physics

United States Secretary of Energy

United States Secretary of Energy is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand United States Secretary of Energy rather than just read about it. In short: The United States secretary of energy is the head of the United States Department of Energy, a member of the Cabinet of the United States and fifteenth in the presidential line of succession. The position was created on October 1, 1977, when President Jimmy Carter signed the Department of Energy Organization Act, establishing the department.

Key takeaways

United States Secretary of Energy belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect United States Secretary of Energy to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of United States Secretary of Energy from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The United States secretary of energy is the head of the United States Department of Energy, a member of the Cabinet of the United States and fifteenth in the presidential line of succession. The position was created on October 1, 1977, when President Jimmy Carter signed the Department of Energy Organization Act, establishing the department. Originally, the secretary and the department focused on energy production and regulation. Over time, the emphasis shifted to developing technology for more efficient energy sources and energy education. After the Cold War, the department's attention also turned to radioactive waste disposal and environmental quality maintenance. Former secretary of defense James Schlesinger was the first secretary of energy. As a Republican nominated by Democratic president Jimmy Carter, Schlesinger’s appointment remains the only instance of a president choosing a member of another political party for the position. Schlesinger is also the only secretary to be dismissed from the post. Hazel O'Leary, Bill Clinton’s first secretary of energy, was the first female and first African American to hold the position. The first Hispanic to serve as energy secretary was Clinton’s second energy secretary, Federico Peña. Spencer Abraham became the first Arab American to hold the position on January 20, 2001, under President George W. Bush. Steven Chu, appointed on January 20, 2009, under President Barack Obama, became the first Asian American to hold the position. Chu also served as the longest-serving secretary of energy and was the first individual to join the Cabinet after having received a Nobel Prize. Former Michigan governor, Jennifer Granholm, confirmed on February 25, 2021 under President Joe Biden, was the second woman to lead the Department of Energy. Chris Wright is the current secretary of energy under the Trump administration, confirmed on February, 3, 2025.

Nuclear weapons In addition to responsibilities related to generation and use of energy, the secretary is the most senior official other than the president of the United States or secretary of defense with primary responsibility for the nation's approximately 3,800 viable nuclear weapons. This arrangement is intended to maintain full civilian control over strategic weapons, except as directed by the president for specific military uses. The department of energy is responsible for the building, maintenance, and disposal of all nuclear weapons within the United States' arsenal in addition to safeguarding these weapons when they are not actively deployed in military service. Under the terms of several successive treaties, most recently New START, the United States has reduced its strategic arsenal to 1,500 deployed weapons. Consequently, many older legacy weapons systems have been dismantled or scheduled for dismantlement, with their core radioactive fuel - generally plutonium - being reprocessed into reactor-grade or space exploration fuel.

List of secretaries of energy Parties Democratic (7) Republican (11)

Status Acting secretary of energy

See also United States Secretary of Transportation White House Office of Energy and Climate Change Policy

References

External links

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with United States Secretary of Energy

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what United States Secretary of Energy claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to United States Secretary of Energy before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about United States Secretary of Energy ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of United States Secretary of Energy

In research: United States Secretary of Energy appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses United States Secretary of Energy in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: United States Secretary of Energy is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Cabinet of the United States, Energy ministers, Lists of members of the Cabinet of the United States, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for United States Secretary of Energy outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study United States Secretary of Energy in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what United States Secretary of Energy means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain United States Secretary of Energy out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is United States Secretary of Energy in simple terms?

Why does United States Secretary of Energy matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study United States Secretary of Energy?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on United States Secretary of Energy.