PATRICIA ROBERTS HARRIS


Patricia Roberts Harris
Patricia Roberts Harris
  • Born: May 31, 1924
  • Died: March 23, 1985
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Patricia Roberts Harris was an American government official and diplomat who served under President Jimmy Carter as United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare (which was renamed the Secretary of Health and Human Services during her tenure). Harris was the first African American woman to serve in the United States Cabinet, and the first to enter the line of succession to the Presidency. She previously served as United States Ambassador to Luxembourg under President Lyndon B. Johnson, and was the first African-American woman to represent the United States as an ambassador. She was also the first Black American woman to be dean of a law school, and the first to sit on a Fortune 500 company's board of directors.