Who Established The Interior Sectary?

The U.S. Department of the Interior, established in 1849, has been led by 53 past secretaries, including Thomas Ewing, Thomas McKennan, Gale A. Norton, and Ken Salazar. Deb Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna, became the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary in March 2021. The current Secretary of the Interior is Deb Haaland, who was confirmed by the Senate 51-40 on March 15, 2021.

The Department of the Interior oversees public lands and manages the U.S. government’s treaties and legal obligations to Native Americans. As of mid-2004, the department managed 507 million acres (2,050,000 km2) of surface land, or about one-fifth of the land in the United States. Incoming President Joe Biden announced his nomination of Deb Haaland as Secretary of the Interior in December 2020.

The Department of the Interior was created on March 3, 1849, following a bill passed by the last day of the 30th Congress. It is headquartered at the Main Interior Building in Washington, D.C. The department was established in 1916 by an act of the U.S. Congress signed into law by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson.

Debra Haaland, a member of the Laguna Pueblo people, is the first Native American to hold the position. The Department of the Interior was created by Act of March 3, 1849 (43 U.S.C. 1451) by transferring the Office of Indian Affairs and the General Land Office. The current Secretary of the Interior is Deb Haaland, who was sworn in by Vice President Kamala Harris in March 2021.

Who was the first secretary of the interior?

The Department of the Interior was established in 1849 by Thomas Ewing, a former Ohio Senator and father-in-law of General William T. Sherman. Ewing appointed his son, Thomas Ewing, Jr., to oversee government publications and his existing services as private secretary to President Zachary Taylor. In 1850, the Library of the Department of the Interior was established in the Corcoran Building, where necessary reference books were placed under his supervision.

The Library became an important adjunct to the Secretary’s Office. In 1859, Congress charged the Department of the Interior with distributing all government publications and copyrighting books, maps, and charts. This new business was placed in the section of the Secretary’s Office containing the Library. Throughout the 1860s, the Interior Library was responsible for publication distribution and copyrights for the entire Federal government.

Who was Nixon’s secretary of the interior?

Rogers Clark Ballard Morton was an American politician who served as the U. S. Secretary of the Interior and Secretary of Commerce during the administrations of Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, he moved to a farm on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the early 1950s. In 1962, he was elected to the House of Representatives, where he established a pro-environment record. In 1968, he played a major role in Richard Nixon’s campaign for president and was chosen by Nixon in 1969 to serve as chairman of the Republican National Committee.

In the 1970 elections, Morton was considered a strong candidate to challenge Joseph Tydings for his U. S. Senate seat from Maryland, but chose to remain as chairman of the RNC. In 1971, President Nixon tapped Morton to serve as Secretary of the Interior, overseeing the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System and the 1973 oil crisis. Morton was the only person from the East Coast to serve as head of the Interior Department in the 20th century.

Who was the first female secretary?

Frances Perkins, appointed as the secretary of labor by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, became the first woman to hold a Cabinet position in a U. S. president’s administration. She served the longest term of any secretary of labor to date. In 1933, women had held the right to vote for over a decade and were gaining a foothold in American politics. Perkins helped create the New Deal, focusing on workers, union protection, farmer aid, and older people’s livelihoods. She was deeply touched by poverty and neglected individuals.

Who was Lincoln’s secretary of the interior?

Caleb B. Smith is a distinguished figure in the field of law.

Who was Reagan’s controversial secretary of interior?

James Gaius Watt was an American lawyer, lobbyist, and civil servant who served as U. S. Secretary of the Interior in the Ronald Reagan administration from 1981 to 1983. He was a controversial cabinet appointment due to his perceived opposition to environmentalism. Watt’s tenure was marked by openness to oil and gas drilling, coal access on federal lands, and eased restrictions on strip-mining. His proposals to sell off federal lands failed due to opposition.

In 1983, he resigned after a panel reviewing his coal-leasing policies had mixed opinions. After resigning, Watt became a lobbyist for builders seeking contracts with the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In 1995, he was indicted on 18 counts of felony perjury and obstruction of justice for false statements, and sentenced to five years’ probation.

Who was President Ronald Reagan’s controversial first Secretary of the Interior?

James Gaius Watt was an American lawyer, lobbyist, and civil servant who served as U. S. Secretary of the Interior in the Ronald Reagan administration from 1981 to 1983. He was a controversial cabinet appointment due to his perceived opposition to environmentalism. Watt’s tenure was marked by openness to oil and gas drilling, coal access on federal lands, and eased restrictions on strip-mining. His proposals to sell off federal lands failed due to opposition.

In 1983, he resigned after a panel reviewing his coal-leasing policies had mixed opinions. After resigning, Watt became a lobbyist for builders seeking contracts with the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In 1995, he was indicted on 18 counts of felony perjury and obstruction of justice for false statements, and sentenced to five years’ probation.

Who was Teddy Roosevelt’s secretary of the interior?

Ethan Allen Hitchcock was a U. S. Secretary of the Interior under Presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. Born in Mobile, Alabama, on September 19, 1835, he was the son of Henry Hitchcock and Anne Erwin Hitchcock. He was the brother of Henry Hitchcock, nephew of Major General Ethan Allen Hitchcock, grandson of Judge Samuel Hitchcock, and great-grandson of Ethan Allen. Hitchcock worked in mercantile business in Saint Louis, Missouri, before entering a commission house in China. He married Margaret Dwight Collier in 1869 and had three daughters, Sarah, Anne, and Margaret Hitchcock.

Who was the 1st secretary?

Thomas Jefferson, born into the Virginia planter elite, served as the first Secretary of State from 1790 to 1793. He was a prominent figure in the U. S. foreign affairs, balancing the country’s weak geopolitical position and fear of expansive federal powers with his desire for territorial and commercial expansion. Jefferson graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1762, studied law, and was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1767. He was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1769 and served until the British dissolved the House in 1774.

Jefferson was a leading activist in the U. S. independence movement, founding Virginia’s Committee of Correspondence and publishing A Summary View of the Rights of British America in 1774. He was elected as a Delegate to the Second Continental Congress in 1775 and drafted the Declaration of Independence in 1776. He served as Governor and Delegate to the Confederation Congress from 1783 to 1784, shaping federal land policy.

Who was the Interior secretary under JFK?

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Who was the Secretary of the Interior under Obama?

Sarah Margaret “Sally” Roffey Jewell, born in 1956, is a British-American business executive and environmentalist who served as the 51st Secretary of the Interior in the Obama administration from 2013 to 2017. Born in London, she moved to the United States at age three and attended the University of Washington. After briefly working as an oil engineer, Jewell transitioned to the banking industry before becoming the chief operating officer and CEO of Recreational Equipment, Inc.

(REI), a Seattle-based retailer of outdoor gear. Her involvement in conservation and environmental protection led to her nomination as Secretary of the Interior in 2013, which received substantial bipartisan support and was confirmed by the Senate in April 2013. Jewell is the second woman to hold the position of Secretary of the Interior, after Gale Norton.

Who were the original secretaries?

George Washington’s cabinet, comprising four original members, established the role of the chief executive’s private, trusted advisors. The cabinet, comprising Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of War Henry Knox, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph, established the precedents for the interactions between these roles and the presidency.