I thought earlier this week we just might get a Canadian in the cabinet of President-elect Barack Obama. Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm, Canadian by birth, was rumored to be a serious contender for the Secretary of Labor position.
Michigan is a big union state, the auto workers being one large example. And Granholm, who is term-limited and can't run for re-election in 2010, might certainly be looking for a new job. Ultimately, the job will go to Rep. Hilda Solis (D-CA).
Then I wondered whether there had ever been someone Canadian-born in a presidential cabinet. Turns out, there was one.
Franklin Knight Lane served as the Secretary of the Interior under Woodrow Wilson from 1913-1920. Lane was born in DeSable, Prince Edward Island, and moved to California when he was 6 or 7 (depending on the source you find).
You have to be natural-born to be president or vice president, but your birthplace doesn't affect a Cabinet post. Though because the presidential succession does involve Cabinet members, those who are not natural-born are skipped over. Those Cabinet members are also not ones who sit out during the State of the Union. Traditionally, one Cabinet member sits out the State of the Union in case something tragic occurs so that person can become president.
It's not entirely common to have foreign-born members in the Cabinet, though Elaine Chao (Taiwan, Labor) and Carlos Gutierrez (Cuba, Commerce) are current Cabinet members. Madeline Albright (State, Czechoslovakia) served in Bill Clinton's Cabinet.
