The United States Secretary of the Treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, concerned with finance and monetary matters, and, until 2003, some issues of national security and defense. Most of the Department's law enforcement agencies such as the ATF, Customs Service, and Secret Service were reassigned to other Departments in 2003 in conjunction with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet.

From the Department of the Treasury website:

"The Secretary of the Treasury is the principal economic advisor to the President and plays a critical role in policy-making by bringing an economic and government financial policy perspective to issues facing the government. The Secretary is responsible for formulating and recommending domestic and international financial, economic, and tax policy, participating in the formulation of broad fiscal policies that have general significance for the economy, and managing the public debt. The Secretary oversees the activities of the Department in carrying out its major law enforcement responsibilities; in serving as the financial agent for the United States Government; and in manufacturing coins and currency.

The Chief Financial Officer of the government, the Secretary serves as Chairman Pro Tempore of the President's Economic Policy Council, Chairman of the Boards and Managing Trustee of the Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds, and as U.S. Governor of the International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development."

The Secretary along with the Treasurer must sign Federal Reserve notes before they can become legal tender.

Secretaries of the Treasury
Name Term of Office President(s) served under
Alexander Hamilton September 11, 1789 - January 31, 1795 George Washington
Oliver Wolcott, Jr February 3, 1795 - December 31, 1800 George Washington, John Adams
Samuel Dexter January 1, 1801 - May 13, 1801 John Adams, Thomas Jefferson
Albert Gallatin May 14, 1801 - February 8, 1814 Thomas Jefferson, James Madison
George W. Campbell February 9, 1814 - October 5, 1814 James Madison
Alexander J. Dallas October 6, 1814 - October 21, 1816 James Madison
William H. Crawford October 22, 1816 - March 6, 1825 James Madison, James Monroe
Richard Rush March 7, 1825 - March 5, 1829 John Quincy Adams
Samuel D. Ingham March 6, 1829 - June 20, 1831 Andrew Jackson
Louis McLane August 8, 1831 - May 28, 1833 Andrew Jackson
William J. Duane May 29, 1833 - September 22, 1833 Andrew Jackson
Roger B. Taney September 23, 1833 - June 25, 1834 Andrew Jackson
Levi Woodbury July 1, 1834 - March 3, 1841 Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren
Thomas Ewing March 4, 1841 - September 11, 1841 William Henry Harrison, John Tyler
Walter Forward September 13, 1841 - March 1, 1843 John Tyler
John C. Spencer March 8, 1843 - May 2, 1844 John Tyler
George M. Bibb July 4, 1844 - March 7, 1845 John Tyler
Robert J. Walker March 8, 1845 - March 5, 1849 James Knox Polk
William M. Meredith March 8, 1849 - July 22, 1850 Zachary Taylor
Thomas Corwin July 23, 1850 - March 6, 1853 Millard Fillmore
James Guthrie March 7, 1853 - March 6, 1857 Franklin Pierce
Howell Cobb March 7, 1857 - December 8, 1860 James Buchanan
Philip F. Thomas December 12, 1860 - January 14, 1861 James Buchanan
John A. Dix January 15, 1861 - March 6, 1861 James Buchanan
Salmon P. Chase March 7, 1861 - June 30, 1864 Abraham Lincoln
William P. Fessenden July 5, 1864 - March 3, 1865 Abraham Lincoln
Hugh McCulloch March 9, 1865 - March 3, 1869 Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson
George S. Boutwell March 12, 1869 - March 16, 1873 Ulysses S. Grant
William A. Richardson March 17, 1873 - June 3, 1874 Ulysses S. Grant
Benjamin H. Bristow June 4, 1874 - June 20, 1876 Ulysses S. Grant
Lot M. Morrill July 7, 1876 - March 9, 1877 Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes
John Sherman March 10, 1877 - March 3, 1881 Rutherford B. Hayes
William Windom March 8, 1881 - November 13, 1881 James A. Garfield, Chester A. Arthur
Charles J. Folger November 14, 1881 - September 4, 1884 Chester A. Arthur
Walter Q. Gresham September 5, 1884 - October 30, 1884 Chester A. Arthur
Hugh McCullough October 31, 1884 - March 7, 1885 Chester A. Arthur, Grover Cleveland
Daniel Manning March 8, 1885 - March 31, 1887 Grover Cleveland
Charles S. Fairchild April 1, 1887 - March 6, 1889 Grover Cleveland
William Windom March 7, 1889 - January 29, 1891 Benjamin Harrison
Charles Foster February 25, 1891 - March 6, 1893 Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland
John G. Carlisle March 7, 1893 - March 5, 1897 Grover Cleveland, William McKinley
Lyman J. Gage March 6, 1897 - January 31, 1902 William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt
L.M. Shaw February 1, 1902 - March 3, 1907 Theodore Roosevelt
George B. Cortelyou March 4, 1907 - March 7, 1909 Theodore Roosevelt
Franklin MacVeagh March 8, 1909 - March 5, 1913 William Howard Taft
W.G. McAdoo March 6, 1913 - December 15, 1918 Woodrow Wilson
Carter Glass December 16, 1918 - February 1, 1920 Woodrow Wilson
David F. Houston February 2, 1920 - March 3, 1921 Woodrow Wilson
Andrew W. Mellon March 4, 1921 - February 12, 1932 Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge,
Herbert Hoover
Ogden L. Mills February 13, 1932 - March 4, 1933 Herbert Hoover
William H. Woodin March 5, 1933 - December 31, 1933 Franklin D. Roosevelt
Henry Morgenthau, Jr January 1, 1934 - July 22, 1945 Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman
Fred M. Vinson July 23, 1945 - June 23, 1946 Harry S. Truman
John W. Snyder June 25, 1946 - January 20, 1953 Harry S. Truman
George M. Humphrey January 21, 1953 - July 29, 1957 Dwight D. Eisenhower
Robert B. Anderson July 29, 1957 - January 20, 1961 Dwight D. Eisenhower
C. Douglas Dillon January 21, 1961 - April 1, 1965 John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson
Henry H. Fowler April 1, 1965 - December 20, 1968 Lyndon Johnson
Joseph W. Barr December 21, 1968 - January 20, 1969 Lyndon Johnson
David M. Kennedy January 22, 1969 - February 10, 1971 Richard Nixon
John B. Connally February 11, 1971 - June 12, 1972 Richard Nixon
George P. Shultz June 12, 1972 - May 8, 1974 Richard Nixon
William E. Simon May 8, 1974 - January 20, 1977 Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford
W. Michael Blumenthal January 23, 1977 - August 4, 1979 Jimmy Carter
G. William Miller August 7, 1979 - January 20, 1981 Jimmy Carter
Donald T. Regan January 22, 1981 - February 1, 1985 Ronald Reagan
James A. Baker, III February 4, 1985 - August 17, 1988 Ronald Reagan
Nicholas F. Brady September 15, 1988 - January 17, 1993 Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush
Lloyd M. Bentsen January 20, 1993 - December 22, 1994 Bill Clinton
Robert E. Rubin January 11, 1995 - July 2, 1999 Bill Clinton
Lawrence H. Summers July 2, 1999 - January 20, 2001 Bill Clinton
Paul H. O'Neill January 20, 2001 - December 31, 2002 George W. Bush
John W. Snow February 3, 2003 - present George W. Bush

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