--- description: No former cabinet member has become a presidential nominee since 1928 title: Hillary Could Be the First Ex-Cabinet Member Pres Nominee in 80 years image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt455089077c0cda1c/6987ead25f570f61c8b191c1/137423007.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [History](/section/history/) ## History Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [2016 Election](/tag/2016-election/) ## 2016 Election Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Hillary Clinton Could Be the First Ex-Cabinet Member to Win a Presidential Nomination Since 1928 by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 13, 2015 6:48 PM CUT  Then-US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks during a press conference following meetings at the US State Department in Washington, DC, with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on January 20, 2012. Then-US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks during a press conference following meetings at the US State Department in Washington, DC, with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on January 20, 2012.SAUL LOEB—AFP/Getty Images by [Sam Frizell](/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 13, 2015 6:48 PM CUT If Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic nomination for president next year, she’ll be the first former Cabinet member to get a party’s presidential nod in almost 90 years. The former Secretary of State launched her bid for the White House on Sunday afternoon, marking the first time since 1928 that any former cabinet member had a serious shot at the presidential nomination, according to data collected by the [Pew Research Center](http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/04/13/hillary-clintons-nomination-would-end-long-cabinet-drought/ "undefined"). The overwhelming majority of Democratic or Republican nominees in recent years have been incumbent presidents, governors, senators or vice presidents, like then-Sen. Barack Obama, former Gov. Mitt Romney, and Sen. John McCain. In 1928, Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover won the Republican nomination and then the presidency. Thomas Jefferson, who was the first U.S. Secretary of State, was the first former cabinet member to become president. Clinton, who has also been a senator, would also be the first-ever First Lady to win her party’s nomination. ### See Every Hillary Clinton TIME Cover  The September 14, 1992 issue of TIME Gregory Heisler  The May 10, 1993 issue of TIME Steve Liss  The March 21, 1994 issue of TIME Dirck Halstead  The March 18, 1996 issue of TIME Brad Markel  The July 1, 1996 issue of TIME TIME  The October 20, 1997 issue of TIME Patrick Demarchelier  The Feb. 9, 1998, issue of TIME. TIME  The August 31, 1998 issue of TIME Blake Sell—Reuters  The Sep. 28, 1998, issue of TIME. (Hillary Clinton at top center, behind Bill Clinton.) Cover Credit: DOUG MILLS-AP, KHUE BUI, DAN LOH-AP & STEVE HELBER-AP  The Feb. 15, 1999, issue of TIME. (Hillary Clinton inset at top right.) Cover Credit: MICHAEL O'NEILL  The February 22, 1999 issue of TIME TIME  The March 1, 1999 issue of TIME Aaron Shikler  The June 16, 2003 issue of TIME TIME  The August 28, 2006 issue of TIME Diana Walker for TIME  The Feb. 5, 2007, issue of TIME. (Hillary Clinton inset at top left.) Cover Credit: PHOTOGRAPH FOR TIME BY CHRISTOPHER MORRIS--VII  The November 19, 2007 issue of TIME John Ritter—Brooks Kraft  The Jan. 21, 2008, issue of TIME. (Hillary Clinton inset at top left.) Cover Credit: NICK WRIGHT  The February 18, 2008 issue of TIME Diana Walker, Doug Mills  The Feb. 25, 2008, issue of TIME. (Hillary Clinton inset at top.) Cover Credit: MATTHIAS CLAMER  The March 17, 2008 issue of TIME David Burnett  The Mar. 24, 2008, issue of TIME. (Hillary Clinton inset at top.) Cover Credit: ARTHUR HOCHSTEIN  The May 5, 2008 issue of TIME Callie Shell, Damon Winter  The May 12, 2008, issue of TIME. (Hillary Clinton under the second zero in "100.") Cover Credit: CHIP KIDD  The May 11, 2009, issue of TIME. (Hillary Clinton under the "E" in TIME.) TIME  The November 16, 2009 issue of TIME Marco Grob for TIME. Left inset: Getty Images  The November 7, 2011 issue of TIME Diana Walker for TIME  The Apr. 30, 2012, issue of TIME. (Hillary Clinton near top center.) TIME  The January 27, 2014 issue of TIME Photo-Illustration by Justin Metz for TIME. Pants: Don Farrall—Getty Images. Man: Bloom Image/Getty Images. Shoe: Yasinguneysu/Getty Images  The Mar. 23, 2015, issue of TIME Photograph by Spencer Platt–Getty Images  The Feb. 15, 2016, issue of TIME Photograph by James Nachtwey for TIME ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3819870/hillary-clinton-2016-presidential-race-cabinet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3819870/hillary-clinton-2016-presidential-race-cabinet/"},"headline":"Hillary Clinton Could Be the First Ex-Cabinet Member to Win a Presidential Nomination Since 1928","datePublished":"2015-04-13T18:48:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:04:35.022Z","description":"The cabinet member-turned-presidential nominee is a rare breed","url":"https://time.com/3819870/hillary-clinton-2016-presidential-race-cabinet/","keywords":["2016 Election","Hillary Clinton","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt455089077c0cda1c/6987ead25f570f61c8b191c1/137423007.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt455089077c0cda1c/6987ead25f570f61c8b191c1/137423007.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sp","caption":"US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sp","creditText":"SAUL LOEB—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3819870/hillary-clinton-2016-presidential-race-cabinet/","name":"Hillary Clinton Could Be the First Ex-Cabinet Member to Win a Presidential Nomination Since 1928"}}]}] ```