Lyndon B. Johnson’s Cabinet
National Security Council Meeting National Security Council Meeting
credit: Yoichi Okamoto
National Security meeting on Vietnam, 11:31 A.M. session National Security meeting on Vietnam, 11:31 A.M. session
credit: Yoichi Okamoto


Dating from George Washington's administration, the Cabinet serves as the President's advisory group. It is composed of the heads of the executive departments and the United States Representative to the United Nations. The Vice President also participates in all Cabinet meetings, and others are invited as needed. Cabinet members are appointed by the President and must be approved by a majority vote in the Senate (51 votes).


They function at the pleasure of the President, and their purpose is to advise the President on matters related to their respective departments, in addition to administering the programs of these departments. Cabinet officers typically resign when a new President takes office. When President Johnson assumed office after President Kennedy's assassination, however, he asked the existing Cabinet to stay on in order to ensure a smooth transition.

(Source: The United States Government Organization Manual.)

President Johnson's Cabinet
November 22, 1963 -- January 20, 1969

(Listed in order of succession)

Secretary of State

Dean Rusk (D-NY)

January 20, 1961 - January 20, 1969

 

 

Secretary of the Treasury

Douglas Dillon (R-Wash., D.C.)

January 20, 1961 - March 31, 1965

Henry H. Fowler (D-VA)

April 1, 1965 - December 20, 1968

Joseph W. Barr (D-IN)

December 20, 1968 - January 20, 1969

 

 

Secretary of Defense

Robert S. McNamara (R-MI)

January 20, 1961 - February 29, 1968

Clark M. Clifford (D-MD)

March 1, 1968 - January 20, 1969

 

 

Attorney General

Robert F. Kennedy (D-MA) 

January 20, 1961 - September 3, 1964

Nicholas deB. Katzenbach (D-Wash. D.C.)

September 3, 1964 - September 21, 1966

Ramsey Clark (D-TX)

September 21, 1966 - January 20,1969

 

 

Postmaster General

John A. Gronouski (D-WI)

September 24, 1963 - September 10, 1965

Lawrence F. O’Brien (D-MA)

September 10, 1965 - April 10, 1968

M. Marvin Watson (D-TX)

April 10, 1968 - January 20, 1969

 

 

Secretary of the Interior

Stewart L. Udall (D-AZ)

January 20, 1961 - January 20, 1969

 

 

Secretary of Agriculture

Orville L. Freeman (D-MN)

January 20, 1961 - January 20, 1969

 

 

Secretary of Commerce

Luther H. Hodges (D-NC)

January 20, 1961 - January 15, 1965

John T. Connor (D-NJ)

January 15, 1965 - February 1, 1967

Alexander B. Trowbridge (D-Wash. D.C.)

February 1, 1967 - March 1, 1968

C.R. Smith (D-NY)

March 1, 1968 - January 20, 1969

 

 

Secretary of Labor

W. Willard Wirtz (D-IL)

September 25, 1962 - January 20, 1969

 

 

Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare

Anthony J. Celebrezze (D-OH)

July 31, 1962 - August 19, 1965

John W. Gardner (R-NY)

August 19, 1965 - March 1, 1968

Wilbur J. Cohen (D-MD)

March 1, 1968 - January 20, 1969

 

 

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

Robert C. Weaver (D-Wash. D.C.)

January 17, 1966 - January 1, 1969

Robert C. Wood (D-MA)

January 2, 1969 - January 20, 1969

 

 

Secretary of Transportation

Alan C. Boyd (D-FL)

January 12, 1967 - January 20, 1969

 

 

U.S. Representative to the United Nations

Adlai E. Stevenson (D-IL)

January 20, 1961 - July 14, 1965 (died in office)

Arthur J. Goldberg (D-IL)

July 20, 1965 - June 21, 1968

George W. Ball (D-IL)

June 24, 1968 - September 25, 1968

James Russell Wiggins (D-Wash. D.C.)

October 4, 1968 - January 20, 1969