United States Secretary of War

Secretary of War
United States Department of War
Appointer	Confederation: Congress Federal: The President of the United States
Inaugural holder	Confederation: Benjamin Lincoln (1781) Federal: Henry Knox (1789)
Formation	Confederation: 1781 Federal: 1789
Final holder	Confederation: Henry Knox Federal: Kenneth C. Royall
Abolished	Confederation: 1789 Federal: September 19, 1947
Succession	Sixth
Deputy	Assistant Secretary (1861~1940) Under Secretary (1940-1947)

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

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.

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," was 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 this office was reduced to a general concern with the 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, the departments were recombined under the National Military Establishment. 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 positions 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. 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

Secretary at War (1781–1789)

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.

No.	Portrait	Name	State of residence	Took office	Left office	Congress
1		Benjamin Lincoln	Massachusetts	1781	1783	Congress of the Confederation
2		Henry Knox	Massachusetts	March 8, 1785	September 12, 1789

Secretary of War (1789–1947)

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
style="background: Template:Federalist Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 2		Timothy Pickering	Pennsylvania	January 2, 1795	December 10, 1795
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Federalist Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 3		James McHenry	Maryland	January 27, 1796	June 1, 1800
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Federalist Party (United States)/meta/color;" |						John Adams
style="background: Template:Federalist Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 4		Samuel Dexter	Massachusetts	June 1, 1800	January 31, 1801
style="background: Template:Democratic-Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 5		Henry Dearborn	Massachusetts	March 5, 1801	March 4, 1809	style="background: Template:Democratic-Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	Thomas Jefferson
style="background: Template:Democratic-Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 6		William Eustis	Massachusetts	March 7, 1809	January 13, 1813	rowspan=4 style="background: Template:Democratic-Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	James Madison
style="background: Template:Democratic-Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 7		John Armstrong, Jr.	New York	January 13, 1813	September 27, 1814
style="background: Template:Democratic-Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 8		James Monroe	Virginia	September 27, 1814	March 2, 1815
style="background: Template:Democratic-Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 9		William H. Crawford	Georgia	August 1, 1815	October 22, 1816
style="background: Template:Democratic-Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 10		John C. Calhoun	South Carolina	October 8, 1817	March 4, 1825	style="background: Template:Democratic-Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	James Monroe
style="background: Template:Democratic-Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 11		James Barbour	Virginia	March 7, 1825	May 23, 1828	rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Democratic-Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	John Quincy Adams
style="background: Template:Democratic-Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 12		Peter Buell Porter	New York	May 23, 1828	March 4, 1829
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 13		John H. Eaton	Tennessee	March 9, 1829	June 18, 1831	rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	Andrew Jackson
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 14		Lewis Cass	Ohio	August 1, 1831	October 5, 1836
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 15		Joel Roberts Poinsett	South Carolina	March 7, 1837	March 4, 1841	style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	Martin Van Buren
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Whig Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 16		John Bell	Tennessee	March 5, 1841	September 13, 1841	style="background: Template:Whig Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	William Henry Harrison
rowspan=4 style="background: Template:Whig Party (United States)/meta/color;" |						John Tyler
style="background: Template:Whig Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 17		John Canfield Spencer	New York	October 12, 1841	March 4, 1843
style="background: Template:Whig Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 18		James Madison Porter	Pennsylvania	March 8, 1843	February 14, 1844
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 19		William Wilkins	Pennsylvania	February 15, 1844	March 4, 1845
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 20		William Learned Marcy	New York	March 6, 1845	March 4, 1849	style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	James K. Polk
style="background: Template:Whig Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 21		George W. Crawford	Georgia	March 8, 1849	July 22, 1850	style="background: Template:Whig Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	Zachary Taylor
style="background: Template:Whig Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 22		Charles Magill Conrad	Louisiana	August 15, 1850	March 4, 1853	style="background: Template:Whig Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	Millard Fillmore
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 23		Jefferson Davis	Mississippi	March 7, 1853	March 4, 1857	style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	Franklin Pierce
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 24		John B. Floyd	Virginia	March 6, 1857	December 29, 1860	rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	James Buchanan
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 25		Joseph Holt	Kentucky	January 18, 1861	March 4, 1861
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 26		Simon Cameron	Pennsylvania	March 5, 1861	January 14, 1862	rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	Abraham Lincoln
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 27		Edwin M. Stanton	Pennsylvania	January 20, 1862	May 28, 1868
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |						Andrew Johnson
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 28		John McAllister Schofield	Illinois	June 1, 1868	March 13, 1869
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 29		John Aaron Rawlins	Illinois	March 13, 1869	September 6, 1869	rowspan=4 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	Ulysses S. Grant
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 30		William W. Belknap	Iowa	October 25, 1869	March 2, 1876
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 31		Alphonso Taft	Ohio	March 8, 1876	May 22, 1876
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 32		J. Donald Cameron	Pennsylvania	May 22, 1876	March 4, 1877
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 33		George W. McCrary	Iowa	March 12, 1877	December 10, 1879	rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	Rutherford B. Hayes
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 34		Alexander Ramsey	Minnesota	December 10, 1879	March 4, 1881
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 35		Robert Todd Lincoln	Illinois	March 5, 1881	March 4, 1885	style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	James A. Garfield
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |						Chester A. Arthur
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 36		William Crowninshield Endicott	Massachusetts	March 5, 1885	March 4, 1889	style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	Grover Cleveland
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 37		Redfield Proctor	Vermont	March 5, 1889	November 5, 1891	rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	Benjamin Harrison
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 38		Stephen Benton Elkins	West Virginia	December 17, 1891	March 4, 1893
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 39		Daniel S. Lamont	New York	March 5, 1893	March 4, 1897	style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	Grover Cleveland
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 40		Russell A. Alger	Michigan	March 5, 1897	August 1, 1899	rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	William McKinley
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 41		Elihu Root	New York	August 1, 1899	January 31, 1904
rowspan=3 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |						Theodore Roosevelt
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 42		William Howard Taft	Ohio	February 1, 1904	June 30, 1908
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 43		Luke Edward Wright	Tennessee	July 1, 1908	March 4, 1909
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 44		Jacob M. Dickinson	Tennessee	March 12, 1909	May 21, 1911	rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	William Howard Taft
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 45		Henry L. Stimson	New York	May 22, 1911	March 4, 1913
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 46		Lindley Miller Garrison	New Jersey	March 5, 1913	February 10, 1916	rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	Woodrow Wilson
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 47		Newton D. Baker	Ohio	March 9, 1916	March 4, 1921
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 48		John W. Weeks	Massachusetts	March 5, 1921	October 13, 1925	style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	Warren G. Harding
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |						Calvin Coolidge
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 49		Dwight F. Davis	Missouri	October 14, 1925	March 4, 1929
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 50		James William Good	Illinois	March 6, 1929	November 18, 1929	rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	Herbert Hoover
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 51		Patrick J. Hurley	Oklahoma	December 9, 1929	March 4, 1933
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 52		George Dern	Utah	March 4, 1933	August 27, 1936	rowspan=3 style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |	Franklin D. Roosevelt
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 53		Harry Hines Woodring	Kansas	September 25, 1936	June 20, 1940
rowspan=2 style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 54		Henry L. Stimson	New York	July 10, 1940	September 21, 1945
rowspan=3 style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" |						Harry S. Truman
style="background: Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 55		Robert P. Patterson	New York	September 27, 1945	July 18, 1947
style="background: Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color;" | 56		Kenneth C. Royall	North Carolina	July 19, 1947	September 18, 1947

Further reading

• Bell, William Gardner (1992). Secretaries of War and Secretaries of the Army: Portraits and Biographical Sketches. Washington, D.C.: United States Army Center of Military History.