United States Secretary of War

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The Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. The Secretary of War led the War Department. At first, he was responsible for all military affairs. In 1798, the Secretary of the Navy was added to the cabinet, and the scope of this office was reduced to a general concern with the Army. In 1947, the departments were recombined under the Secretary of Defense. The Secretary of War was replaced by the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of the Air Force, non-Cabinet positions under the Secretary of Defense.

[edit] Previous Secretaries of War

Henry Knox was the first United States Secretary of War, appointed by George Washington in 1789.

Name	State of Residence	Began Service	Ended Service	President(s) served under
Henry Knox	Massachusetts	September 12, 1789	December 31, 1794	George Washington
Timothy Pickering	Massachusetts	January 2, 1795	December 10, 1795	Washington
James McHenry	Maryland	January 27, 1796	May 13, 1800	Washington, John Adams
Samuel Dexter	Massachusetts	May 13, 1800	January 31, 1801	John Adams
Henry Dearborn	Massachusetts	March 5, 1801	March 4, 1809	Thomas Jefferson
William Eustis	Massachusetts	March 7, 1809	January 13, 1813	James Madison
John Armstrong, Jr.	Pennsylvania	January 13, 1813	September 27, 1814	Madison
James Monroe	Virginia	September 27, 1814	March 2, 1815	Madison
William Harris Crawford	Georgia	August 1, 1815	October 22, 1816	Madison
John C. Calhoun	South Carolina	October 8, 1817	March 4, 1825	James Monroe
James Barbour	Virginia	March 7, 1825	May 23, 1828	John Quincy Adams
Peter Buell Porter	New York	May 23, 1828	March 4, 1829	John Quincy Adams
John Henry Eaton	Tennessee	March 9, 1829	June 18, 1831	Andrew Jackson
Lewis Cass	Michigan	August 1, 1831	October 5, 1836	Jackson
Joel Roberts Poinsett	South Carolina	March 7, 1837	March 4, 1841	Martin Van Buren
John Bell	Tennesse	March 5, 1841	September 13, 1841	William Henry Harrison, John Tyler
John C. Spencer	New York	October 12, 1841	March 4, 1843	Tyler
James Madison Porter	Pennsylvania	March 8, 1843	February 14, 1844	Tyler
William Wilkins	Pennsylvania	February 15, 1844	March 4, 1845	Tyler
William L. Marcy	New York	March 6, 1845	March 4, 1849	James K. Polk
George Walker Crawford	Georgia	March 8, 1849	July 22, 1850	Zachary Taylor
Charles Magill Conrad	Louisiana	August 15, 1850	March 4, 1853	Millard Fillmore
Jefferson Davis	Mississippi	March 7, 1853	March 4, 1857	Franklin Pierce
John Buchanan Floyd	Virginia	March 6, 1857	December 29, 1860	James Buchanan
Joseph Holt		January 18, 1861	March 4, 1861	Buchanan
Simon Cameron	Pennsylvania	March 5, 1861	January 14, 1862	Abraham Lincoln
Edwin M. Stanton	Pennsylvania	January 20, 1862	May 28, 1868	Lincoln, Andrew Johnson
John M. Schofield		June 1, 1868	March 13, 1869	Johnson
John Aaron Rawlins	Illinois	March 13, 1869	September 6, 1869	Ulysses S. Grant
William Tecumseh Sherman		September 9, 1869	October 24, 1869	Grant
William W. Belknap	Iowa	October 25, 1869	March 2, 1876	Grant
Alphonso Taft	Ohio	March 8, 1876	May 22, 1876	Grant
J. Donald Cameron	Pennsylvania	May 22, 1876	March 4, 1877	Grant
George W. McCrary	Iowa	March 12, 1877	December 10, 1879	Rutherford B. Hayes
Alexander Ramsey	Minnesota	December 10, 1879	March 4, 1881	Hayes
Robert Todd Lincoln	Illinois	March 5, 1881	March 4, 1885	James A. Garfield, Chester A. Arthur
William C. Endicott	Massachusetts	March 5, 1885	March 4, 1889	Grover Cleveland
Redfield Proctor	Vermont	March 5, 1889	November 5, 1891	Benjamin Harrison
Stephen B. Elkins	West Virginia	December 17, 1891	March 4, 1893	Harrison
Daniel Scott Lamont	New York	March 5, 1893	March 4, 1897	Cleveland (2nd term)
Russell A. Alger	Michigan	March 5, 1897	August 1, 1899	William McKinley
Elihu Root	New York	August 1, 1899	January 31, 1904	McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt
William Howard Taft	Ohio	February 1, 1904	June 30, 1908	Theodore Roosevelt
Luke Edward Wright	Tennessee	July 1, 1908	March 4, 1909	Theodore Roosevelt
Jacob M. Dickinson	Illinois	March 12, 1909	May 21, 1911	William Howard Taft
Henry L. Stimson	New York	May 22, 1911	March 4, 1913	Taft
Lindley M. Garrison	New Jersey	March 5, 1913	February 10, 1916	Woodrow Wilson
Newton D. Baker	Ohio	March 9, 1916	March 4, 1921	Wilson
John W. Weeks	Massachusetts	March 5, 1921	October 13, 1925	Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge
Dwight F. Davis	Missouri	October 14, 1925	March 4, 1929	Coolidge
James W. Good	Iowa	March 6, 1929	November 18, 1929	Herbert Hoover
Patrick J. Hurley		December 9, 1929	March 4, 1933	Hoover
George H. Dern	Utah	March 4, 1933	August 27, 1936	Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry H. Woodring	Kansas	September 25, 1936	June 20, 1940	FDR
Henry L. Stimson	New York	July 10, 1940	September 21, 1945	FDR, Harry S. Truman
Robert P. Patterson	New York	September 27, 1945	July 18, 1947	Truman
Kenneth C. Royall	North Carolina	July 19, 1947	September 18, 1947	Truman

[edit] See also

Confederate States Secretary of the War

[edit] External links

Secretaries of War and Secretaries of the Army: Portraits and Biographical Sketches

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