CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
EN/FR
Search
Menu
Research dossier · History & Society

Cabinet of Barack Obama

the government of the United States under President Barack Obama

Layered newspapers, civic records and oral-history reels arranged as chronological evidence
History and societyInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 19, 2026
Entity authorityQ4206667 ↗
Source-derived summary

Barack Obama assumed office as the 44th president of the United States on January 20, 2009, and his term ended on January 20, 2017. The president has the authority to nominate members of his Cabinet to the United States Senate for confirmation under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.

Before confirmation and during congressional hearings a high-level career member of an executive department heads this pre-confirmed cabinet on an acting basis. The Cabinet's creation was part of the transition of power following the 2008 presidential election.

This article documents the nomination and confirmation process for any successful or unsuccessful Cabinet nominees of the Obama administration. They are listed in order of creation of the Cabinet position (also used as the basis for the United States presidential line of succession).

Cabinet

Cabinet officials on January 20, 2017

All permanent members of the Cabinet of the United States as heads of executive departments require the advice and consent of the United States Senate following appointment by the president before taking office. The vice presidency is exceptional in that the position requires election to office pursuant to the United States Constitution. Although some are afforded cabinet-level rank, non-cabinet members within the Executive Office of the President, such as White House chief of staff, National Security Advisor, and White House press secretary, do not hold constitutionally created positions and most do not require Senate confirmation for appointment.

The following were the final members of President Barack Obama's Cabinet on January 20, 2017.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Cabinet of Barack Obama” as the government of the United States under President Barack Obama. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA strong contextual entry point for chronology, institutions and public events when official records are distinguished from later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2009, 2017, 2008—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2009. The account is most persuasive where Cabinet, Barack and Obama can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the history & society register because the source frames it as the government of the United States under President Barack Obama. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4206667. None of the 2 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2009, 2017 and 2008.

Critical limits

Later summaries often reconcile disputed chronology or motive more neatly than the contemporary record permits. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Compare institutional narratives with records created by participants and affected communities. Dates and formal titles are useful anchors, but not substitutes for context.

Best used for
  • Event chronology
  • Institutional context
  • Locating named record creators
Verify next

Contemporary correspondence, government or organizational records, oral histories and cited historical scholarship.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Cabinet of Barack Obama”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Cabinet of Barack Obama primary sources, Cabinet of Barack Obama archive and Cabinet research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Cabinet of Barack Obama”?
  2. Who created the surviving record, and for what administrative purpose?
  3. Which voices are present, absent or mediated by the institution?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Cabinet of Barack Obama” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.