Who was the first United States secretary of the treasury?

Alexander Hamilton was the first United States secretary of the treasury.

President George Washington appointed Hamilton to the post on September 11, 1789, shortly after the federal government began operating under the Constitution. Hamilton served until January 31, 1795, and helped define the responsibilities of the new Treasury Department.

His financial program addressed federal and state Revolutionary War debts, proposed federal assumption of state debts, and supported a national bank. Hamilton also advocated federal responsibility for collecting revenue and building public credit. Congress adopted many parts of his program, although his policies sparked intense political disagreements with Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

Hamilton’s position was one of the four original Cabinet offices created during Washington’s administration. The Treasury Department’s first headquarters were in Philadelphia, then the temporary national capital. Hamilton’s work laid foundations for the federal government’s financial system and helped establish the principle that executive departments would advise the president while carrying out national policy.