United States Secretary of War Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
The Secretary of War was a member of the 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.
| Name | Years served | President(s) served under | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Henry Knox | 1789-1794 | George Washington | |
| Timothy Pickering | 1795 | Washington | |
| James McHenry | 1796-1800 | Washington, John Adams | |
| Samuel Dexter | 1800-1801 | John Adams | |
| Henry Dearborn | 1801-1809 | Thomas Jefferson | |
| William Eustis | 1809-1813 | James Madison | |
| John Armstrong, Jr | 1813-1814 | Madison | |
| James Monroe | 1814-1815 | Madison | |
| William Harris Crawford | 1815-1816 | Madison | |
| John C. Calhoun | 1817-1825 | James Monroe | |
| James Barbour | 1825-1828 | John Quincy Adams | |
| Peter Buell Porter | 1828-1829 | John Quincy Adams | |
| John Henry Eaton | 1829-1831 | Andrew Jackson | |
| Lewis Cass | 1831-1836 | Jackson | |
| Joel Roberts Poinsett | 1837-1841 | Martin Van Buren | |
| John Bell | 1841 | William Henry Harrison, John Tyler | |
| John C. Spencer | 1841-1843 | Tyler | |
| James Madison Porter | 1843-1844 | Tyler | |
| William Wilkins | 1844-1845 | Tyler | |
| William L. Marcy | 1845-1849 | James Polk | |
| George Walker Crawford | 1849-1850 | Zachary Taylor | |
| Charles Magill Conrad | 1850-1853 | Millard Fillmore | |
| Jefferson Davis | 1853-1857 | Franklin Pierce | |
| John Buchanan Floyd | 1857-1860 | James Buchanan | |
| Joseph Holt | 1861 | Buchanan | |
| Simon Cameron | 1861-1862 | Abraham Lincoln | |
| Edwin M. Stanton | 1862-1868 | Lincoln, Andrew Johnson | |
| John M. Schofield | 1868-1869 | Johnson | |
| John Aaron Rawlins | 1869 | Ulysses Simpson Grant | |
| William Tecumseh Sherman | 1869 | Grant | |
| William W. Belknap | 1869-1876 | Grant | |
| Alphonso Taft | 1876 | Grant | |
| J. Donald Cameron | 1876-1877 | Grant | |
| George W. McCrary | 1877-1879 | Rutherford B. Hayes | |
| Alexander Ramsey | 1879-1881 | Hayes | |
| Robert Todd Lincoln | 1881-1885 | Chester Alan Arthur | |
| William C. Endicott | 1885-1889 | Grover Cleveland | |
| Redfield Proctor | 1889-1891 | Benjamin Harrison | |
| Stephen B. Elkins | 1891-1893 | Harrison | |
| Daniel Scott Lamont | 1893-1897 | Cleveland (2nd term) | |
| Russell A. Alger | 1897-1899 | William McKinley | |
| Elihu Root | 1899-1904 | McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt | |
| William H. Taft I | 1904-1908 | Theodore Roosevelt | |
| Luke Edward Wright | 1908-1909 | Theodore Roosevelt | |
| Jacob M. Dickinson | 1909-1911 | William Howard Taft | |
| Henry L. Stimson | 1911-1913 | Taft | |
| Lindley M. Garrison | 1913-1916 | Woodrow Wilson | |
| Newton D. Baker | 1916-1921 | Wilson | |
| John W. Weeks | 1921-1925 | Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge | |
| Dwight F. Davis | 1925-1929 | Coolidge | |
| James W. Good | 1929 | Herbert Hoover | |
| Patrick J. Hurley | 1929-1933 | Hoover | |
| George H. Dern | 1933-1936 | Franklin Delano Roosevelt | |
| Harry H. Woodring | 1936-1940 | FDR | |
| Henry L. Stimson | 1940-1945 | FDR, Harry S. Truman | |
| Robert P. Patterson | 1945-1947 | Truman | |
| Kenneth C. Royall | 1947 | Truman |