United States Secretary of the Navy facts for kids

The United States Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is the civilian head of the Department of the Navy. The position was a member of the President's Cabinet until 1947, when the Navy, Army, and newly created Air Force were placed in the Department of Defense and the Secretary of the Navy was placed under the Secretary of Defense.

Secretaries of the Navy

Continental Congress

Picture	Name	Term of Office
	Joseph Hewes	1776 - 1778

Cabinet

No.	Picture	Name	State	Term of Office	Served under
1		Benjamin Stoddert	Maryland	June 18, 1798 - March 31, 1801	John Adams
2		Robert Smith	Maryland	July 27, 1801 - March 4, 1809	Thomas Jefferson
3		Paul Hamilton	South Carolina	May 15, 1809 - December 31, 1812	James Madison
4		William Jones	Pennsylvania	January 19, 1813 - December 1, 1814	James Madison
5		Benjamin Williams Crowninshield	Massachusetts	January 16, 1815 - September 30, 1818	James Madison, James Monroe
6		Smith Thompson	New York	January 1, 1819 - August 31, 1823	James Monroe
7		Samuel Lewis Southard	New Jersey	September 16, 1823 - March 4, 1829	James Monroe, John Quincy Adams
8		John Branch	North Carolina	March 9, 1829 - May 12, 1831	Andrew Jackson
9		Levi Woodbury	New Hampshire	May 23, 1831 - June 30, 1834	Andrew Jackson
10		Mahlon Dickerson	New Jersey	July 1, 1834 - June 30, 1838	Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren
11		James Kirke Paulding	New York	July 1, 1838 - March 4, 1841	Martin Van Buren
12		George Edmund Badger	North Carolina	March 6, 1841 - September 11, 1841	William Henry Harrison, John Tyler
13		Abel Parker Upshur	Virginia	October 11, 1841 - July 23, 1843	John Tyler
14		David Henshaw	Massachusetts	July 24, 1843 - February 18, 1844	John Tyler
15		Thomas Walker Gilmer	Virginia	February 19, 1844 - February 28, 1844	John Tyler
16		John Young Mason	Virginia	March 26, 1844 - March 4, 1845	John Tyler
17		George Bancroft	Massachusetts	March 11, 1845 - September 9, 1846	James Knox Polk
18		John Young Mason	Virginia	September 10, 1846 - March 4, 1849	James Knox Polk
19		William Ballard Preston	Virginia	March 8, 1849 - July 22, 1850	Zachary Taylor
20		William Alexander Graham	North Carolina	August 2, 1850 - July 25, 1852	Millard Fillmore
21		John Pendleton Kennedy	Maryland	July 26, 1852 - March 4, 1853	Millard Fillmore
22		James Cochran Dobbin	North Carolina	March 8, 1853 - March 4, 1857	Franklin Pierce
23		Isaac Toucey	Connecticut	March 7, 1857 - March 4, 1861	James Buchanan
24		Gideon Welles	Connecticut	March 7, 1861 - March 4, 1869	Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson
25		Adolph Edward Borie	Pennsylvania	March 9, 1869 - June 25, 1869	Ulysses S. Grant
26		George Maxwell Robeson	New Jersey	June 26, 1869 - March 4, 1877	Ulysses S. Grant
27		Richard Wigginton Thompson	Indiana	March 13, 1877 - December 20, 1880	Rutherford B. Hayes
28		Nathan Goff, Jr.	West Virginia	January 7, 1881 - March 4, 1881	Rutherford B. Hayes
29		William Henry Hunt	Louisiana	March 7, 1881 - April 16, 1882	James Garfield, Chester A. Arthur
30		William Eaton Chandler	New Hampshire	April 16, 1882 - March 4, 1885	Chester A. Arthur
31		William Collins Whitney	New York	March 7, 1885 - March 4, 1889	Grover Cleveland
32		Benjamin Franklin Tracy	New York	March 6, 1889 - March 4, 1893	Benjamin Harrison
33		Hilary Abner Herbert	Alabama	March 7, 1893 - March 4, 1897	Grover Cleveland
34		John Davis Long	Massachusetts	March 6, 1897 - April 30, 1902	William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt
35		William Henry Moody	Massachusetts	May 1, 1902 - June 30, 1904	Theodore Roosevelt
36		Paul Morton		July 1, 1904 - June 30, 1905	Theodore Roosevelt
37		Charles Joseph Bonaparte	Maryland	July 1, 1905 - December 16, 1906	Theodore Roosevelt
38		Victor Howard Metcalf	California	December 17, 1906 - November 30, 1908	Theodore Roosevelt
39		Truman Handy Newberry	Michigan	December 1, 1908 - March 4, 1909	Theodore Roosevelt
40		George von Lengerke Meyer	Massachusetts	March 6, 1909 - March 4, 1913	William Howard Taft
41		Josephus Daniels	North Carolina	March 5, 1913 - March 4, 1921	Woodrow Wilson
42		Edwin Denby	Michigan	March 6, 1921 - March 10, 1924	Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge
43		Curtis Dwight Wilbur	California	March 19, 1924 - March 4, 1929	Calvin Coolidge
44		Charles Francis Adams III	Massachusetts	March 5, 1929 - March 4, 1933	Herbert Hoover
45		Claude Augustus Swanson	Virginia	March 4, 1933 - July 7, 1939	Franklin D. Roosevelt
46		Charles Edison	New Jersey	January 2, 1940 - June 24, 1940	Franklin D. Roosevelt
47		William Franklin Knox	Illinois	July 11, 1940 - April 28, 1944	Franklin D. Roosevelt
48		James Vincent Forrestal	New York	May 19, 1944 - September 17, 1947	Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S Truman

Secretaries of the Navy (Department of Defense)

No.	Picture	Name	Term of Office	Served under
1		John L. Sullivan	September 18, 1947 - May 24, 1949	Harry S. Truman
2		Francis P. Matthews	May 25, 1949 - July 31, 1951	Harry S. Truman
3		Dan A. Kimball	July 31, 1951 - January 20, 1953	Harry S. Truman
4		Robert B. Anderson	February 4, 1953 - March 3, 1954	Dwight D. Eisenhower
5		Charles S. Thomas	May 3, 1954 - April 1, 1957	Dwight D. Eisenhower
6		Thomas S. Gates	April 1, 1957 - June 8, 1959	Dwight D. Eisenhower
7		William B. Franke	June 8, 1959 - January 19, 1961	Dwight D. Eisenhower
8		John B. Connally, Jr	January 25, 1961 - December 20, 1961	John F. Kennedy
9		Fred Korth	January 4, 1962 - November 1, 1963	John F. Kennedy
		Paul B. Fay (acting)	November 2, 1963 - November 28, 1963	John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson
10		Paul H. Nitze	November 29, 1963 - June 30, 1967	Lyndon B. Johnson
		Charles F. Baird (acting)	July 1, 1967 - August 31, 1967	Lyndon B. Johnson
11		Paul R. Ignatius	September 1, 1967 - January 24, 1969	Lyndon B. Johnson
12		John H. Chafee	January 31, 1969 - May 4, 1972	Richard M. Nixon
13		John W. Warner	May 4, 1972 - April 8, 1974	Richard M. Nixon
14		J. William Middendorf, II	April 8, 1974 - January 20, 1977	Richard M. Nixon, Gerald Ford
15		W. Graham Claytor, Jr.	February 14, 1977 - August 24, 1979	Jimmy Carter
16		Edward Hidalgo	October 24, 1979 - January 20, 1981	Jimmy Carter
17		John Lehman	February 5, 1981 - April 10, 1987	Ronald Reagan
18		Jim Webb	May 1, 1987 - February 23, 1988	Ronald Reagan
19		William L. Ball	March 28, 1988 - May 15, 1989	Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush
20		Henry L. Garrett III	May 15, 1989 - June 26, 1992	George H.W. Bush
		Daniel Howard (acting)	June 26, 1992 - July 7, 1992	George H.W. Bush
21		Sean O'Keefe	October 2, 1992 - January 20, 1993	George H.W. Bush
		Admiral Frank B. Kelso II (acting)	January 2, 1993 - July 21, 1993	Bill Clinton
22		John H. Dalton	July 22, 1993 - November 16, 1998	Bill Clinton
23		Richard Danzig	November 16, 1998 - January 20, 2001	Bill Clinton
		Robert B. Pirie Jr.	January 20, 2001 - May 24, 2001	George W. Bush
24		Gordon R. England	May 24, 2001 - January 30, 2003	George W. Bush
		Susan Livingstone (acting)	January 30, 2003 - February 7, 2003	George W. Bush
		Hansford T. Johnson (acting)	February 7, 2003 - September 30, 2003	George W. Bush
25		Gordon R. England	October 1, 2003 - January 3, 2006	George W. Bush
26		Donald C. Winter	January 3, 2006 - March 13, 2009	George W. Bush
		B. J. Penn (acting)	March 13, 2009 - May 19, 2009	Barack Obama
27		Ray Mabus	May 19, 2009 - January 20, 2017	Barack Obama
		Sean Stackley (acting)	January 20, 2017-August 3, 2017	Donald Trump
28		Richard V. Spencer	August 3, 2017-November 24, 2019	Donald Trump
		Thomas Modly (acting)	November 24, 2019-May 29, 2020	Donald Trump
29		Kenneth Braithwaite	Since May 29, 2020	Donald Trump