The Secretary of War was a member of the United States 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.
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 third in the line of succession to the presidency , after the Vice President of the United States 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 of War was modelled upon Great Britain's Secretary at War , who was William Barrington, 2nd Viscount Barrington , at the time of the American Revolution. By 1776, the position of the British Secretary at War was a sophisticated managerial role, but the duties in 1661 to 1666 of England's first Secretary at War, Sir William Clarke , were more basic ones of literally handling the secretarial duties of managing official correspondence, memoranda, military orders, and financial accounts.[citation needed ]
Secretary of War (1789–1947) [ edit ]
Parties
No party Federalist Democratic-Republican Democratic Whig Republican
No.
Portrait
Name
State of residence
Took office
Left office
President(s)
1
Henry Knox
Massachusetts
September 12, 1789
December 31, 1794
George Washington
2
Timothy Pickering
Pennsylvania [ 1]
January 2, 1795
December 10, 1795
3
James McHenry
Maryland
January 27, 1796
June 1, 1800[ 2]
John Adams
4
Samuel Dexter
Massachusetts
June 1, 1800
January 31, 1801
5
Henry Dearborn
Massachusetts
March 5, 1801
March 4, 1809
Thomas Jefferson
6
William Eustis
Massachusetts
March 7, 1809
January 13, 1813
James Madison
7
John Armstrong, Jr.
New York
January 13, 1813
September 27, 1814
8
James Monroe
Virginia
September 27, 1814
March 2, 1815
9
William H. Crawford
Georgia
August 1, 1815
October 22, 1816
10
John C. Calhoun
South Carolina
October 8, 1817
March 4, 1825
James Monroe
11
James Barbour
Virginia
March 7, 1825
May 23, 1828
John Quincy Adams
12
Peter Buell Porter
New York
May 23, 1828
March 4, 1829
13
John H. Eaton
Tennessee
March 9, 1829
June 18, 1831
Andrew Jackson
14
Lewis Cass
Ohio
August 1, 1831
October 5, 1836
15
Joel Roberts Poinsett
South Carolina
March 7, 1837
March 4, 1841
Martin Van Buren
16
John Bell
Tennessee
March 5, 1841
September 13, 1841
William Henry Harrison
John Tyler
17
John Canfield Spencer
New York
October 12, 1841
March 4, 1843
18
James Madison Porter
Pennsylvania
March 8, 1843
February 14, 1844
19
William Wilkins
Pennsylvania
February 15, 1844
March 4, 1845
20
William Learned Marcy
New York
March 6, 1845
March 4, 1849
James K. Polk
21
George W. Crawford
Georgia
March 8, 1849
July 22, 1850
Zachary Taylor
22
Charles Magill Conrad
Louisiana
August 15, 1850
March 4, 1853
Millard Fillmore
23
Jefferson Davis
Mississippi
March 7, 1853
March 4, 1857
Franklin Pierce
24
John B. Floyd
Virginia
March 6, 1857
December 29, 1860
James Buchanan
25
Joseph Holt
Kentucky
January 18, 1861
March 4, 1861
26
Simon Cameron
Pennsylvania
March 5, 1861
January 14, 1862
Abraham Lincoln
27
Edwin M. Stanton
Pennsylvania
January 20, 1862
May 28, 1868
Andrew Johnson
28
John McAllister Schofield
Illinois
June 1, 1868
March 13, 1869
29
John Aaron Rawlins
Illinois
March 13, 1869
September 6, 1869
Ulysses S. Grant
30
William W. Belknap
Iowa
October 25, 1869
March 2, 1876
31
Alphonso Taft
Ohio
March 8, 1876
May 22, 1876
32
J. Donald Cameron
Pennsylvania
May 22, 1876
March 4, 1877
33
George W. McCrary
Iowa
March 12, 1877
December 10, 1879
Rutherford B. Hayes
34
Alexander Ramsey
Minnesota
December 10, 1879
March 4, 1881
35
Robert Todd Lincoln
Illinois
March 5, 1881
March 4, 1885
James A. Garfield
Chester A. Arthur
36
William Crowninshield Endicott
Massachusetts
March 5, 1885
March 4, 1889
Grover Cleveland
37
Redfield Proctor
Vermont
March 5, 1889
November 5, 1891
Benjamin Harrison
38
Stephen Benton Elkins
West Virginia
December 17, 1891
March 4, 1893
39
Daniel S. Lamont
New York
March 5, 1893
March 4, 1897
Grover Cleveland
40
Russell A. Alger
Michigan
March 5, 1897
August 1, 1899
William McKinley
41
Elihu Root
New York
August 1, 1899
January 31, 1904
Theodore Roosevelt
42
William Howard Taft
Ohio
February 1, 1904
June 30, 1908
43
Luke Edward Wright
Tennessee
July 1, 1908
March 4, 1909
44
Jacob M. Dickinson
Tennessee
March 12, 1909
May 21, 1911
William Howard Taft
45
Henry L. Stimson
New York
May 22, 1911
March 4, 1913
46
Lindley Miller Garrison
New Jersey
March 5, 1913
February 10, 1916
Woodrow Wilson
47
Newton D. Baker
Ohio
March 9, 1916
March 4, 1921
48
John W. Weeks
Massachusetts
March 5, 1921
October 13, 1925
Warren G. Harding
Calvin Coolidge
49
Dwight F. Davis
Missouri
October 14, 1925
March 4, 1929
50
James William Good
Illinois
March 6, 1929
November 18, 1929
Herbert Hoover
51
Patrick J. Hurley
Oklahoma
December 9, 1929
March 4, 1933
52
George Dern
Utah
March 4, 1933
August 27, 1936
Franklin D. Roosevelt
53
Harry Hines Woodring
Kansas
September 25, 1936
June 20, 1940
54
Henry L. Stimson
New York
July 10, 1940
September 21, 1945
Harry S. Truman
55
Robert P. Patterson
New York
September 27, 1945
July 18, 1947
56
Kenneth C. Royall
North Carolina
July 19, 1947
September 18, 1947
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Further reading [ edit ]
Congresses
Congressional Officers
Civil Officers
Military