The Department of Health and Human Services is the United States government's principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves.
The secretary's responsibilities in the pre- and post-1979 departments are similar. The HEW secretary directed the department, was appointed by the president with the Senate's approval and was directly responsible to him. An undersecretary and several assistant secretaries worked with the department head. Today's HHS secretary is assisted by secretaries for administration and management, budget, technology and finance, legislation, public affairs, planning and evaluation, among heads of other offices.
|
Term of Service
|
Secretary | Home State | Administration |
| Department of Health, Education and Welfare | |||
|
1953 - 1955
|
Oveta Culp Hobby | Texas | Eisenhower |
|
1955 - 1958
|
Marion B. Folsom | New York | Eisenhower |
|
1958 - 1961
|
Arthur S. Flemming | Ohio | Eisenhower |
|
1961 - 1962
|
Abraham A. Ribicoff | Connecticut | Kennedy |
|
1962 - 1963
|
Anthony J. Celebreeze | Ohio | Kennedy |
|
1963 - 1965
|
L.B. Johnson | ||
|
1965 - 1968
|
John W. Gardner | New York | L.B. Johnson |
|
1968 - 1969
|
Wilbur J. Cohen | Michigan | L.B. Johnson |
|
1969 - 1970
|
Robert H. Finch | California | Nixon |
|
1970 - 1973
|
Elliot L. Richardson | Massachusetts | Nixon |
|
1973 - 1974
|
Caspar W. Weinberger | California | Nixon |
|
1974 - 1975
|
Ford | ||
|
1975 - 1977
|
Forrest D. Matthews | Alabama | Ford |
|
1977 - 1979
|
Joseph A. Califano Jr. | Washington, D.C. | Carter |
|
1979
|
Patricia Roberts Harris | Washington, D.C. | Carter |
| Department of Health and Human Services | |||
|
1979 - 1981
|
Patricia Roberts Harris | Washington, D.C. | Carter |
|
1981 - 1983
|
Richard S. Schwelker | Pennsylvania | Reagan |
|
1983 - 1985
|
Margaret M. Heckler | Massachusetts | Reagan |
|
1985 - 1989
|
Otis R. Bowen | Indiana | Reagan |
|
1989 - 1993
|
Louis W. Sullivan | Georgia | G.H.W. Bush |
|
1993 - 2001
|
Donna E. Shalala | Wisconsin | Clinton |
|
2001 - 2005
|
Tommy G. Thompson | Wisconsin | G.W. Bush |
2005 - 2009
|
Mike Leavitt | Utah | G.W. Bush |
2009 - 2014
|
Kathleen Sebelius | Kansas | Obama |
2014 - 2017
|
Sylvia Burwell | West Virginia | Obama |
2017
|
Tom Price | Georgia | Trump |
2017 - 2021
|
Alex Azar | Indiana | Trump |
2021 - present
|
Xavier Becerra | California | Biden |
| See cabinet officers sorted by administration. | ||