United States Secretary of the Interior

The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. The Department of the Interior oversees such agencies as the Bureau of Land Management, the United States Geological Survey, and the National Park Service. The Secretary also serves on and appoints the private citizens on the National Park Foundation board. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet. The Secretary typically comes from a western state; only one of the last 16 Secretaries is not identified with a state lying west of the Mississippi River. The Secretary of the Interior is eighth in the United States presidential line of succession.

United States Secretary of the Interior
120px Seal of the Department of the Interior
130px Flag of the Secretary of the Interior
File:Doug Burgum 2025.jpg Incumbent Doug Burgum since February 1, 2025
United States Department of the Interior
Style	Mr. Secretary (informal) The Honorable (formal)
Member of	Cabinet
Reports to	President of the United States
Seat	Washington, D.C.
Appointer	President of the United States with Senate advice and consent
Term length	No fixed term
Constituting instrument	43 U.S.C. § 1451
Formation	March 3, 1849 (1849-03-03)
First holder	Thomas Ewing
Succession	Eighth
Deputy	United States Deputy Secretary of the Interior
Salary	Executive Schedule, Level I
Website	www.doi.gov

Secretaries of the Interior

Parties <span style="border:1px solid #AAAAAA; background-color:; color:;">      Whig (3)       Democratic (17)       Republican (33) Status      Denotes acting Secretary of the Interior Number Portrait Name State of residence Took office Left office President(s) 1 File:ThomasEwingSr.jpg Thomas Ewing Ohio March 8, 1849 July 22, 1850 Zachary Taylor Millard Fillmore 2 75px Thomas M. T. McKennan Pennsylvania August 15, 1850 August 26, 1850 3 75px Alexander H. H. Stuart Virginia September 14, 1850 March 7, 1853 4 75px Robert McClelland Michigan March 8, 1853 March 9, 1857 Franklin Pierce 5 Jacob Thompson Mississippi March 10, 1857 January 8, 1861 James Buchanan 6 75px Caleb B. Smith Indiana March 5, 1861 December 31, 1862 Abraham Lincoln 7 File:John Palmer Usher.jpg John P. Usher Indiana January 1, 1863 May 15, 1865 Abraham Lincoln Andrew Johnson 8 75px James Harlan Iowa May 16, 1865 August 31, 1866 Andrew Johnson 9 75px Orville H. Browning Illinois September 1, 1866 March 4, 1869 Andrew Johnson 10 75px Jacob D. Cox Ohio March 5, 1869 October 31, 1870 Ulysses S. Grant 11 75px Columbus Delano Ohio November 1, 1870 September 30, 1875 12 75px Zachariah Chandler Michigan October 19, 1875 March 11, 1877 13 75px Carl Schurz Missouri March 12, 1877 March 7, 1881 Rutherford B. Hayes 14 75px Samuel J. Kirkwood Iowa March 8, 1881 April 17, 1882 James A. Garfield Chester A. Arthur 15 75px Henry M. Teller Colorado April 18, 1882 March 3, 1885 16 75px Lucius Q. C. Lamar II Mississippi March 6, 1885 January 10, 1888 Grover Cleveland 17 75px William F. Vilas Wisconsin January 16, 1888 March 6, 1889 18 75px John W. Noble Missouri March 7, 1889 March 6, 1893 Benjamin Harrison 19 75px Hoke Smith Georgia March 6, 1893 September 1, 1896 Grover Cleveland 20 75px David R. Francis Missouri September 3, 1896 March 5, 1897 21 75px Cornelius N. Bliss New York March 6, 1897 February 19, 1899 William McKinley 22 Ethan A. Hitchcock Missouri February 20, 1899 March 4, 1907 Theodore Roosevelt 23 James R. Garfield Ohio March 5, 1907 March 4, 1909 24 File:Richard Achilles Ballinger.png Richard A. Ballinger Washington March 6, 1909 March 12, 1911 William Howard Taft 25 75px Walter L. Fisher Illinois March 13, 1911 March 5, 1913 26 File:Franklin Knight Lane.png Franklin K. Lane California March 6, 1913 February 29, 1920 Woodrow Wilson – Alexander T. Vogelsang Acting California February 29, 1920 March 13, 1920 27 75px John B. Payne Illinois March 15, 1920 March 4, 1921 28 75px Albert B. Fall New Mexico March 5, 1921 March 4, 1923 Warren G. Harding 29 75px Hubert Work Colorado March 5, 1923 July 24, 1928 Calvin Coolidge 30 75px Roy O. West Illinois July 25, 1928 March 4, 1929 31 75px Ray Lyman Wilbur California March 5, 1929 March 4, 1933 Herbert Hoover 32 75px Harold L. Ickes Illinois March 4, 1933 February 15, 1946 Franklin D. Roosevelt Harry S. Truman – File:Oscar Littleton Chapman.png Oscar L. Chapman Acting Colorado February 15, 1946 March 18, 1946 33 75px Julius A. Krug Wisconsin March 18, 1946 December 1, 1949 34 File:Oscar Littleton Chapman.png Oscar L. Chapman Colorado December 1, 1949 January 20, 1953 35 75px Douglas McKay Oregon January 21, 1953 April 15, 1956 Dwight D. Eisenhower – Clarence A. Davis Acting Nebraska April 15, 1956 June 8, 1956 36 75px Fred A. Seaton Nebraska June 8, 1956 January 20, 1961 37 75px Stewart L. Udall Arizona January 21, 1961 January 20, 1969 John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson 38 75px Walter J. Hickel Alaska January 24, 1969 November 25, 1970 Richard Nixon – Fred J. Russell Acting California November 25, 1970 January 29, 1971 39 75px Rogers C. B. Morton Maryland January 29, 1971 April 30, 1975 Gerald Ford – D. Kent Frizzell Acting Kansas April 30, 1975 June 12, 1975 40 File:Stanley K Hathaway.png Stanley K. Hathaway Wyoming June 12, 1975 October 9, 1975 – D. Kent Frizzell Acting Kansas October 9, 1975 October 17, 1975 41 75px Thomas S. Kleppe North Dakota October 17, 1975 January 20, 1977 – Alfred G. Albert Acting January 20, 1977 January 23, 1977 Jimmy Carter 42 75px Cecil D. Andrus Idaho January 23, 1977 January 20, 1981 43 75px James G. Watt Colorado January 23, 1981 November 8, 1983 Ronald Reagan – J. J. Simmons III Acting New Jersey November 8, 1983 November 18, 1983 44 75px William P. Clark California November 18, 1983 February 7, 1985 45 75px Donald P. Hodel Virginia February 8, 1985 January 20, 1989 – Earl E. Gjelde Acting Virginia January 20, 1989 February 3, 1989 George H. W. Bush 46 75px Manuel Lujan Jr. New Mexico February 3, 1989 January 20, 1993 47 75px Bruce E. Babbitt Arizona January 22, 1993 January 2, 2001 Bill Clinton – Thomas N. Slonaker Acting Arizona January 2, 2001 January 31, 2001 George W. Bush 48 75px Gale A. Norton Colorado January 31, 2001 March 31, 2006 – 75px Lynn Scarlett Acting California April 1, 2006 May 26, 2006 49 75px Dirk Kempthorne Idaho May 29, 2006 January 19, 2009 - 75px Lynn Scarlett Acting California January 19, 2009 January 20, 2009 Barack Obama 50 75px Ken Salazar Colorado January 20, 2009 April 12, 2013 51 75px Sally Jewell Washington April 12, 2013 January 20, 2017 – Kevin Haugrud Acting January 20, 2017 March 1, 2017 Donald Trump 52 75px Ryan Zinke Montana March 1, 2017 January 2, 2019 53 75px David Bernhardt Colorado January 2, 2019 April 11, 2019 April 11, 2019 January 20, 2021 – Scott de la Vega Acting January 20, 2021 March 16, 2021 Joe Biden 54 75px Deb Haaland New Mexico March 16, 2021 January 20, 2025 – 75px Walter Cruickshank Acting January 20, 2025 February 1, 2025 Donald Trump 55 75px Doug Burgum North Dakota February 1, 2025

Living former Secretaries of the Interior

As of January 2026, there are nine living former secretaries of the interior, the oldest being Donald P. Hodel (served 1985-1989). The most recent death of a former secretary of state was that of James G. Watt (served 1981-1983) on May 27, 2023.

• Donald hodel.JPG

  Donald P. Hodel
  (1985-1989)

• Bruce Babbitt by Gage Skidmore.jpg

  Bruce Babbitt
  (1993-2001)

• Gale Norton.jpeg

  Gale Norton
  (1997-2001)

• Dirk Kempthorne, official Interior Dept color photo, 2006.jpg

  Dirk Kempthorne
  (2006-2009)

• Ken Salazar, U.S. Ambassador.jpg

  Ken Salazar
  (2009-2013)

• Sally Jewell (cropped).png

  Sally Jewell
  (2013-2017)

• Rep. Ryan Zinke official photo, 118th Congress (cropped).jpg

  Ryan Zinke
  (2017-2019)

• Secretary David Bernhardt (cropped).jpg

  David Bernhardt
  (2019-2021)

• Deb Haaland
  (2021-2025)

United States Secretary Of The Interior Media

• AxHHStuart (cropped).jpg

  Alexander Hugh Holmes Stuart, full-length portrait, standing slightly to the left, one hand resting on the back of a chair; studio background showing prominently