The last Cabinet member to run for president and be elected was Herbert Clark Hoover, who served under Presidents Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge. After Coolidge announced that he would not run again in 1928, Hoover stepped down from his Cabinet position and ran for president.

Secretaries of State who later became President were:
Thomas Jefferson, who was George Washington’s Secretary of State from 1790 – 1793. He was elected President in 1800. In 1796, Jefferson was elected Vice-President. In those days, before the Ratification of the 12th Amendment, the candidate with the highest number of Electoral Votes became President, and the second highest became Vice-President. In 1800, Jefferson was elected president, defeating the incumbent president John Adams.

James Madison served as Secretary of State from 1801-1809 under Thomas Jefferson. Madison became our 4th president in 1809.

James Monroe served as Secretary of State under James Madison from 1811 – 1817. He became presidnet in 1817.

John Quincy Adams served as Secretary of State under James Monroe from 1817 – 1825. He was elected President in 1825.

Martin Van Buren served as Secretary of State under Andrew Jackson from 1829 – 1831, and was elected Vice-President in 1832 and elected President in 1836.

James Buchanan served as Secretary of State under James K. Polk from 1845 – 1849. He was elected President in 1856.

James G. Blaine served as Secretary of State under Presidents Garfield and Arthur from March – December of 1881. Arthur succeeded to the presidency upon the assassination of James A. Garfield in September of 1881. In 1884, although he had performed admirably in office, Arthur gave a half-hearted effort in securing the nomination for a full-term of his own. It was not generally known at the time, but Arthur was seriously ill with bright’s Disease, a kidney ailment. Blaine had been critical of Arthur in his handling of foreign affairs, after stepping down from the Cabinet. He won teh Republican party’s nomination in 1884, but lost the general election in a close vote to Democrat Grover Cleveland.

One final note: Incumbent Vice-President John Nance Garner unsuccessfully challenged Incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt for the 1940 Democratic Presidential nomination.