Rick Perry, Secretary of Energy

James Richard "Rick" Perry (born March 4, 1950) is an American politician who is the 14th and current United States Secretary of Energy, serving under the Trump Administration. Perry previously served as the 47th Governor of Texas from December 2000 to January 2015. A Republican, he was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was the longest-serving governor in Texas history.

Perry was elected three times to full gubernatorial terms and is the fourth Texas governor (after Allan Shivers, Price Daniel and John Connally) to serve three terms. With a tenure in office of 14 years, 30 days, Perry was, at the time he left office, the second longest-serving current U.S. governor (after Terry Branstad of Iowa). Perry ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 2012 and 2016. On December 14, 2016, Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate the longtime Texas governor as his Secretary of Energy. On March 2, 2017, he was confirmed by the United States Senate in a 62–37 vote.