United States Assistant Secretary of War

The United States Assistant Secretary of War was the second-ranking official within the American Department of War from 1861 to 1867, from 1882 to 1883, and from 1890 to 1940. According to the Military Laws of the United States, "The act of August 5, 1882 authorizing the appointment of an Assistant Secretary of War was repealed by the act of July 7, 1884 (23 Stat L., 331) the power conferred by the act of August 5, 1882 never having been exercised," indicating that the post was not filled between 1882 and 1883 (p. 45, footnote 2).

In 1940, the new position of United States Under Secretary of War replaced this position as the number-two office in the department. Assistant Secretary Robert P. Patterson became the first Under Secretary.^[1]

The office continued to exercise administrative duties until the department's end in 1947, when the United States Department of Defense was established.

List of Assistant Secretaries of War[]

This list only includes those persons who served as the Assistant Secretary, or First Assistant Secretary. At various times, there were also "second" or "third" assistant secretaries, ranking below the Assistant Secretary.

#	Picture	Name	Start of tenure	End of tenure	Notes
1		ScottThomas Alexander Scott	000000001861-03-10-0000March 10, 1861	000000001862-01-24-0000January 24, 1862	^[2]
2	—	WatsonPeter H. Watson	000000001862-01-24-0000January 24, 1862	000000001862-01-28-0000January 28, 1862	^[2]
3	—	TuckerJohn Tucker	000000001862-01-29-0000January 29, 1862	000000001862-06-10-0000June 10, 1862	^[2]
4		WolcottChristopher Wolcott	000000001862-06-11-0000June 11, 1862	000000001863-04-04-0000April 4, 1863	died in office^[2]
5		DanaCharles Anderson Dana	000000001864-01-28-0000January 28, 1864	000000001866-07-26-0000July 26, 1866	^[2]
6		EckertThomas Eckert	000000001866-07-27-0000July 27, 1866	000000001867-01-01-00001867	-- under Edwin M. Stanton during Andrew Johnson's presidency, office abolished 1868^[2]
7		GrantLewis A. Grant	c. 000000001890-01-01-00001890	000000001893-01-01-00001893	^[3]
8	—	DoeJoseph Doe	c. 000000001893-01-01-00001893	000000001897-01-01-00001897	^[4]
9		MeiklejohnGeorge D. Meiklejohn	000000001897-01-01-00001897	000000001901-01-01-00001901	^[5]
10	—	SangerWilliam Cary Sanger	000000001901-01-01-00001901	000000001903-01-01-00001903	^[6]^[7]
11		OliverRobert Shaw Oliver	000000001903-01-01-00001903	000000001913-01-01-00001913	^[8]^[9]
12		BreckinridgeHenry S. Breckinridge	000000001913-01-01-00001913	000000001916-01-01-00001916	-- under Lindley M. Garrison during Woodrow Wilson's presidency
13		IngrahamWilliam Ingraham	c. 000000001916-01-01-00001916	000000001917-01-01-00001917
14		CrowellBenedict Crowell	000000001917-01-01-00001917	000000001920-01-01-00001920	^[10]
15	—	William Reid Williams	000000001920-01-01-00001920	000000001921-01-01-00001921	^[11]
16		WainwrightMayhew Wainwright	c. 000000001921-01-01-00001921	000000001923-01-01-00001923
17		DavisDwight Filley Davis	000000001923-01-01-00001923}	000000001925-01-01-00001925	^[12]
18		MacNiderHanford MacNider	000000001925-01-01-00001925	c. 000000001928-01-01-00001928	^[13]^[14]
19	—	RobbinsCharles Burton Robbins
20		HurleyPatrick Jay Hurley	000000001929-03-01-0000March 1929	000000001929-12-01-0000December 1929
21		PayneFrederick Huff Payne	000000001930-01-01-00001930	c. 000000001933-01-01-00001933	^[15]
22		WoodringHarry Hines Woodring	000000001933-01-01-00001933	000000001936-01-01-00001936	^[16]
23		JohnsonLouis A. Johnson	000000001937-01-01-00001937	000000001940-01-01-00001940
24		PattersonRobert Porter Patterson	000000001940-01-01-00001940
25		McCloyJohn J. McCloy	000000001941-01-01-00001941	000000001945-01-01-00001945
26	—	PetersonHoward C. Petersen	000000001945-01-01-00001945	000000001947-01-01-00001947

Assistant Secretary of War for Air[]

The Air Corps Act of 1926 (44 Stat. 780), passed on July 2 of that year,^[17] created a Second Assistant Secretary position in the War Department variously called "Assistant Secretary of War for Aviation," "Assistant Secretary of War for Air," or "Assistant Secretary of War for Aeronautics." Those holding the office, with an eight-year vacancy between 1933 and 1941, were F. Trubee Davison (1926-1933),^[18] Robert A. Lovett (1941-1945),^[19] and Stuart Symington (1946-1947).^[20]

#	Picture	Name	Start of tenure	End of tenure
1	—	DavidsonF. Trubee Davison	000000001926-01-01-00001926	000000001933-01-01-00001933
2	—	LovettRobert A. Lovett	000000001941-01-01-00001941	000000001945-01-01-00001945
3	—	SymingtonStuart Symington	000000001946-01-01-00001946	000000001947-01-01-00001947

References[]

↑ Arlington National Cemetery: Robert Porter Patterson
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 ^2.5 Perley Poore, Benjamin (1878). The political register and congressional directory: a statistical record of the Federal Officials...1776-1878. Boston: Houghton, Osgood and Company. p. 232. http://books.google.com/books?id=Nn0FAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA232.
↑ SECRETARIES OF WAR AD INTERIM AND ACTING SECRETARIES OF THE ARMY
↑ General Doe, soldier and lawyer, was pioneer in baseball
↑ New York Times: G.D. MEIKLEJOHN IN NEBRASKA.; Assistant Secretary of War Speaks at Grand Island on the History of Imperialism
↑ New York Times
↑ Sanger Mansion
↑ Pennsylvania at Antietam: Report of the Antietam Battlefield Memorial commission (mentions Oliver as Assistant Secretary, and Acting Secretary, of War, as of 1904)
↑ Gallery of History (says that Oliver served as Assistant Secretary longer than any other individual)
↑ Time: "Crowell's Conspiracy," Oct. 15, 1923
↑ Time magazine
↑ Arlington National Cemetery: Dwight Filley Davis
↑ Time: "Change," Oct. 26, 1925
↑ Time: "The Hoover Week"
↑ Time: "Second to Hurley," 1930
↑ Guide to the Harry Hines Woodring Collection
↑ Time: "Job No. 2"
↑ Time: "New Amphibian"
↑ Time: "Methodists & Businessmen "
↑ Time: "Line-Up"

External links[]

Records of the Office of the Secretary of War

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[1] Arlington National Cemetery: Robert Porter Patterson

[pol-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 ^2.4 ^2.5 Perley Poore, Benjamin (1878). The political register and congressional directory: a statistical record of the Federal Officials...1776-1878. Boston: Houghton, Osgood and Company. p. 232. http://books.google.com/books?id=Nn0FAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA232.

[3] SECRETARIES OF WAR AD INTERIM AND ACTING SECRETARIES OF THE ARMY

[4] General Doe, soldier and lawyer, was pioneer in baseball

[5] New York Times: G.D. MEIKLEJOHN IN NEBRASKA.; Assistant Secretary of War Speaks at Grand Island on the History of Imperialism

[6] New York Times

[7] Sanger Mansion

[8] Pennsylvania at Antietam: Report of the Antietam Battlefield Memorial commission (mentions Oliver as Assistant Secretary, and Acting Secretary, of War, as of 1904)

[9] Gallery of History (says that Oliver served as Assistant Secretary longer than any other individual)

[10] Time: "Crowell's Conspiracy," Oct. 15, 1923

[11] Time magazine

[12] Arlington National Cemetery: Dwight Filley Davis

[13] Time: "Change," Oct. 26, 1925

[14] Time: "The Hoover Week"

[15] Time: "Second to Hurley," 1930

[16] Guide to the Harry Hines Woodring Collection

[17] Time: "Job No. 2"

[18] Time: "New Amphibian"

[19] Time: "Methodists & Businessmen "

[20] Time: "Line-Up"

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United States Assistant Secretary of War

Contents

List of Assistant Secretaries of War[]

Assistant Secretary of War for Air[]

See also[]

References[]

External links[]