Position in the United States Cabinet from 1789 to 1947
The secretary of war was a member of the U.S. president 's Cabinet , beginning with George Washington 's administration . A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War", had been appointed to serve the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation between 1781 and 1789. Benjamin Lincoln and later Henry Knox held the position. When Washington was inaugurated as the first President under the Constitution , he appointed Knox to continue serving as Secretary of War.
The secretary of war was the head of the War Department . At first, he was responsible for all military affairs, including naval affairs . In 1798, the secretary of the Navy was created by statute, and the scope of responsibility for this office was reduced to the affairs of the United States Army . From 1886 onward, the secretary of war was in the line of succession to the presidency , after the vice president of the United States , the Speaker of the House of Representatives , the President pro tempore of the Senate and the secretary of state .
In 1947, with the passing of the National Security Act of 1947 , the secretary of war was replaced by the secretary of the Army and the secretary of the Air Force , which, along with the secretary of the Navy, have since 1949 been non-Cabinet subordinates under the secretary of defense . The secretary of the Army's office is generally considered the direct successor to the secretary of war's office although the secretary of defense took the secretary of war's position in the Cabinet, and the line of succession to the presidency.
List of secretaries [ edit ]
Secretary at War (1781–1789) [ edit ]
The office of Secretary at War was modelled upon Great Britain's secretary at war , who was William Barrington, 2nd Viscount Barrington , at the time of the American Revolution. The office of Secretary at War was meant to replace both the commander-in-chief and the Board of War , and like the president of the board, the secretary wore no special insignia. The inspector general, quartermaster general , commissary general, and adjutant general served on the secretary's staff. However, the Army itself under Secretary Henry Knox only consisted of 700 men.
Secretary of War (1789–1947) [ edit ]
Parties
Federalist (4)
Democratic-Republican (8)
Democratic (14)
Whig (5)
Republican (25)
No.
Portrait
Secretary of War
Took office
Left office
Time in office
Party
State of residence
President serving under
Ref.
1 Henry Knox September 12, 1789 December 31, 1794 5 years, 110 daysFederalist Massachusetts George Washington
2 Timothy Pickering January 2, 1795 December 10, 1795 342 daysFederalist Pennsylvania George Washington [1]
3 James McHenry January 27, 1796 June 1, 1800 4 years, 125 daysFederalist Maryland George Washington John Adams (Federalist )[2]
4 Samuel Dexter June 1, 1800 January 31, 1801 244 daysFederalist Massachusetts John Adams (Federalist )
5 Henry Dearborn March 5, 1801 March 4, 1809 7 years, 364 daysDemocratic-Republican Massachusetts Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-Republican )
6 William Eustis March 7, 1809 January 13, 1813 3 years, 312 daysDemocratic-Republican Massachusetts James Madison (Democratic-Republican )
7 John Armstrong, Jr. January 13, 1813 September 27, 1814 1 year, 257 daysDemocratic-Republican New York James Madison (Democratic-Republican )
8 James Monroe September 27, 1814 March 2, 1815 156 daysDemocratic-Republican Virginia James Madison (Democratic-Republican )
9 William H. Crawford August 1, 1815 October 22, 1816 1 year, 82 daysDemocratic-Republican Georgia James Madison (Democratic-Republican )
10 John C. Calhoun October 8, 1817 March 4, 1825 7 years, 147 daysDemocratic-Republican South Carolina James Monroe (Democratic-Republican )
11 James Barbour March 7, 1825 May 23, 1828 3 years, 77 daysDemocratic-Republican Virginia John Quincy Adams (Democratic-Republican )
12 Peter Buell Porter May 23, 1828 March 9, 1829 290 daysDemocratic-Republican New York John Quincy Adams (Democratic-Republican )
13 John H. Eaton March 9, 1829 June 18, 1831 2 years, 101 daysDemocratic Tennessee Andrew Jackson (Democratic )
14 Lewis Cass August 1, 1831 October 5, 1836 5 years, 65 daysDemocratic Ohio Andrew Jackson (Democratic )
15 Joel Roberts Poinsett March 7, 1837 March 4, 1841 3 years, 362 daysDemocratic South Carolina Martin Van Buren (Democratic )
16 John Bell March 5, 1841 September 13, 1841 192 daysWhig Tennessee William Henry Harrison (Whig )John Tyler (Whig )
17 John Canfield Spencer October 12, 1841 March 4, 1843 1 year, 143 daysWhig New York John Tyler (Whig )
18 James Madison Porter March 8, 1843 February 14, 1844 343 daysWhig Pennsylvania John Tyler (Whig )
19 William Wilkins February 15, 1844 March 4, 1845 1 year, 17 daysDemocratic Pennsylvania John Tyler (Whig )
20 William Learned Marcy March 6, 1845 March 4, 1849 3 years, 363 daysDemocratic New York James K. Polk (Democratic )
21 George W. Crawford March 8, 1849 July 22, 1850 1 year, 136 daysWhig Georgia Zachary Taylor (Whig )
22 Charles Magill Conrad August 15, 1850 March 4, 1853 2 years, 201 daysWhig Louisiana Millard Fillmore (Whig )
23 Jefferson Davis March 7, 1853 March 4, 1857 3 years, 362 daysDemocratic Mississippi Franklin Pierce (Democratic )
24 John B. Floyd March 6, 1857 December 29, 1860 3 years, 298 daysDemocratic Virginia James Buchanan (Democratic )
25 Joseph Holt January 18, 1861 March 4, 1861 45 daysRepublican Kentucky James Buchanan (Democratic )
26 Simon Cameron March 5, 1861 January 14, 1862 315 daysRepublican Pennsylvania Abraham Lincoln (Republican )
27 Edwin M. Stanton January 20, 1862 May 28, 1868 5 years, 204 days[3] Republican Pennsylvania Abraham Lincoln (Republican )Andrew Johnson (Democratic )
– Ulysses S. Grant (Acting)Acting January 20, 1862 May 28, 1868 155 days[4] Republican Pennsylvania Abraham Lincoln (Republican )Andrew Johnson (Democratic )
27 (2) Edwin M. Stanton January 20, 1862 May 28, 1868 290 days[5] Republican Pennsylvania Abraham Lincoln (Republican )Andrew Johnson (Democratic )
28 John McAllister Schofield June 1, 1868 March 13, 1869 285 daysRepublican Illinois Andrew Johnson (Democratic )
29 John Aaron Rawlins March 13, 1869 September 6, 1869 177 daysRepublican Illinois Ulysses S. Grant (Republican )
- William Sherman (Acting)Acting September 6, 1869 October 25, 1869 49 daysRepublican Ohio Ulysses S. Grant (Republican )
30 William W. Belknap October 25, 1869 March 2, 1876 6 years, 129 daysRepublican Iowa Ulysses S. Grant (Republican )
31 Alphonso Taft March 8, 1876 May 22, 1876 75 daysRepublican Ohio Ulysses S. Grant (Republican )
32 J. Donald Cameron May 22, 1876 March 4, 1877 286 daysRepublican Pennsylvania Ulysses S. Grant (Republican )
33 George W. McCrary March 12, 1877 December 10, 1879 2 years, 273 daysRepublican Iowa Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican )
34 Alexander Ramsey December 10, 1879 March 4, 1881 1 year, 84 daysRepublican Minnesota Rutherford B. Hayes (Republican )
35 Robert Todd Lincoln March 5, 1881 March 4, 1885 3 years, 364 daysRepublican Illinois James A. Garfield (Republican )Chester A. Arthur (Republican )
36 William Crowninshield Endicott March 5, 1885 March 4, 1889 3 years, 364 daysDemocratic Massachusetts Grover Cleveland (Democratic )
37 Redfield Proctor March 5, 1889 November 5, 1891 2 years, 245 daysRepublican Vermont Benjamin Harrison (Republican )
38 Stephen Benton Elkins December 17, 1891 March 4, 1893 1 year, 77 daysRepublican West Virginia Benjamin Harrison (Republican )
39 Daniel S. Lamont March 5, 1893 March 4, 1897 3 years, 364 daysDemocratic New York Grover Cleveland (Democratic )
40 Russell A. Alger March 5, 1897 August 1, 1899 2 years, 149 daysRepublican Michigan William McKinley (Republican )
41 Elihu Root August 1, 1899 January 31, 1904 4 years, 183 daysRepublican New York William McKinley (Republican )Theodore Roosevelt (Republican )
42 William Howard Taft February 1, 1904 June 30, 1908 4 years, 150 daysRepublican Ohio Theodore Roosevelt (Republican )
43 Luke Edward Wright July 1, 1908 March 4, 1909 246 daysRepublican Tennessee Theodore Roosevelt (Republican )
44 Jacob M. Dickinson March 12, 1909 May 21, 1911 2 years, 70 daysRepublican Tennessee William Howard Taft (Republican )
45 Henry L. Stimson May 22, 1911 March 4, 1913 1 year, 286 daysRepublican New York William Howard Taft (Republican )
46 Lindley Miller Garrison March 5, 1913 February 10, 1916 2 years, 342 daysDemocratic New Jersey Woodrow Wilson (Democratic )
47 Newton D. Baker March 9, 1916 March 4, 1921 4 years, 360 daysDemocratic Ohio Woodrow Wilson (Democratic )
48 John W. Weeks March 5, 1921 October 13, 1925 4 years, 222 daysRepublican Massachusetts Warren G. Harding (Republican )Calvin Coolidge (Republican )
49 Dwight F. Davis October 14, 1925 March 4, 1929 3 years, 141 daysRepublican Missouri Calvin Coolidge (Republican )
50 James William Good March 6, 1929 November 18, 1929 257 daysRepublican Illinois Herbert Hoover (Republican )
51 Patrick J. Hurley December 9, 1929 March 4, 1933 3 years, 85 daysRepublican Oklahoma Herbert Hoover (Republican )
52 George Dern March 4, 1933 August 27, 1936 3 years, 176 daysDemocratic Utah Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democratic )
53 Harry Hines Woodring September 25, 1936 June 20, 1940 3 years, 269 daysDemocratic Kansas Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democratic )
54 Henry L. Stimson July 10, 1940 September 21, 1945 5 years, 73 daysRepublican New York Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democratic )Harry S. Truman (Democratic )
55 Robert P. Patterson September 27, 1945 July 18, 1947 1 year, 294 daysRepublican New York Harry S. Truman (Democratic )
56 Kenneth C. Royall July 19, 1947 September 18, 1947 61 daysDemocratic North Carolina Harry S. Truman (Democratic )
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
^ http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?hlaw:7:./temp/~ammem_WqlO ::
^ "Papers of the War Department" . Wardepartmentpapers.org. Retrieved 2012-05-15 .
^ From August 12, 1867 until January 14, 1868, Stanton was suspended from office, and Ulysses S. Grant served as Acting Secretary of War. For more on President Johnson's attempts to remove Stanton from office, see impeachment of Andrew Johnson .
^ From August 12, 1867 until January 14, 1868, Stanton was suspended from office, and Ulysses S. Grant served as Acting Secretary of War. For more on President Johnson's attempts to remove Stanton from office, see impeachment of Andrew Johnson .
^ From August 12, 1867 until January 14, 1868, Stanton was suspended from office, and Ulysses S. Grant served as Acting Secretary of War. For more on President Johnson's attempts to remove Stanton from office, see impeachment of Andrew Johnson .
Further reading [ edit ]