As the years progressed, some departments lost their original status in the president's cabinet, while other offices were established or reorganized as such.
Unlike in many parliamentary cabinets, it is generally less common in the United States for officeholders to obtain multiple positions over the years.
Edmund Randolph became the first person to have served in two different presidential cabinet posts when he was appointed Secretary of State by President George Washington in 1794 after previously serving as Attorney General during Washington's first term in office.
Patricia Roberts Harris was the first woman and the first person of color to serve multiple posts in a president's cabinet when President Jimmy Carter appointed her Secretary of Health and Human Services[a] in 1979, having earlier served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development through the first half of Carter's administration.
[2] The following list includes people who have led two or more different executive departments or other cabinet-level offices, which can vary under each president.