Robert C. Weaver

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Robert C. Weaver
1st United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
In office January 18, 1966 – December 18, 1968
President	Lyndon B. Johnson
Preceded by	Himself (HHFA Administrator)
Succeeded by	Robert Coldwell Wood
Administrator of the Housing and Home Finance Agency
In office February 11, 1961 – January 18, 1966
President	John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson
Preceded by	Jack Conway (acting)
Succeeded by	Himself (HUD Secretary)
Chair of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
In office 1960–1961
Preceded by	Channing Heggie Tobias
Succeeded by	Stephen Gill Spottswood
Personal details
Born	Robert Clifton Weaver (1907-12-29)December 29, 1907 Washington, D.C., US
Died	July 17, 1997(1997-07-17) (aged 89) New York City, US
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Ella Haith ​ ​ (m. 1935; died 1991)​
Education	Harvard University (BS, MA, PhD)

Robert Clifton Weaver (December 29, 1907 – July 17, 1997) was an American economist, academic, and political administrator who served as the first United States secretary of housing and urban development (HUD) from 1966 to 1968, when the department was newly established by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Weaver was the first African American to be appointed to a US cabinet-level position.^[1][2]

Prior to his appointment as cabinet officer, Weaver had served in the administration of President John F. Kennedy. In addition, he had served in New York State government, and in high-level positions in New York City. During the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration, he was one of 45 prominent African Americans appointed to positions and helped make up the Black Cabinet, an informal group of African-American public policy advisers. Weaver directed federal programs during the administration of the New Deal, at the same time completing his doctorate in economics in 1934 at Harvard University.