Terrel Bell (1981-85)

Appointed by: Ronald Reagan

Prior to the creation of the U.S. Department of Education, Bell was the nation’s highest-ranking education official, serving as the U.S. commissioner of education under presidents Nixon and Ford. A member of the Mormon church, Bell focused early in his tenure on trying to ban “controversial” books from schools, including The Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies, and Slaughterhouse-Five. According to a 1981 profile of him, Bell’s “favorite dish is pumpkin pie, but he’s also fond of a late-night snack of a bowl of bread and milk.”

William Bennett (1985-88)

Appointed by: Ronald Reagan

Bennett is the author and editor of The Children’s Book of Virtues, later developed into an animated television series by PBS. In 2003, several news outlets reported that the “relentless moral crusader is a relentless gambler, too.” While Bennett acknowledged his gambling activities and said that over a decade of betting he likely broke even, subsequent news stories estimated his losses during that time frame at around $8 million.

Lauro Cavazos (1988-90)

Appointed by: Ronald Reagan

A Democrat, Cavazos was the first Hispanic to serve in a president’s cabinet and served under two Republican chief executives: Reagan and George H.W. Bush. But Cavazos and Bush clashed over the administration’s decision to bar federal aid from colleges and universities that offered scholarships specifically to minority students. Cavazos’s “terse” resignation letter “omitted the customary thanks to the president for the honor of serving in the Cabinet,” according to The New York Times.

Lamar Alexander (1991-93)

Appointed by: George H. W. Bush

Alexander is the chairman of the Senate committee responsible for vetting DeVos. He praised DeVos during her confirmation hearing this month. As a senator, Alexander was a key architect of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, which replaced the No Child Left Behind Act as the main federal law for K-12 education. He also served two terms as governor of Tennessee and made two unsuccessful bids for president (in 1996 and 2000). Known for his penchant for plaid shirts, Alexander is a classically trained pianist, and his inspired performance of a Jerry Lee Lewis song brought down the house at a festival in Memphis in 1982 … when he was governor of Tennessee. In 2008, he opened for The Four Tops, performing with the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and an audience of 20,000.

Richard Riley (1993-2001)

Appointed by: Bill Clinton

Riley turned down Clinton’s first offer: to be nominated for a spot on the U.S. Supreme Court. That vacancy was eventually filled by Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Riley was so popular as South Carolina’s Democratic governor that the state’s constitution was amended to enable him to run for, and eventually serve, a second term. After his tenure as education secretary, Riley was named a distinguished professor at his alma mater, Furman University. In 2001, the Washington Post columnist David Broder called Riley one of the “most decent and honorable people in public life.”