United States Secretary of War facts for kids

Quick facts for kids United States Secretary of War
Flag of the secretary
Official seal
Longest serving Henry Dearborn March 5, 1801 – March 4, 1809
United States Department of War
Style	Mr. Secretary
Member of	Cabinet
Reports to	President of the United States
Seat	Washington, D.C.
Appointer	The president with Senate advice and consent
Term length	No fixed term
Precursor	Secretary at War
Formation	September 12, 1789
First holder	Henry Knox
Final holder	Kenneth C. Royall
Abolished	September 18, 1947
Succession	6th in the line of succession

The Secretary of War was an important job in the U.S. President's team, called the Cabinet. This role started when George Washington became the first President.

Before that, from 1781 to 1789, there was a similar job called "Secretary at War." This person worked for the Congress of the Confederation, which was the government before the U.S. Constitution was written. Benjamin Lincoln and Henry Knox held this early position. When George Washington became President, he asked Henry Knox to continue as Secretary of War.

The Secretary of War was in charge of the War Department. At first, this person handled all military matters, including the Navy. But in 1798, a new job was created: the Secretary of the Navy. After that, the Secretary of War only focused on the United States Army.

From 1886 onwards, the Secretary of War was part of the line of succession to the presidency. This means if the President couldn't do their job, the Vice President would take over, then the Speaker of the House, and so on. The Secretary of War was sixth in this line.

In 1947, a law called the National Security Act of 1947 changed things. The job of Secretary of War was replaced by two new roles: the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of the Air Force. These new secretaries, along with the Secretary of the Navy, now work under the Secretary of Defense. The Secretary of Defense is the main person in the Cabinet who handles all military matters. The Secretary of the Army's job is often seen as the direct continuation of the old Secretary of War role.

Early Leaders: Secretary at War (1781–1789)

The first "Secretary at War" job was similar to a role in Great Britain. This position was created to replace the military commander and a group called the Board of War. The Secretary at War didn't wear a special uniform. Their team included important military leaders like the inspector general. However, the U.S. Army at that time was very small, with only about 700 soldiers under Secretary Henry Knox.

Image	No.	Name	Home State	Start	End	Appointer
1		Lincoln, BenjaminBenjamin Lincoln	Massachusetts	March 1, 1781	November 2, 1783	Congress of the Confederation
2		Knox, HenryHenry Knox	Massachusetts	March 8, 1785	September 12, 1789

Secretaries of War (1789–1947)

This section lists the people who served as the Secretary of War from when the U.S. Constitution was adopted until the job was changed in 1947.

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.

Political Parties

      Federalist (4)       Democratic-Republican (8)       Democratic (14)       Whig (5)       Republican (25)

No.	Image	Name	Start	End	Duration	Party		Home State	President(s)
1		Knox, HenryHenry Knox	September 12, 1789	December 31, 1794	5 years, 110 days		Federalist	Massachusetts		Washington, GeorgeGeorge Washington (1789–1797)
2		Pickering, TimothyTimothy Pickering	January 2, 1795	December 10, 1795	342 days		Federalist	Pennsylvania
3		McHenry, JamesJames McHenry	January 27, 1796	June 1, 1800	−4 years, 125 days		Federalist	Maryland
										Adams, JohnJohn Adams (1797–1801)
4		Dexter, SamuelSamuel Dexter	June 1, 1800	January 31, 1801	244 days		Federalist	Massachusetts
5		Dearborn, HenryHenry Dearborn	March 5, 1801	March 4, 1809	7 years, 364 days		Democratic-Republican	Massachusetts		Jefferson, ThomasThomas Jefferson (1801–1809)
6		Eustis, WilliamWilliam Eustis	March 7, 1809	January 13, 1813	3 years, 312 days		Democratic-Republican	Massachusetts		Madison, JamesJames Madison (1809–1817)
7		Armstrong Jr., JohnJohn Armstrong Jr.	January 13, 1813	September 27, 1814	1 year, 257 days		Democratic-Republican	New York
8		Monroe, JamesJames Monroe	September 27, 1814	March 2, 1815	156 days		Democratic-Republican	Virginia
9		Crawford, William H.William H. Crawford	August 1, 1815	October 22, 1816	1 year, 82 days		Democratic-Republican	Georgia
10		Calhoun, John C.John C. Calhoun	October 8, 1817	March 4, 1825	7 years, 147 days		Democratic-Republican	South Carolina		Monroe, JamesJames Monroe (1817–1825)
11		Barbour, JamesJames Barbour	March 7, 1825	May 23, 1828	3 years, 77 days		Democratic-Republican	Virginia		Adams, John QuincyJohn Quincy Adams (1825–1829)
12		Porter, Peter BuellPeter Buell Porter	May 23, 1828	March 9, 1829	290 days		Democratic-Republican	New York
13		Eaton, JohnJohn Eaton	March 9, 1829	June 18, 1831	2 years, 101 days		Democratic	Tennessee		Jackson, AndrewAndrew Jackson (1829–1837)
14		Cass, LewisLewis Cass	August 1, 1831	October 5, 1836	5 years, 65 days		Democratic	Ohio
15		Poinsett, Joel RobertsJoel Roberts Poinsett	March 7, 1837	March 4, 1841	3 years, 362 days		Democratic	South Carolina		Van Buren, MartinMartin Van Buren (1837–1841)
16		Bell, JohnJohn Bell	March 5, 1841	September 13, 1841	193 days		Whig	South Carolina		Harrison, William HenryWilliam Henry Harrison (1841)
										Tyler, JohnJohn Tyler (1841–1845)
17		Spencer, John CanfieldJohn Canfield Spencer	October 12, 1841	March 4, 1843	1 year, 143 days		Whig	New York
18		Porter, James MadisonJames Madison Porter	March 8, 1843	February 14, 1844	347 days		Whig	Pennsylvania
19		Wilkins, WilliamWilliam Wilkins	February 15, 1844	March 4, 1845	1 year, 17 days		Democratic	Pennsylvania
20		Marcy, William LearnedWilliam Learned Marcy	March 6, 1845	March 4, 1849	3 years, 363 days		Democratic	New York		Polk, James K.James K. Polk (1845–1849)
21		Crawford, George W.George W. Crawford	March 8, 1849	July 22, 1850	1 year, 136 days		Whig	Georgia		Taylor, ZacharyZachary Taylor (1849–1850)
22		Conrad, Charles MagillCharles Magill Conrad	August 15, 1850	March 4, 1853	2 years, 201 days		Whig	Louisiana		Fillmore, MillardMillard Fillmore (1850–1853)
23		Davis, JeffersonJefferson Davis	March 7, 1853	March 4, 1857	3 years, 362 days		Democratic	Mississippi		Pierce, FranklinFranklin Pierce (1853–1857)
24		Floyd, John B.John B. Floyd	March 6, 1857	December 29, 1860	3 years, 298 days		Democratic	Virginia		Buchanan, JamesJames Buchanan (1857–1861)
25		Holt, JosephJoseph Holt	January 18, 1861	March 4, 1861	45 days		Republican	Kentucky
26		Cameron, SimonSimon Cameron	March 5, 1861	January 14, 1862	315 days		Republican	Pennsylvania		Lincoln, AbrahamAbraham Lincoln (1861–1865)
27		Stanton, Edwin M.Edwin M. Stanton	January 20, 1862 Suspended: August 12, 1867 – January 14, 1868	May 28, 1868	6 years, 129 days		Republican	Pennsylvania
										Johnson, AndrewAndrew Johnson (1865–1869)
–		Grant, Ulysses S.Ulysses S. Grant Acting	August 12, 1867	January 14, 1868	155 days		Republican	Ohio
28		Schofield, John McAllisterJohn McAllister Schofield	June 1, 1868	March 13, 1869	285 days		Republican	Illinois
29		Rawlins, John AaronJohn Aaron Rawlins	March 13, 1869	September 6, 1869	177 days		Republican	Illinois		Grant, Ulysses S.Ulysses S. Grant (1869–1877)
–		Sherman, WilliamWilliam Sherman Acting	September 6, 1869	October 25, 1869	49 days		Republican	Ohio
30		Belknap, William W.William W. Belknap	October 25, 1869	March 2, 1876	6 years, 129 days		Republican	Iowa
31		Taft, AlphonsoAlphonso Taft	March 8, 1876	May 22, 1876	81 days		Republican	Ohio
32		Cameron, J. DonaldJ. Donald Cameron	May 22, 1876	March 4, 1877	286 days		Republican	Pennsylvania
33		McCrary, George W.George W. McCrary	March 12, 1877	December 10, 1879	2 years, 273 days		Republican	Iowa		Hayes, Rutherford B.Rutherford B. Hayes (1877–1881)
34		Ramsey, AlexanderAlexander Ramsey	December 10, 1879	March 4, 1881	1 year, 84 days		Republican	Minnesota
35		Lincoln, Robert ToddRobert Todd Lincoln	March 5, 1881	March 4, 1885	3 years, 364 days		Republican	Illinois		Garfield, James A.James A. Garfield (1881)
										Arthur, Chester A.Chester A. Arthur (1881–1885)
36		Endicott, William CrowninshieldWilliam Crowninshield Endicott	March 5, 1885	March 4, 1889	3 years, 364 days		Democratic	Massachusetts		Cleveland, GroverGrover Cleveland (1885–1889)
37		Proctor, RedfieldRedfield Proctor	March 5, 1889	November 5, 1891	2 years, 245 days		Republican	Vermont		Harrison, BenjaminBenjamin Harrison (1889–1893)
38		Elkins, Stephen BentonStephen Benton Elkins	December 17, 1891	March 4, 1893	1 year, 77 days		Republican	West Virginia
39		Lamont, Daniel S.Daniel S. Lamont	March 5, 1893	March 4, 1897	3 years, 364 days		Democratic	New York		Cleveland, GroverGrover Cleveland (1885–1889)
40		Alger, Russell A.Russell A. Alger	March 5, 1897	August 1, 1899	2 years, 149 days		Republican	Michigan		McKinley, WilliamWilliam McKinley (1897–1901)
41		Root, ElihuElihu Root	August 1, 1899	January 31, 1904	4 years, 183 days		Republican	New York
										Roosevelt, TheodoreTheodore Roosevelt (1901–1909)
42		Taft, William HowardWilliam Howard Taft	February 1, 1904	June 30, 1908	4 years, 150 days		Republican	Ohio
43		Wright, Luke EdwardLuke Edward Wright	July 1, 1908	March 4, 1909	246 days		Republican	Tennessee
44		Dickinson, Jacob M.Jacob M. Dickinson	March 12, 1909	May 21, 1911	2 years, 70 days		Democratic	Tennessee		Taft, William HowardWilliam Howard Taft (1909–1913)
45		Stimson, Henry L.Henry L. Stimson	May 22, 1911	March 4, 1913	1 year, 286 days		Republican	New York
46		Garrison, Lindley MillerLindley Miller Garrison	March 5, 1913	February 10, 1916	2 years, 342 days		Democratic	New Jersey		Wilson, WoodrowWoodrow Wilson (1913–1921)
47		Baker, Newton D.Newton D. Baker	March 9, 1916	March 4, 1921	4 years, 360 days		Democratic	Ohio
48		Weeks, John W.John W. Weeks	March 5, 1921	October 13, 1925	4 years, 223 days		Republican	Massachusetts		Harding, Warren G.Warren G. Harding (1921–1923)
										Coolidge, CalvinCalvin Coolidge (1923–1929)
49		Davis, Dwight F.Dwight F. Davis	October 14, 1925	March 4, 1929	3 years, 141 days		Republican	Missouri
50		Good, James WilliamJames William Good	March 6, 1929	November 18, 1929	257 days		Republican	Iowa		Hoover, HerbertHerbert Hoover (1929–1933)
51		Hurley, Patrick J.Patrick J. Hurley	December 9, 1929	March 4, 1933	3 years, 85 days		Republican	Oklahoma
52		Dern, GeorgeGeorge Dern	March 4, 1933	August 27, 1936	3 years, 176 days		Democratic	Utah		Roosevelt, Franklin D.Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1945)
53		Woodring, Harry HinesHarry Hines Woodring	September 25, 1936	June 20, 1940	3 years, 298 days		Democratic	Kansas
54		Stimson, Henry L.Henry L. Stimson	July 10, 1940	September 21, 1945	5 years, 73 days		Republican	New York
										Truman, Harry S.Harry S. Truman (1945–1953)
55		Patterson, Robert P.Robert P. Patterson	September 27, 1945	July 18, 1947	1 year, 294 days		Republican	New York
56		Royall, KennethKenneth Royall	July 19, 1947	September 18, 1947	61 days		Democratic	North Carolina

See also

In Spanish: Secretario de Guerra de los Estados Unidos para niños

• Confederate States Secretary of War
• United States Secretary of Defense