Order of Establishment of the Executive Departments

*Indicates current Executive Departments in order of establishment.
Rank*	Year	Executive Departments
1	1789	Department of State
2	1789	Department of the Treasury
3	1789 1947	Department of War Department of Defense (merger of War and Navy departments)
3	1789 1947
4	1789 1870	Attorney General Department of Justice
	1798	Department of the Navy (merged with War Department in 1947)
	1829	Postmaster General (Post Office privatized in 1970)
5	1849	Department of the Interior
6	1862	Department of Agriculture
	1903	Department of Commerce and Labor (Departments split in 1913)
7	1913	Department of Commerce
8	1913	Department of Labor
9	1953 1980	Department of Health, Education and Welfare Department of Health and Human Services
10	1965	Department of Housing and Urban Development
11	1966	Department of Transportation
12	1977	Department of Energy
13	1979	Department of Education
14	1989	Department of Veterans’ Affairs
15	2002	Department of Homeland Security