Missing imageSecretaryOfTheNavyFlag.png Flag of the United States Secretary of the Navy.
In the United States, the Secretary of the Navy is the civilian head of the Department of the Navy. He 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. Naval and Marine personnel informally refer to the Secretary of the Navy as "SECNAV."
Responsibilities
The Secretary of the Navy is responsible for, and has the authority under Title 10 of the United States Code, to conduct all the affairs of the Department of the Navy, including: recruiting, organizing, supplying, equipping, training, mobilizing, and demobilizing. The Secretary also oversees the construction, outfitting, and repair of naval ships, equipment and facilities. SECNAV is responsible for the formulation and implementation of policies and programs that are consistent with the national security policies and objectives established by the President and the Secretary of Defense. The Department of the Navy consists of two uniformed Services: the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps.
The Navy Secretariat
The Office of the Secretary of the Navy and its subordinate officials are known collectively as the Navy Secretariat. Other members of the Secretariat include the Under Secretary of the Navy and the Assistant Secretaries of the Navy (ASN).
Secretaries of the Navy (Cabinet)
| Name
| Term of Office
| Served under
|
| Benjamin Stoddert
| June 18, 1798 - March 31, 1801
| John Adams
|
| Robert Smith
| July 27, 1801 - March 4, 1809
| Thomas Jefferson
|
| Paul Hamilton
| May 15, 1809 - December 31, 1812
| James Madison
|
| William Jones
| January 19, 1813 - December 1, 1814
| James Madison
|
| Benjamin Williams Crowninshield
| January 16, 1815 - September 30, 1818
| James Madison, James Monroe
|
| Smith Thompson
| January 1, 1819 - August 31, 1823
| James Monroe
|
| Samuel L. Southard
| September 16, 1823 - March 4, 1829
| James Monroe, John Quincy Adams
|
| John Branch
| March 9, 1829 - May 12, 1831
| Andrew Jackson
|
| Levi Woodbury
| May 23, 1823 - June 30, 1834
| Andrew Jackson
|
| Mahlon Dickerson
| July 1, 1834 - June 30, 1838
| Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren
|
| James K. Paulding
| July 1, 1838 - March 4, 1841
| Martin Van Buren
|
| George E. Badger
| March 6, 1841 - September 11, 1841
| William Henry Harrison, John Tyler
|
| Abel P. Upshur
| October 11, 1841 - July 23, 1843
| John Tyler
|
| David Henshaw
| July 24, 1843 - February 18, 1844
| John Tyler
|
| Thomas W. Gilmer
| February 19, 1844 - February 28, 1844
| John Tyler
|
| John Y. Mason (first time)
| March 26, 1844 - March 4, 1845
| John Tyler
|
| George Bancroft
| March 11, 1845 - September 9, 1846
| James Knox Polk
|
| John Y. Mason (second time)
| September 10, 1846 - March 4, 1849
| James Knox Polk
|
| William B. Preston
| March 8, 1849 - July 22, 1850
| Zachary Taylor
|
| William A. Graham
| August 2, 1850 - July 25, 1852
| Millard Fillmore
|
| John P. Kennedy
| July 26, 1852 - March 4, 1853
| Millard Fillmore
|
| James C. Dobbin
| March 8, 1853 - March 4, 1857
| Franklin Pierce
|
| Isaac Toucey
| March 7, 1857 - March 4, 1861
| James Buchanan
|
| Gideon Welles
| March 7, 1861 - March 4, 1869
| Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson
|
| Adolph E. Borie
| March 9, 1869 - June 25, 1869
| Ulysses S. Grant
|
| George M. Robeson
| June 26, 1869 - March 4, 1877
| Ulysses S. Grant
|
| Richard W. Thompson
| March 13, 1877 - December 20, 1880
| Rutherford B. Hayes
|
| Nathan Goff, Jr.
| January 7, 1881 - March 4, 1881
| Rutherford B. Hayes
|
| William H. Hunt
| March 7, 1881 - April 16, 1882
| James Garfield, Chester A. Arthur
|
| William E. Chandler
| April 16, 1882 - March 4, 1885
| Chester A. Arthur
|
| William C. Whitney
| March 7, 1885 - March 4, 1889
| Grover Cleveland
|
| Benjamin F. Tracy
| March 6, 1889 - March 4, 1893
| Benjamin Harrison
|
| Hilary A. Herbert
| March 7, 1893 - March 4, 1897
| Grover Cleveland
|
| John D. Long
| March 6, 1897 - April 30, 1902
| William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt
|
| William H. Moody
| May 1, 1902 - June 30, 1904
| Theodore Roosevelt
|
| Paul Morton
| July 1, 1904 - June 30, 1905
| Theodore Roosevelt
|
| Charles J. Bonaparte
| July 1, 1905 - December 16, 1906
| Theodore Roosevelt
|
| Victor H. Metcalf
| December 17, 1906 - November 30, 1908
| Theodore Roosevelt
|
| Truman Handy Newberry
| December 1, 1908 - March 4, 1909
| Theodore Roosevelt
|
| George von Lengerke Meyer
| March 6, 1909 - March 4, 1913
| William Howard Taft
|
| Josephus Daniels
| March 5, 1913 - March 4, 1921
| Woodrow Wilson
|
| Edwin C. Denby
| March 6, 1921 - March 10, 1924
| Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge
|
| Curtis D. Wilbur
| March 19, 1924 - March 4, 1929
| Calvin Coolidge
|
| Charles Francis Adams
| March 5, 1929 - March 4, 1933
| Herbert Hoover
|
| Claude A. Swanson
| March 4, 1933 - July 7, 1939
| Franklin D. Roosevelt
|
| Charles Edison
| January 2, 1940 - June 24, 1940
| Franklin D. Roosevelt
|
| Frank Knox
| July 11, 1940 - April 28, 1944
| Franklin D. Roosevelt
|
| James V. Forrestal
| May 19, 1944 - September 17, 1947
| Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman
|
Secretaries of the Navy (Department of Defense)
| Name
| Term of Office
|
| John L. Sullivan
| September 18, 1947 - May 24, 1949
|
| Francis P. Matthews
| May 25, 1949 - July 31, 1951
|
| Dan A. Kimball
| July 31, 1951 - January 20, 1953
|
| Robert B. Anderson
| February 4, 1953 - March 3, 1954
|
| Charles S. Thomas
| May 3, 1954 - April 1, 1957
|
| Thomas S. Gates
| April 1, 1957 - June 8, 1959
|
| William B.Franke
| June 8, 1959 - January 19, 1961
|
| John B. Connally, Jr
| January 25, 1961 - December 20, 1961
|
| Fred Korth
| January 4, 1962 - November 1, 1963
|
| Paul B. Fay (acting)
| November 2, 1963 - November 28, 1963
|
| Paul H. Nitze
| November 29, 1963 - June 30, 1967
|
| Charles F. Baird (acting)
| July 1, 1967 - August 31, 1967
|
| Paul R. Ignatius
| September 1, 1967 - January 24, 1969
|
| John H. Chafee
| January 31, 1969 - May 4, 1972
|
| John W. Warner
| May 4, 1972 - April 8, 1974
|
| J. William Middendorf
| April 8, 1974 - January 20, 1977
|
| W. Graham Claytor, Jr.
| February 14, 1977 - August 24, 1979
|
| Edward Hidalgo
| October 24, 1979 - January 20, 1981
|
| John Lehman
| February 5, 1981 - April 10, 1987
|
| James H. Webb
| May 1, 1987 - February 23, 1988 |
| William L. Ball
| March 28, 1988 - May 15, 1989
|
| Henry L. Garrett III
| May 15, 1989 - June 26, 1992
|
| Daniel Howard (acting)
| June 26, 1992 - July 7, 1992
|
| Sean O'Keefe
| October 2, 1992 - January 20, 1993
|
| Admiral Frank B. Kelso, II (acting)
| January 2, 1993 - July 21, 1993
|
| John H. Dalton
| July 22, 1993 - November 16, 1998
|
| Richard Danzig
| November 16, 1998 - January 20, 2001
|
| Robert B. Pirie, Jr. (acting)
| January 20, 2001 - May 24, 2001
|
| Gordon R. England
| May 24, 2001 - January 30, 2003
|
| Susan Livingstone (acting)
| January 30, 2003 - February 7, 2003
|
| Hansford T. Johnson (acting)
| February 7, 2003 - September 30, 2003
|
| Gordon R. England
| October 1, 2003 - Present
|
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