What Other Rhode Islanders Have Served Presidential Cabinets?

PROVIDENCE, RI — President-elect officially named Gov. Gina Raimondo as his pick for Commerce Secretary Friday, which raises the question: what other Rhode Islanders to gone on to serve presidential cabinets? Turns out, not that many.

According to Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea's office, Raimondo will be the first sitting General Officer in the state's history to take a cabinet position mid-term, if she is confirmed by the Senate.

The most recent cabinet appointee from the Ocean State was in 1949, when former Gov. J. Howard McGrath was named U.S. Attorney General. He served President Harry Truman until 1952. McGrath served as Rhode Island's governor from 1941-1945 and as a U.S. senator from 1947 to 1949.

While he was not named to a cabinet position, Gov. John Pastore was the most recent to step down, when he took a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1950. Following Pastore's departure, Lt. Governor John McKiernan was named governor for about two weeks, making him the shortest-serving governor in the state's history. He was quickly replaced by Dennis Roberts, who won the 1950 election and was sworn in as governor in January 1951.

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