Ryan K. Zinke

Ryan K. Zinke (b. 1961) arrived at the Department of the Interior as a fifth-generation Montanan and self-described "Theodore Roosevelt conservationist." In a career chronicled in his 2016 book, American Commander, Zinke served 23 years as a U.S. Navy SEAL before retiring in 2008 and transitioning to politics. He was elected to the Montana State Senate (2009–2011) and then to Congress as Montana's lone representative (2014–2017). He was the first former Navy SEAL in the U.S. House of Representatives and the first as a cabinet secretary. He is also Interior's first secretary from Montana.

A month into his tenure, the 52nd secretary hosted President Trump at Interior for issuing an executive order to review certain national monuments presidentially designated or expanded under the Antiquities Act since January 1, 1996. Zinke would go on to broaden access to hunting, fishing, and recreational opportunities and amplify the need to address deferred maintenance within the public lands system. Throughout his secretarial term, Zinke aligned Interior resources in support of Trump Administration priorities regarding regulatory reform, domestic energy production, border security, and stemming the nation's opioid crisis.

Zinke instituted initiatives that would have lasting impacts on the workplace—making Interior the first dog-friendly Federal agency with the rollout of Doggy Days in May 2017; updating policies on employee harassment; and laying the groundwork for a Department-wide reorganization to streamline processes within unified regions.

Award-winning, Montana-based artist Brent Cotton based this painting upon photographs from Zinke's 2017 visit to Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. It is the first Interior portrait to show a secretary in an active pose and the first to include an animal. Many secretarial portraits contain elements of symbolism. Among the ones here: the U.S. Park Police emblem on the horse's martingale references the secretary having ridden a Park Police horse to Interior on his first day. The military patch on the jacket sleeve signifies his Navy SEAL service. The six desert wildflowers in the foreground are tributes to his wife, children, and grandchildren. This official portrait was unveiled in December 2020 at Interior.