United States Secretary of Health and Human Services

United States Secretary of Health and Human Services
Official Seal
File:GovKathleenSebeliusphoto.jpg Incumbent: Kathleen Sebelius since: April 28, 2009
First	Patricia Roberts Harris
Formation	August 3, 1979
Presidential succession	Twelfth
Website	http://www.hhs.gov/

The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services is the head of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, concerned with health matters. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet. The office was formerly Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare.

In 1979, the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was renamed the Department of Health and Human Services, and its education functions transferred to the new Department of Education. Patricia Roberts Harris headed the department before and after it was renamed.

The duties of the secretary revolve around human conditions and concerns in the United States. This includes advising the President on matters of health, welfare, and income security programs. It strives to administer the department of Health and Human Services to carry out approved programs and make the public aware of the objectives of the department.^[1]

Nominations to the office of Secretary of HHS are referred to the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and the Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over Medicare and Medicaid, before confirmation is considered by the full United States Senate.

After the attacks of 9/11 and the subsequent anthrax attacks, the position has held a unique significance in the War on Terrorism. Upon his departure, then-Secretary Tommy Thompson remarked "I, for the life of me, cannot understand why the terrorists have not attacked our food supply, because it is so easy to do..." Scholars concur, arguing that an attack on food (particularly milk) could affect approximately 100,000 people.^[2]

Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius was sworn in as Secretary of Health and Human Services by the United States Senate on April 29, 2009.^[3]

List of secretaries

Secretaries of Health, Education, and Welfare

No.	Name	Portrait	Took Office	Left Office	President served under	Notes
1	Oveta Culp Hobby		April 11, 1953	July 31, 1955	Dwight D. Eisenhower
2	Marion B. Folsom		August 2, 1955	July 31, 1958
3	Arthur S. Flemming		August 1, 1958	January 19, 1961
4	Abraham A. Ribicoff		January 21, 1961	July 13, 1962	John F. Kennedy
5	Anthony J. Celebrezze		July 31, 1962	August 17, 1965
	Lyndon Johnson
6		John W. Gardner		August 18, 1965	March 1, 1968
7		Wilbur J. Cohen		May 16, 1968	January 20, 1969
8	Robert Finch		January 21, 1969	June 23, 1970	Richard Nixon
9	Elliot Richardson		June 24, 1970	January 29, 1973
10	Caspar Weinberger		February 12, 1973	August 8, 1975
					Gerald Ford
11	David Mathews		August 8, 1975	January 20, 1977
12	Joseph Califano		January 25, 1977	August 3, 1979	Jimmy Carter
13	Patricia R. Harris		August 3, 1979	January 20, 1981[4]		Harris was Secretary when the department's name changed. She was also the first African-American woman to hold an ambassadorship and a cabinet position

Secretaries of Health and Human Services

No.	Name	Portrait	Took Office	Left Office	President served under	Notable for
13	Patricia R. Harris		August 3, 1979[4]	January 20, 1981	Jimmy Carter	Harris was Secretary when the department's name changed. She was also the first African-American woman to hold an ambassadorship and a cabinet position
14	Richard Schweiker		January 22, 1981	February 3, 1983	Ronald Reagan
15	Margaret Heckler		March 9, 1983	December 13, 1985
16	Otis R. Bowen		December 13, 1985	January 20, 1989		The first physician to become Secretary of Health and Human Services
17	Louis W. Sullivan		March 1, 1989	January 20, 1993	George H. W. Bush
18	Donna Shalala		January 22, 1993	January 20, 2001	Bill Clinton	The first Arab-American Secretary of Health and Human Services
19	Tommy Thompson		February 2, 2001	January 26, 2005	George W. Bush
20	Mike Leavitt		January 26, 2005	January 20, 2009
21	Kathleen Sebelius		April 28, 2009	Present	Barack Obama

Living former secretaries

Health, Education, and Welfare

• F. David Mathews
• Joseph A. Califano, Jr.

Health and Human Services

• Richard Schweiker
• Margaret Heckler
• Otis R. Bowen
• Louis W. Sullivan
• Donna Shalala
• Tommy Thompson
• Mike Leavitt

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: United States Secretary of Health and Human Services

General

• United States Department of Health and Human Services Official Website
• Department Of Health And Human Services Meeting Notices and Rule Changes from The Federal Register RSS Feed

Specific

v • d • e Agencies of the United States Department of Health and Human Services Secretary of Health and Human Services · Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretariate staff offices Office of the Secretary of Health and Human Services · Office of the Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Organizations under the Assistant Secretary for Health Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health · Public Health Service · Office of Public Health and Science · Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (Surgeon General)