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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. Naval and Marine personnel informally refer to the Secretary of the Navy as 'SecNav'.

Contents

Responsibilities

The Navy Secretariat

Trivia

Secretaries of the Navy under the Continental Congress

Secretaries of the Navy (cabinet)

Secretaries of the Navy (Department of Defense)

External links

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 Undersecretary of the Navy and the Assistant Secretaries of the Navy (ASN).

Trivia

Currently both United States Senators from Virginia are former Secretaries of the Navy: Jim Webb and John W. Warner.

Secretaries of the Navy under the Continental Congress

Name	Term of Office
Joseph Hewes	1776 - 1778

Secretaries of the Navy (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 W. 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 L. 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 K. Paulding	New York	July 1, 1838 - March 4, 1841	Martin Van Buren
12		George E. Badger	North Carolina	March 6, 1841 - September 11, 1841	William Henry Harrison, John Tyler
13		Abel P. Upshur	Virginia	October 11, 1841 - July 23, 1843	John Tyler
14		David Henshaw	Massachusetts	July 24, 1843 - February 18, 1844	John Tyler
15		Thomas W. Gilmer	Virginia	February 19, 1844 - February 28, 1844	John Tyler
16		John Y. 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 Y. Mason	Virginia	September 10, 1846 - March 4, 1849	James Knox Polk
19		William B. Preston	Virginia	March 8, 1849 - July 22, 1850	Zachary Taylor
20		William A. Graham	North Carolina	August 2, 1850 - July 25, 1852	Millard Fillmore
21		John P. Kennedy	Maryland	July 26, 1852 - March 4, 1853	Millard Fillmore
22		James C. 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 E. Borie	Pennsylvania	March 9, 1869 - June 25, 1869	Ulysses S. Grant
26		George M. Robeson	New Jersey	June 26, 1869 - March 4, 1877	Ulysses S. Grant
27		Richard W. 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 H. Hunt	Louisiana	March 7, 1881 - April 16, 1882	James Garfield, Chester A. Arthur
30		William E. Chandler	New Hampshire	April 16, 1882 - March 4, 1885	Chester A. Arthur
31		William C. Whitney	New York	March 7, 1885 - March 4, 1889	Grover Cleveland
32		Benjamin F. Tracy	New York	March 6, 1889 - March 4, 1893	Benjamin Harrison
33		Hilary A. Herbert	Alabama	March 7, 1893 - March 4, 1897	Grover Cleveland
34		John D. Long	Massachusetts	March 6, 1897 - April 30, 1902	William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt
35		William H. Moody	Massachusetts	May 1, 1902 - June 30, 1904	Theodore Roosevelt
36		Paul Morton		July 1, 1904 - June 30, 1905	Theodore Roosevelt
37		Charles J. Bonaparte	Maryland	July 1, 1905 - December 16, 1906	Theodore Roosevelt
38		Victor H. 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 D. Wilbur	California	March 19, 1924 - March 4, 1929	Calvin Coolidge
44		Charles F. Adams III	Massachusetts	March 5, 1929 - March 4, 1933	Herbert Hoover
45		Claude A. 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		Frank Knox	Illinois	July 11, 1940 - April 28, 1944	Franklin D. Roosevelt
48		James V. Forrestal	New York	May 19, 1944 - September 17, 1947	Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S Truman

Secretaries of the Navy (Department of Defense)

No.	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. (acting)	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 - Present	George W. Bush

External links

★ Secretary of the Navy home page

★ Chronology of senior Navy personnel