Bureau of Indian Affairs Officials

United States – American Indian Research - Bureau of Indian Affairs - Officials

Government records, personal journals, diaries, letters of government officials may lead to information about a tribe, tribal leaders and interactions between the tribe and government officials, giving details known only to those assigned official responsibilities.

Records may be located in the National Archives and its centers, Presidential Libraries, University Libraries, Historical and Genealogical Societies. Records may also be located in Agency, Area Offices, or Superintendence’s offices.

Administrators of United States Federal Indian Policy 1789 to the Present

Secretaries of War Appointment President Henry Knox		1789				George Washington Thomas Pickering	1795				George Washington James McHenry	  1796 Samuel Dexter		1800				John Adams Henry Dearborn		1801				Thomas Jefferson William Eustis		1809				James Madison John Armstrong		1813				James Madison James Monroe		1814				James Madison William Crawford	1815				Madison,Monroe John C. Calhoun		1817				James Monroe Thomas L. McKenney     1824-1830 (Head of BIA)    Monroe,Adams,Jackson James Barbour		1825				John Quincy Adams Peter B. Porter		1828				John Quincy Adams John H. Eaton		1829				Andrew Jackson Samuel S. Hamilton  	1830-31	 (Head of BIA)		Andrew Jackson Lewis Cass		1831				Andrew Jackson

Commissioner of Indian Affairs			 President 1832 to Present

Elbert Herring			1832			Andrew Jackson Carey A. Harris			1836			Jackson-Van Buren T. Hartley Crawford		1838			Van Buren Buren 	                                                Harrison-Tyler William Medill			1845			Polk - Taylor Orlando Brown			1849			Taylor-Filmore Luke Lea			1850			Millard Fillmore George W. Manypenny		1853			Franklin Pierce James W. Denver			1857			James Buchanan Charles E. Mix			1858			James Buchanan James W. Denver			1858			James Buchanan Alfred B. Greenwood		1859			James Buchanan William P. Dole			1861			Abraham Lincoln and                  							Andrew Johnson Dennis Cooley			1865			Andrew Johnson Lewis V. Bogy			1866			Andrew Johnson Nathaniel G. Taylor		1867			Andrew Johnson Eli S. Parker			1869			Ulysses S. Grant Francis A. Walker		1871			Ulysses S. Grant Edward P. Smith			1873			Ulysses S. Grant John O. Smith			1875			Ulysses S. Grant Rutherford B. Hayes Ezra A. Hayt			1877			Rutherford B. Hayes R. E. Trowbridge		1880			Rutherford B. Hayes Hiram Price			1881			Garfield - Arthur John D. C. Atkins		1885			Grover Cleveland John H. Oberly			1888			Grover Cleveland Thomas J. Morgan		1889			Benjamin Harrison Daniel M. Browning		1893			Grover Cleveland William A. Jones		1897			McKinley Roosevelt Francis E. Leupp		1904			Theodore Roosevelt Robert G. Valentine 		1909			William Howard Taft Cato Sell			1913			Woodrow Wilson Charles H. Burke		1921			Harding - Coolidge Charles J. Rhoads		1929			Herbert Hoover John Collier			1933			Franklin Roosevelt William A. Brophy		1945			Roosevelt- Truman John R. Nichols			1949			Harry S. Truman Dillon S. Myer			1950			Harry S. Truman Glenn L Emmons			1953			Dwight D. Eisenhower Philleo Nash 			1961			Kennedy - Johnson Robert L. Bennett 		1966			Lyndon B. Johnson Louis R. Bruce			1969			Richard M. Nixon Morris Thompson 		1973			Richard M. Nixon Dr. Benjamin Reifel		1976			Gerald R. Ford

Assistant Secretaries

Forrest Gerald			1977 William E. Hallett		1979			Jimmy Carter Kenneth L. Smith		1981			Ronald Reagan Ross Simmer			1985			George H. Bush Eddie Frank Brown		1989			George H. Bush Ada E. Deer			1993			Bill Clinton Kevin Gover			1997			Bill Clinton James H. McDivitt (acting)	2001			Clinton and Bush Neal A. McCaleb			2001			George W. Bush Aurene M. Martin (acting)	2003			George W. Bush Dave W. Anderson		2004			George W. Bush Jim Cason (acting)		2005			George W. Bush Carl J. Artman			2007			George W. Bush George T. Skibine (acting)	2008			Bush and Obama Larry Echo Hawk			2009			Barak Obama Donald “Del” Laverdure		2012			Barak Obama Kevin K. Washburn		2012			Barak Obama