Wanted: Secretary of Education for 'Leader of the Free World,' preferably with little to no background in K-12 education.

It is my secret ambition to be the Secretary of Education in the United States. Apparently, I should quit teaching and go to Law School….

Shirley Hufstedler
November 1979 – January 1981, under Jimmy Carter
University of New Mexico, B.B.A., 1945
Stanford Law School, LL.B., 1949
Private legal practice, Los Angeles, California, (1950-1961)
Special legal consultant to California State Attorney General, (1960-1961)
Judge, Superior Court of California, Los Angeles County, (1961-1966)
Associate justice, California Court of Appeals, (1966-1968)

Terrel Bell
January 1981 – January 1985, under Ronald Reagan
Southern Idaho College of Education, B.A., 1946
University of Idaho, M.A., 1954, University of Utah, Ph.D. in Education 1961.
Taught at the high school level, (1946-1947)
Served as professor and chairman of the department of educational administration at Utah State University, (1962-1963)
Worked as the superintendent of public instruction for all of the public schools in Utah (1963-1970).

William J. Bennett
February 1985 – 1988, under Ronald Reagan
Williams College, B.A. in philosophy
University of Texas, Ph.D., in philosophy Harvard University, JD
Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities (1981-1985)

Lauro Cavazos *
September 1988 – December 1990, under Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush
Texas Tech University, B.A, and M.A., in zoology Iowa State University, Ph.D., physiology
Taught at the Medical College of Virginia
Dean at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, (1975- 1980) President of Texas Tech University,(1980-1988)

Lamar Alexander
March 1991 – January 1993, under George H.W. Bush
Vanderbilt University B.A., 1962
New York University Law School, JD, 1965
Clerked for U.S. circuit judge Minor Wisdom of the U.S. Court of Appeals in New Orleans, Louisiana (1965-1966)
Served as legislative assistant for U.S. Senator Howard Baker
Governor of Tennessee (1979-1987)

Richard Riley
January 1993 – January 2001, under Bill Clinton
Furman University, B.A., 1954
University of South Carolina, JD, 1959
U.S. Navy Minesweeper, (1954-1956)
State representative and state senator in South Carolina, (1963-1977)
Governor of South Carolina, (1978-1982)

Roderick Paige
January 2001 – January 2005, under George W. Bush
Jackson State University, B.A.
Indiana University., M.A., Ph.D.,
Teacher and a coach
Dean of the College of Education at Texas Southern University (TSU)
Established the university's Center for Excellence in Urban Education

Margaret Spellings
February 2005 – Present, under George W. Bush
University of Houston, B.A., Political Science
Senior Advisor to Governor George W. Bush
Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy