama. However, including cabinet reshuffles during his second term in office, Obama still holds the record for most Hispanic and Latino Americans appointed to permanent cabinet positions with five, the most of any presidency, therefore surpassing Clinton's previous number of four.
The Departments of Education, Housing and Urban Development, and Labor have had the most Hispanic or Latino American secretaries with three. The Departments of Energy and Interior have had two; the Departments of Commerce, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Justice, and Transportation have had one. No Hispanic or Latino American has led departments of Agriculture, Defense, State, Treasury, or Veterans Affairs. [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
The totals for this list include only Hispanic and Latino American presidential appointees confirmed (if necessary) by the U.S. Senate to cabinet or cabinet-level positions and taking their oath of office; they do not include acting officials or nominees awaiting confirmation.
