United States Secretary of War

Position in the United States Cabinet from 1789 to 1947

"Secretary of War" redirects here. For other uses, see Secretary of War (disambiguation).

United States Secretary of War

Official seal

Flag of the secretary

Longest serving
Henry Dearborn
March 5, 1801 – March 4, 1809

United States Department of War
Style| Mr. Secretary
Type| Secretary
Status| Abolished
Member of| Cabinet
Reports to| President of the United States
Seat| Washington, D.C.
Appointer| The president
with Senate advice and consent
Term length| No fixed term
Precursor| Secretary at War
Formation| September 12, 1789
First holder| Henry Knox
Final holder| Kenneth C. Royall
Abolished| September 18, 1947
Superseded by| Secretary of Defense
Secretary of the Army
Secretary of the Air Force
Succession| 6th in the line of succession

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 modeled 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.

Image  | No. | Name  | Home State  | Start  | End  | Appointer

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1  |  | Benjamin Lincoln | Massachusetts | March 1, 1781  | November 2, 1783  | Congress of the Confederation
2  |  | Henry Knox | Massachusetts  | March 8, 1785 | September 12, 1789

### Secretary of War (1789–1947)

[edit]

Swearing in of Dwight F. Davis as Secretary of War in 1925. Former Secretaries John W. Weeks and Chief Justice William Howard Taft are standing beside him.

Parties

Federalist (4)   Democratic-Republican (8)   Democratic (14)   Whig (5)   Republican (25)

Denotes acting capacity.

No. | Image  | Name  | Start  | End  | Duration  | Party  | Home State  | President(s)

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1  |  | Henry Knox | September 12, 1789 | December 31, 1794 | 5 years, 110 days  |  | Federalist | Massachusetts |  | George Washington
(1789–1797)
2  |  | Timothy Pickering[1] | January 2, 1795 | December 10, 1795 | 342 days  |  | Federalist | Pennsylvania
3  |  | James McHenry[2] | January 27, 1796 | June 1, 1800 | −4 years, 125 days  |  | Federalist | Maryland
| John Adams
(1797–1801)
4  |  | Samuel Dexter | June 1, 1800 | January 31, 1801 | 244 days  |  | Federalist | Massachusetts
5  |  | Henry Dearborn | March 5, 1801 | March 4, 1809 | 7 years, 364 days  |  | Democratic-Republican | Massachusetts |  | Thomas Jefferson
(1801–1809)
6  |  | William Eustis | March 7, 1809 | January 13, 1813 | 3 years, 312 days  |  | Democratic-Republican | Massachusetts |  | James Madison
(1809–1817)
7  |  | John Armstrong Jr. | January 13, 1813 | September 27, 1814 | 1 year, 257 days  |  | Democratic-Republican | New York
8  |  | James Monroe | September 27, 1814 | March 2, 1815 | 156 days  |  | Democratic-Republican | Virginia
9  |  | William H. Crawford | August 1, 1815 | October 22, 1816 | 1 year, 82 days  |  | Democratic-Republican | Georgia
10  |  | John C. Calhoun | October 8, 1817 | March 4, 1825 | 7 years, 147 days  |  | Democratic-Republican | South Carolina |  | James Monroe
(1817–1825)
11  |  | James Barbour | March 7, 1825 | May 23, 1828 | 3 years, 77 days  |  | Democratic-Republican | Virginia |  | John Quincy Adams
(1825–1829)
12  |  | Peter Buell Porter | May 23, 1828 | March 9, 1829 | 290 days  |  | Democratic-Republican | New York
13  |  | John Eaton | March 9, 1829 | June 18, 1831 | 2 years, 101 days  |  | Democratic | Tennessee |  | Andrew Jackson
(1829–1837)
14  |  | Lewis Cass | August 1, 1831 | October 5, 1836 | 5 years, 65 days  |  | Democratic | Ohio
15  |  | Joel Roberts Poinsett | March 7, 1837 | March 4, 1841 | 3 years, 362 days  |  | Democratic | South Carolina |  | Martin Van Buren
(1837–1841)
16  |  | John Bell | March 5, 1841 | September 13, 1841 | 193 days  |  | Whig | South Carolina |  | William Henry Harrison
(1841)
| John Tyler
(1841–1845)
17  |  | John Canfield Spencer | October 12, 1841 | March 4, 1843 | 1 year, 143 days  |  | Whig | New York
18  |  | James Madison Porter | March 8, 1843 | February 14, 1844 | 347 days  |  | Whig | Pennsylvania
19  |  | William Wilkins | February 15, 1844 | March 4, 1845 | 1 year, 17 days  |  | Democratic | Pennsylvania
20  |  | William Learned Marcy | March 6, 1845 | March 4, 1849 | 3 years, 363 days  |  | Democratic | New York |  | James K. Polk
(1845–1849)
21  |  | George W. Crawford | March 8, 1849 | July 22, 1850 | 1 year, 136 days  |  | Whig | Georgia |  | Zachary Taylor
(1849–1850)
22  |  | Charles Magill Conrad | August 15, 1850 | March 4, 1853 | 2 years, 201 days  |  | Whig | Louisiana |  | Millard Fillmore
(1850–1853)
23  |  | Jefferson Davis | March 7, 1853 | March 4, 1857 | 3 years, 362 days  |  | Democratic | Mississippi |  | Franklin Pierce
(1853–1857)
24  |  | John B. Floyd | March 6, 1857 | December 29, 1860 | 3 years, 298 days  |  | Democratic | Virginia |  | James Buchanan
(1857–1861)
25  |  | Joseph Holt | January 18, 1861 | March 4, 1861 | 45 days  |  | Republican | Kentucky
26  |  | Simon Cameron | March 5, 1861 | January 14, 1862 | 315 days  |  | Republican | Pennsylvania |  | Abraham Lincoln
(1861–1865)
27  |  | Edwin M. Stanton | January 20, 1862
Suspended: August 12, 1867 – January 14, 1868[3] | May 28, 1868 | 6 years, 129 days  |  | Republican | Pennsylvania
| Andrew Johnson
(1865–1869)
–  |  | Ulysses S. Grant
Acting[4] | August 12, 1867 | January 14, 1868 | 155 days  |  | Republican | Ohio
28  |  | John McAllister Schofield | June 1, 1868 | March 13, 1869 | 285 days  |  | Republican | Illinois
29  |  | John Aaron Rawlins | March 13, 1869 | September 6, 1869 | 177 days  |  | Republican | Illinois |  | Ulysses S. Grant
(1869–1877)
–  |  | William Sherman
Acting | September 6, 1869 | October 25, 1869 | 49 days  |  | Republican | Ohio
30  |  | William W. Belknap | October 25, 1869 | March 2, 1876 | 6 years, 129 days  |  | Republican | Iowa
31  |  | Alphonso Taft | March 8, 1876 | May 22, 1876 | 81 days  |  | Republican | Ohio
32  |  | J. Donald Cameron | May 22, 1876 | March 4, 1877 | 286 days  |  | Republican | Pennsylvania
33  |  | George W. McCrary | March 12, 1877 | December 10, 1879 | 2 years, 273 days  |  | Republican | Iowa |  | Rutherford B. Hayes
(1877–1881)
34  |  | Alexander Ramsey | December 10, 1879 | March 4, 1881 | 1 year, 84 days  |  | Republican | Minnesota
35  |  | Robert Todd Lincoln | March 5, 1881 | March 4, 1885 | 3 years, 364 days  |  | Republican | Illinois |  | James A. Garfield
(1881)
| Chester A. Arthur
(1881–1885)
36  |  | William Crowninshield Endicott | March 5, 1885 | March 4, 1889 | 3 years, 364 days  |  | Democratic | Massachusetts |  | Grover Cleveland
(1885–1889)
37  |  | Redfield Proctor | March 5, 1889 | November 5, 1891 | 2 years, 245 days  |  | Republican | Vermont |  | Benjamin Harrison
(1889–1893)
38  |  | Stephen Benton Elkins | December 17, 1891 | March 4, 1893 | 1 year, 77 days  |  | Republican | West Virginia
39  |  | Daniel S. Lamont | March 5, 1893 | March 4, 1897 | 3 years, 364 days  |  | Democratic | New York |  | Grover Cleveland
(1885–1889)
40  |  | Russell A. Alger | March 5, 1897 | August 1, 1899 | 2 years, 149 days  |  | Republican | Michigan |  | William McKinley
(1897–1901)
41  |  | Elihu Root | August 1, 1899 | January 31, 1904 | 4 years, 183 days  |  | Republican | New York
| Theodore Roosevelt
(1901–1909)
42  |  | William Howard Taft | February 1, 1904 | June 30, 1908 | 4 years, 150 days  |  | Republican | Ohio
43  |  | Luke Edward Wright | July 1, 1908 | March 4, 1909 | 246 days  |  | Republican | Tennessee
44  |  | Jacob M. Dickinson | March 12, 1909 | May 21, 1911 | 2 years, 70 days  |  | Democratic | Tennessee |  | William Howard Taft
(1909–1913)
45  |  | Henry L. Stimson | May 22, 1911 | March 4, 1913 | 1 year, 286 days  |  | Republican | New York
46  |  | Lindley Miller Garrison | March 5, 1913 | February 10, 1916 | 2 years, 342 days  |  | Democratic | New Jersey |  | Woodrow Wilson
(1913–1921)
47  |  | Newton D. Baker | March 9, 1916 | March 4, 1921 | 4 years, 360 days  |  | Democratic | Ohio
48  |  | John W. Weeks | March 5, 1921 | October 13, 1925 | 4 years, 223 days  |  | Republican | Massachusetts |  | Warren G. Harding
(1921–1923)
| Calvin Coolidge
(1923–1929)
49  |  | Dwight F. Davis | October 14, 1925 | March 4, 1929 | 3 years, 141 days  |  | Republican | Missouri
50  |  | James William Good | March 6, 1929 | November 18, 1929 | 257 days  |  | Republican | Iowa |  | Herbert Hoover
(1929–1933)
51  |  | Patrick J. Hurley | December 9, 1929 | March 4, 1933 | 3 years, 85 days  |  | Republican | Oklahoma
52  |  | George Dern | March 4, 1933 | August 27, 1936 | 3 years, 176 days  |  | Democratic | Utah |  | Franklin D. Roosevelt
(1933–1945)
53  |  | Harry Hines Woodring | September 25, 1936 | June 20, 1940 | 3 years, 298 days  |  | Democratic | Kansas
54  |  | Henry L. Stimson | July 10, 1940 | September 21, 1945 | 5 years, 73 days  |  | Republican | New York
| Harry S. Truman
(1945–1953)
55  |  | Robert P. Patterson | September 27, 1945 | July 18, 1947 | 1 year, 294 days  |  | Republican | New York
56  |  | Kenneth Royall | July 19, 1947 | September 18, 1947 | 61 days  |  | Democratic | North Carolina

## See also

[edit]

* Confederate States Secretary of War
* United States Secretary of Defense

## References

[edit]

### Footnotes

[edit]

1. ^ Unknown[permanent dead link]
2. ^ "Papers of the War Department". Wardepartmentpapers.org. Archived from the original on December 29, 2018. Retrieved May 15, 2012.
3. ^ 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.
4. ^ 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]

* Bell, William Gardner (2005). Commanding Generals and Chiefs of Staff 1775-2005: Portraits and Biographical Sketches. Washington, D.C.: United States Army Center of Military History. Archived from the original on April 10, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
* Grossman, Mark (2010). Encyclopedia of the United States Cabinet 1789-2010. Armenia, New York: Greyhouse Publishing.
* King, Archibald (1960) [1949]. Command of the Army (PDF). Military Affairs. Charlottesville, Virginia: The Judge Advocate General's School, U.S. Army.

* v
* t
* e

United States secretaries of war and the army

Department
of War
(1789–1947)|

| Secretaries|

* B. Lincoln
* Knox
* Pickering
* McHenry
* Dexter
* Dearborn
* Eustis
* Armstrong
* Monroe
* W. Crawford
* Calhoun
* Barbour
* P. Porter
* Eaton
* Cass
* Poinsett
* Bell
* Spencer
* J. Porter
* Wilkins
* Marcy
* G. Crawford
* Conrad
* J. Davis
* Floyd
* Holt
* S. Cameron
* Stanton
* Schofield
* Rawlins
* Belknap
* A. Taft
* J. Cameron
* McCrary
* Ramsey
* R. Lincoln
* Endicott
* Proctor
* Elkins
* Lamont
* Alger
* Root
* W. Taft
* Wright
* Dickinson
* Stimson
* Garrison
* Baker
* Weeks
* D. Davis
* Good
* Hurley
* Dern
* Woodring
* Stimson
* Patterson
* Royall

|

Assistant
secretaries|

* Scott
* Watson
* Tucker
* Wolcott
* Dana
* Eckert
* Grant
* Doe
* Meiklejohn
* Sanger
* Oliver
* Breckinridge
* Ingraham
* Crowell
* Williams
* Wainwright
* D. Davis
* MacNider
* Robbins
* Hurley
* Payne
* Woodring
* L. Johnson
* Patterson
* McCloy
* Petersen

Under secretaries|

* Patterson
* Royall
* Draper

Department
of the Army
(1947–present)|

| Secretaries|

* Royall
* Gray
* Pace
* Stevens
* Brucker
* Stahr
* Vance
* Ailes
* Resor
* Froehlke
* Callaway
* Hoffmann
* C. Alexander
* Marsh
* Stone
* West
* Caldera
* White
* Harvey
* Geren
* McHugh
* Fanning
* Esper
* McCarthy
* Wormuth
* Driscoll

|

Under secretaries|

* Draper
* Gray
* Voorhees
* A. Alexander
* Bendetsen
* E. Johnson
* Slezak
* Finucane
* Milton
* Ailes
* Ignatius
* Resor
* McGiffert
* Beal
* BeLieu
* Staudt
* Augustine
* LaBerge
* Ambrose
* Stone
* Shannon
* Reeder
* Walker
* Rostker
* Dahlberg
* Brownlee
* Geren
* Ford
* Westphal
* Carson
* Murphy
* McCarthy
* McPherson
* Camarillo

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Leaders of the United States federal executive departments

Current|

* Agriculture
* Commerce
* Defense
* Education
* Energy
* Health and Human Services
* Homeland Security
* Housing and Urban Development
* Interior
* Justice
* Labor
* State
* Transportation
* Treasury
* Veterans Affairs

Past|

* Commerce and Labor
* Health, Education, and Welfare
* Navy
* Post Office
* War

* v
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* e

Government of the United States under the Articles of Confederation

Congresses|

* Second Continental Congress
* Confederation Congress
* Delegates
* Committee of the States

Congressional Officers|

* President
* Secretary

Civil Offices/Officers|

* Postmaster General
* Superintendent of Finance
* Agent of the Marine
* Secretary at War
* Secretary of Foreign Affairs
* Court of Appeals

Military|

* Board of War
* Continental Army
* Commander in Chief
* Continental Navy
* Continental Marines

Meeting sites|

* Independence Hall (1779–1783)
* Nassau Hall (1783)
* Maryland State House (1783–1784)
* French Arms Tavern (1784)
* Federal Hall (1785–1789)

Related|

* Confederation period
* Perpetual Union
* Proclamation of 1783
* Ratification Day
* 1784 Land Ordinance
* 1785 Land Ordinance
* Northwest Ordinance
* Journals of the Continental Congress

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