List of female United States Cabinet members

Of that number, 40 different women held a total of 43 permanent cabinet posts, having served as the Vice President or heads of the federal executive departments; 32 more women held cabinet-level positions, which can differ under each president; and four officeholders served in both cabinet and cabinet-rank roles.

No woman held a presidential cabinet position before the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920, which prohibits the federal government or any state from denying citizens the right to vote on the basis of sex.

[3] Two years later, Carter tapped her for Secretary of Health and Human Services,[a] therefore making her the first woman to hold two different cabinet positions.

She was elevated to Secretary of State four years later, during Clinton's second term, thus making her, at the time, the highest-ranking woman in the history of the federal government.

[7][5] Nancy Pelosi surpassed Rice on January 4, 2007, when her election as the first female Speaker of the House put her second in line to the presidency.