Details As of August 10, 2012
(Except as otherwise noted, positions in the list are from three sources.)
- President of the United States (Barack Obama)
- Foreign heads of state/Reigning monarchs
- Vice President of the United States (Joe Biden)
- Governor (of the state in which the event is held)
- Mayor (of the city in which the event is held)
- Speaker of the House of Representatives (John Boehner)
- Chief Justice of the United States (John Roberts)
- Former Presidents of the United States (in order of term)
- Jimmy Carter (January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981)
- George H. W. Bush (January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993)
- Bill Clinton (January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001)
- George W. Bush (January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009)
- Ambassadors of the United States (at the Ambassador's post)
- United States Secretary of State (Hillary Rodham Clinton)
- Secretary-General of the United Nations (Ban Ki-moon)
- Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Foreign Powers accredited to the United States (in order of the presentation of their credentials)
- Widows of former Presidents (in order of spouse's term)
- Nancy Reagan (January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989)
- Ministers of Foreign Powers accredited to the United States
- Associate Justices of the Supreme Court (in order of appointment)
- Antonin Scalia (September 26, 1986)
- Anthony Kennedy (February 18, 1988)
- Clarence Thomas (October 18, 1991)
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg (August 10, 1993)
- Stephen Breyer (August 3, 1994)
- Samuel Alito (January 31, 2006)
- Sonia Sotomayor (August 8, 2009)
- Elena Kagan (August 7, 2010)
- Retired Chief Justices of the United States (currently none)
- Retired Associate Justices of the Supreme Court (in order of appointment)
- John Paul Stevens (December 19, 1975)
- Sandra Day O'Connor (September 25, 1981)
- David Souter (October 9, 1990)
- Members of the Cabinet (in the order of the creation of the respective departments; note that the Secretary of State already appears above; the creation date for the Secretary of War is used as the date for the Secretary of Defense's spot in the precedence.)
- Secretary of the Treasury (Timothy Geithner)
- Secretary of Defense (Leon Panetta)
- Attorney General (Eric Holder)
- Secretary of the Interior (Ken Salazar)
- Secretary of Agriculture (Tom Vilsack)
- Secretary of Commerce (temporarily vacant, see #28 below)
- Secretary of Labor (Hilda Solis)
- Secretary of Health and Human Services (Kathleen Sebelius)
- Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (Shaun Donovan)
- Secretary of Transportation (Ray LaHood)
- Secretary of Energy (Steven Chu)
- Secretary of Education (Arne Duncan)
- Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Eric Shinseki)
- Secretary of Homeland Security (Janet Napolitano)
- White House Chief of Staff (Jacob Lew)
- Director of the Office of Management and Budget (Vacant)
- Director of National Drug Control Policy (Gil Kerlikowske)
- Trade Representative (Ron Kirk)
- Director of National Intelligence (James Clapper)
- Ambassador to the United Nations (Susan Rice)
- President pro tempore of the Senate (Daniel Inouye)
- Current Senators (by seniority; see Seniority in the United States Senate; note that the President pro tempore of the Senate appears above.)
- State governors (of states other than that in which the event is held, by date of statehood or ratification of the Constitution)
- Governor of Delaware (Jack Markell)
- Governor of Pennsylvania (Tom Corbett)
- Governor of New Jersey (Chris Christie)
- Governor of Georgia (Nathan Deal)
- Governor of Connecticut (Dan Malloy)
- Governor of Massachusetts (Deval Patrick)
- Governor of Maryland (Martin O'Malley)
- Governor of South Carolina (Nikki Haley)
- Governor of New Hampshire (John Lynch)
- Governor of Virginia (Bob McDonnell)
- Governor of New York (Andrew Cuomo)
- Governor of North Carolina (Beverly Perdue)
- Governor of Rhode Island (Lincoln Chafee)
- Governor of Vermont (Peter Shumlin)
- Governor of Kentucky (Steve Beshear)
- Governor of Tennessee (Bill Haslam)
- Governor of Ohio (John Kasich)
- Governor of Louisiana (Bobby Jindal)
- Governor of Indiana (Mitch Daniels)
- Governor of Mississippi (Phil Bryant)
- Governor of Illinois (Pat Quinn)
- Governor of Alabama (Robert Bentley)
- Governor of Maine (Paul LePage)
- Governor of Missouri (Jay Nixon)
- Governor of Arkansas (Mike Beebe)
- Governor of Michigan (Rick Snyder)
- Governor of Florida (Rick Scott)
- Governor of Texas (Rick Perry)
- Governor of Iowa (Terry Branstad)
- Governor of Wisconsin (Scott Walker)
- Governor of California (Jerry Brown)
- Governor of Minnesota (Mark Dayton)
- Governor of Oregon (John Kitzhaber)
- Governor of Kansas (Sam Brownback)
- Governor of West Virginia (Earl Ray Tomblin)
- Governor of Nevada (Brian Sandoval)
- Governor of Nebraska (Dave Heineman)
- Governor of Colorado (John Hickenlooper)
- Governor of North Dakota (Jack Dalrymple)
- Governor of South Dakota (Dennis Daugaard)
- Governor of Montana (Brian Schweitzer)
- Governor of Washington (Christine Gregoire)
- Governor of Idaho (Butch Otter)
- Governor of Wyoming (Matt Mead)
- Governor of Utah (Gary Herbert)
- Governor of Oklahoma (Mary Fallin)
- Governor of New Mexico (Susana Martinez)
- Governor of Arizona (Jan Brewer)
- Governor of Alaska (Sean Parnell)
- Governor of Hawaii (Neil Abercrombie)
- Acting heads of executive departments
- Acting Secretary of Commerce (Rebecca Blank)
- Former Vice Presidents (in order of term) (note that George H. W. Bush, who would otherwise appear in this list, already appears above as a former President)
- Walter Mondale (January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981)
- Dan Quayle (January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993)
- Al Gore (January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001)
- Dick Cheney (January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009)
- Current Representatives (by seniority; see List of current members of the United States House of Representatives by seniority; note that the Speaker of the House (currently Representative John Boehner) appears above.)
- Current Delegates (by seniority)
- Eni Faleomavaega (January 3, 1989)
- Eleanor Holmes Norton (January 3, 1991)
- Donna Christian-Christensen (January 3, 1997)
- Madeleine Bordallo (January 3, 2003)
- Pedro Pierluisi (January 3, 2009)
- Gregorio Sablan (January 3, 2009)
- Governor of Puerto Rico (Luis Fortuño)
- National Security Advisor (Thomas Donilon)
- Counselor to the President and Assistants to the President
- Chargés d'affaires of foreign countries
- Former Secretaries of State (in order of term)
- Henry Kissinger (September 22, 1973 – January 20, 1977)
- George Shultz (July 16, 1982 – January 20, 1989)
- James Baker (January 20, 1989 – August 23, 1992)
- Madeleine Albright (January 23, 1997 – January 20, 2001)
- Colin Powell (January 20, 2001 – January 26, 2005)
- Condoleezza Rice (January 26, 2005 – January 20, 2009)
- Deputy Secretaries of Executive Departments (in the order of the creation of the respective departments as for Secretaries above)
- Deputy Secretary of State (William Joseph Burns)
- Deputy Secretary of the Treasury (Neal Wolin)
- Deputy Secretary of Defense (Ashton B. Carter)
- Deputy Attorney General (James Cole)
- Deputy Secretary of the Interior (David Hayes)
- Deputy Secretary of Agriculture (Kathleen Merrigan)
- Deputy Secretary of Commerce (Rebecca Blank currently ranks higher as Acting Secretary of Commerce)
- Deputy Secretary of Labor (Seth Harris)
- Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services (Bill Corr)
- Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (Ron Sims)
- Deputy Secretary of Transportation (John Porcari)
- Deputy Secretary of Energy (Daniel Poneman)
- Deputy Secretary of Education (Anthony Miller)
- Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Scott Gould)
- Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security (Jane Holl Lute)
- Solicitor General (Donald Verrilli Jr.)
- Administrator of the Agency for International Development (Rajiv Shah)
- Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (Ellen Tauscher)
- Under Secretaries of State and Counsels
- Under Secretaries of Executive Departments
- United States Ambassadors-at-Large
- Secretaries of the service departments (by creation order of branch)
- Secretary of the Army (John McHugh)
- Secretary of the Navy (Ray Mabus)
- Secretary of the Air Force (Michael Donley)
- Postmaster General (Patrick R. Donahoe)
- Chairman of the Federal Reserve (Ben Bernanke)
- Chairman of the Council on Environmental Quality (Nancy Sutley)
- Chairman of the Export-Import Bank (Fred Hochberg)
- Chairman of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board (Andrew Saul)
- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (GEN Martin Dempsey)
- Under Secretaries of Defense
- Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (ADM James Winnefeld)
- Joint Chiefs of Staff (in order of appointment)
- Commandant of the Marine Corps (Gen James Amos)
- Chief of Staff of the Army (GEN Raymond Odierno)
- Chief of Naval Operations (ADM Jonathan Greenert)
- Chief of Staff of the Air Force (Gen Mark Welsh)
- Chief of the National Guard Bureau (Gen Frank J. Grass)
- Commandant of the Coast Guard (ADM Robert Papp)
- Commanders of the Unified Combatant Commands of four-star grade
- Africa Command (GEN Carter Ham)
- Central Command (Gen James Mattis)
- European Command (ADM James Stavridis)
- Northern Command (GEN Charles Jacoby)
- Pacific Command (ADM Samuel Locklear)
- Southern Command (Gen Donald Fraser)
- Special Operations Command (ADM William McRaven)
- Strategic Command (Gen Robert Kehler)
- Transportation Command (Gen William M. Fraser III)
- Generals of the Army (currently none), Generals of the Air Force (currently none), and Fleet Admirals (currently none)
Read more about this topic: United States Order Of Precedence
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