United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Difference between revisions

United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs
United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs
	Seal of the Department
	Flag of the Secretary
	Incumbent; Denis McDonough; since February 9, 2021
	United States Department of Veterans Affairs
Style	Mr. Secretary; (informal); The Honorable; (formal)
Member of	Cabinet
Reports to	President of the United States
Seat	Washington, D.C.
Appointer	The President; with Senate advice and consent
Term length	No fixed term
Constituting instrument	38 U.S.C. § 303
Formation	March 15, 1989
First holder	Ed Derwinski
Succession	Seventeenth
Deputy	Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Salary	Executive Schedule, level I
Website	VA.gov

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Revision as of 14:53, 3 March 2021

The United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs is the head of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the department concerned with veterans' benefits, health care, and national veterans' memorials and cemeteries. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and second to last at sixteenth in the line of succession to the presidency (the position was last until the addition of the United States Department of Homeland Security in 2006^[2]). Until the appointment of David Shulkin in 2017, all appointees and acting appointees to the post were United States military veterans, but that is not a requirement to fill the position.

When the post of Secretary is vacant, the United States Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs^[3] or any other person designated by the President serves as Acting Secretary^[3] until the President nominates and the United States Senate confirms a new Secretary.

Denis McDonough is currently serving as the 11th Secretary of Veterans Affairs since February 9, 2021 under President Joe Biden.

List of Secretaries of Veterans Affairs

Parties

No party (2) Democratic (3) Republican (6)

Status

Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs

No.	Secretary			Term of office			President(s)
No.	Portrait	Name	State of residence	Took office	Left office	Term length	President(s)
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\|1		Ed Derwinski	Illinois	March 15, 1989	September 26, 1992	3 years, 195 days	rowspan="2" style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" \|	George H. W. Bush
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\| –		Anthony Principi^[1] Acting	California	September 26, 1992	January 20, 1993	116 days		George H. W. Bush
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" \|2		Jesse Brown	Illinois	January 22, 1993	July 13, 1997	4 years, 172 days	rowspan="5" style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" \|	Bill Clinton
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" \|–		Hershel W. Gober^[2] Acting	Arkansas	July 13, 1997	January 2, 1998	173 days
rowspan="2" style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" \|3		Togo D. West Jr.	District of Columbia	January 2, 1998^[3]	May 4, 1998	122 days
May 4, 1998		Togo D. West Jr.	District of Columbia	July 25, 2000	2 years, 82 days
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" \|–		Hershel W. Gober^[2] Acting	Arkansas	July 25, 2000	January 20, 2001	179 days
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" \|4		Anthony Principi	California	January 23, 2001	January 26, 2005	4 years, 3 days	rowspan="4" style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" \|	George W. Bush
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" \|5		Jim Nicholson	Colorado	January 26, 2005	October 1, 2007	2 years, 248 days
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\| –		Gordon H. Mansfield^[4] Acting	Florida	October 1, 2007	December 20, 2007	80 days
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" \|6		James Peake	District of Columbia	December 20, 2007	January 20, 2009	1 year, 31 days
7		Eric Shinseki	Hawaii	January 20, 2009	May 30, 2014	5 years, 130 days	rowspan="3" style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" \|	Barack Obama
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\| –		Sloan D. Gibson Acting	Alabama	May 30, 2014	July 30, 2014	61 days
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" \|8		Bob McDonald	Ohio	July 30, 2014	January 20, 2017	2 years, 174 days
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\| –		Robert Snyder Acting	West Virginia	January 20, 2017	February 14, 2017	25 days	rowspan="5" style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" \|	Donald Trump
9		David Shulkin	Pennsylvania	February 14, 2017	March 28, 2018	1 year, 42 days
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\| –		Robert Wilkie Acting	North Carolina	March 28, 2018	May 29, 2018	62 days
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;"\| –		Peter O'Rourke Acting	Virginia	May 29, 2018	July 30, 2018	62 days
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" \|10		Robert Wilkie	North Carolina	July 30, 2018	January 20, 2021	2 years, 174 days
–		Dat Tran Acting	Ohio	January 20, 2021	February 9, 2021	20 days	rowspan="2" style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" \|	Joe Biden
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" \|11		Denis McDonough	Minnesota	February 9, 2021	Incumbent	3 years, 104 days		Joe Biden

¹ Anthony Principi served as Acting Secretary in his capacity as Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs September 26, 1992 – January 20, 1993.

² Hershel W. Gober served as Acting Secretary in his capacity as Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs July 13, 1997 – January 2, 1998 and July 25, 2000 – January 20, 2001.^[4]

³ West served as Acting Secretary from January 2, 1998^[5] to May 4, 1998.^[6]

⁴ Gordon H. Mansfield served as Acting Secretary in his capacity as Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs October 1 – December 20, 2007.^[7]

Living former Secretaries of Veterans Affairs

As of May 2024, there are seven living former Secretaries of Veterans Affairs (with all Secretaries that have served since 2001 still living), the oldest being Jim Nicholson (served 2005–2007, born 1938). The most recent Secretary of Veterans Affairs to die, as well as the recently serving Secretary to die, was Togo D. West Jr. (served 1998–2000, born 1942), on March 8, 2018.

Name	Term of office	Date of birth (and age)
Anthony Principi	2001–2005	(1944-04-16) April 16, 1944 (age 80)
Jim Nicholson	2005–2007	(1938-02-04) February 4, 1938 (age 86)
James Peake	2007–2009	(1944-06-18) June 18, 1944 (age 79)
Eric Shinseki	2009–2014	(1942-11-28) November 28, 1942 (age 81)
Robert A. McDonald	2014–2017	(1953-06-20) June 20, 1953 (age 70)
David Shulkin	2017–2018	(1959-07-22) July 22, 1959 (age 64)
Robert Wilkie	2018–2021	(1962-08-02) August 2, 1962 (age 61)

References

^ https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/3/19
^ Public Law 109-177 §.503
^ ^a ^b 38 U.S.C. § 304: Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Accessed January 13, 2008.
^ "Gober Takes Over Top Spot at VA" (Press release). Department of Veterans Affairs. July 25, 2000. Archived from the original on July 13, 2009. Retrieved September 29, 2009.
^ "President Clinton Names Togo D. West Jr. As Acting Secretary Of The Department Of Veterans' Affairs" (Press release). White House. December 2, 1997. Retrieved September 9, 2009.
^ Staff (May 1999). "The Honorable Togo D. West Jr". United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Archived from the original on March 4, 2000. Retrieved September 9, 2009.
^ UPI. Peake sworn in as VA secretary Archived February 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, December 20, 2007. Accessed December 21, 2007.

External links

Official website

U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by Miguel Cardona as Secretary of Education	Order of precedence of the United States as Secretary of Veterans Affairs	Succeeded by Alejandro Mayorkas as Secretary of Homeland Security
U.S. presidential line of succession
Preceded by Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona	17th in line	Succeeded by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas Ineligible

[1] ttps://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/3/19

[2] Public Law 109-177 §.503

[usc-3] 38 U.S.C. § 304: Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Accessed January 13, 2008.

[vagober-4] "Gober Takes Over Top Spot at VA" (Press release). Department of Veterans Affairs. July 25, 2000. Archived from the original on July 13, 2009. Retrieved September 29, 2009.

[WH-5] "President Clinton Names Togo D. West Jr. As Acting Secretary Of The Department Of Veterans' Affairs" (Press release). White House. December 2, 1997. Retrieved September 9, 2009.

[vawest-6] Staff (May 1999). "The Honorable Togo D. West Jr". United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Archived from the original on March 4, 2000. Retrieved September 9, 2009.

[7] UPI. Peake sworn in as VA secretary Archived February 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, December 20, 2007. Accessed December 21, 2007.

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v t e United States Department of Veterans Affairs
Headquarters: 810 Vermont Avenue NW (Veterans Affairs Department Building) Denis McDonough, Secretary of Veterans Affairs Tanya J. Bradsher, Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs	Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Office of Acquisition, Logistics, and Construction Office of Congressional and Legislative Affairs Office of Electronic Health Record Modernization Office of Enterprise Integration Office of General Counsel Office of Human Resources and Administration Office of Information and Technology Office of Inspector General Office of Management Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs Veterans' Experience Office
Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Health	Veterans Health Administration
Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Benefits	Veterans Benefits Administration
Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Memorial Affairs	National Cemetery Administration
Chairman of the Board of Veterans' Appeals	Board of Veterans' Appeals

v t e Leaders of the United States federal executive departments
Current	Agriculture Commerce Defense Education Energy Health and Human Services Homeland Security Housing and Urban Development Interior Justice Labor State Transportation Treasury Veterans Affairs
Past	Commerce and Labor Health, Education, and Welfare Navy Post Office War

Revision as of 14:53, 3 March 2021

List of Secretaries of Veterans Affairs

Living former Secretaries of Veterans Affairs

See also

References

External links