The careers of 18 Labor Secretaries, (EXCERPT), Monthly Labor Review Online, Jan. 1988

The careers of 18 Labor Secretaries

Jonathan Grossman

On March 4, 1913, Congress created "an executive department in the Government to be called the Department of Labor, with a Secretary of Labor, who shall be the head thereof, to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.... In the 75 years since then, there have been 19 Secretaries from varied backgrounds and with different philosophies regarding the Department. The first three Secretaries were labor leaders. Six came from the ranks of the trade union movement. Others have been lawyers, professors, politicians, businessmen, and personnel directors.

This excerpt is from an article published in the issue of the Monthly Labor Review. The full text of the article is available in Adobe Acrobat's Portable Document Format (PDF). See How to view a PDF file for more information.

Read abstract Download full article in PDF (1,926K)

Related BLS programs
None

Arthur Goldberg: proof of the American dream.—Jan. 1997.

James P. Mitchell: social conscience of the Cabinet.— Aug. 1991.

Frances Perkins and the following of socioeconomic policies.—June 1989.

Within Monthly Labor Review Online:
Welcome | Current Issue | Index | Subscribe |Archives

Exit Monthly Labor Review Online:
BLS Home | Publications & Research Papers