- Benjamin Stoddert (1798 - 1801)
- Expand navigation for Robert Smith (1801 - 1809) Robert Smith (1801 - 1809)
- Paul Hamilton (1809 - 1812)
- William Jones (1813 - 1814)
- Benjamin W. Crowninshield (1815 - 1818)
- Smith Thompson (1819 - 1823)
- Samuel Southard (1823 - 1829)
- John Branch, Jr. (1829 - 1831)
- Levi Woodbury (1831 - 1834)
- Mahlon Dickerson (1834 - 1838)
- James K. Paulding (1838 - 1841)
- George Edmund Badger (1841)
- Expand navigation for Abel P. Upshur (1841 - 1843) Abel P. Upshur (1841 - 1843)
- David Henshaw (1843 - 1844)
- Expand navigation for Thomas W. Gilmer (1844) Thomas W. Gilmer (1844)
- John Y. Mason (1844-1845) (1846-1849)
- George Bancroft (1845 - 1846)
- William B. Preston (1849 - 1850)
- William A. Graham (1850 - 1852)
- John P. Kennedy (1852 - 1853)
- James C. Dobbin (1853 - 1857)
- Isaac Toucey (1857 - 1861)
- Gideon Welles (1861 - 1869)
- Adolph Edward Borie (1869)
- Expand navigation for George M. Robeson (1869 - 1877) George M. Robeson (1869 - 1877)
- Richard W. Thompson (1877 - 1880)
- Nathan Goff, Jr. (1881)
- William Henry Hunt (1881 - 1882)
- William Eaton Chandler (1882 - 1885)
- William C. Whitney (1885 - 1889)
- Benjamin F. Tracy (1889 - 1893)
- Hilary A. Herbert (1893 - 1897)
- John D. Long (1897 - 1902)
- William H. Moody (1902 - 1904)
- Expand navigation for Paul Morton (1904 - 1905) Paul Morton (1904 - 1905)
- Charles J. Bonaparte (1905 - 1906)
- Expand navigation for Victor H. Metcalf (1906 - 1908) Victor H. Metcalf (1906 - 1908)
- Truman H. Newberry (1908 - 1909)
- George von L. Meyer (1909 - 1913)
- Expand navigation for Josephus Daniels (1913 - 1921) Josephus Daniels (1913 - 1921)
- Edwin Denby (1921 - 1924)
- Charles F. Adams, III (1929 - 1933)
- Claude A. Swanson (1933 - 1939)
- Expand navigation for Charles Edison (1940) Charles Edison (1940)
- William Franklin Knox (1940 - 1944)
- Expand navigation for James Forrestal (1944 - 1947) James Forrestal (1944 - 1947)
- John Lawrence Sullivan (1947 - 1949)
- Francis P. Matthews (1949 - 1951)
- Dan A. Kimball (1951 - 1953)
- Expand navigation for Robert B. Anderson (1953 - 1954) Robert B. Anderson (1953 - 1954)
- Charles S. Thomas (1954 - 1957)
- Thomas S. Gates (1957 - 1959)
- William Birrell Franke (1959 - 1961)
- John Bowden Connally, Jr. (1961)
- Fred Korth (1962 - 1963)
- Expand navigation for Paul B. Fay (acting) (1963) Paul B. Fay (acting) (1963)
- Paul Henry Nitze (1963 - 1967)
- Charles Fitz Baird (acting) (1967)
- Paul R. Ignatius (1967 - 1969)
- John Hubbard Chafee (1969 - 1972)
- John William Warner (1972 - 1974)
- Expand navigation for J. William Middendorf (1974 - 1977) J. William Middendorf (1974 - 1977)
- William Graham Claytor, Jr. (1977 - 1979)
- Edward Hidalgo (1979 - 1981)
- Expand navigation for John Lehman (1981 - 1987) John Lehman (1981 - 1987)
- Expand navigation for James H. Webb (1987 - 1988) James H. Webb (1987 - 1988)
- Expand navigation for William L. Ball (1988 - 1989) William L. Ball (1988 - 1989)
- Henry L. Garrett III (1989 - 1992)
- Expand navigation for Daniel Howard (acting) (1992) Daniel Howard (acting) (1992)
- Sean Charles O'Keefe (1992 - 1993)
- ADM Frank B. Kelso, II (acting) (1993)
- John Howard Dalton (1993 - 1998)
- Richard Jeffrey Danzig (1998 - 2001)
- Robert B. Pirie, Jr. (acting) (2001)
- Gordon R. England (2001-2003) (2003-2005)
- Susan M. Livingstone (acting) (2003)
- Hansford T. Johnson (acting) (2003)
- Donald Charles Winter (2006 - 2009)
- Raymond Edwin Mabus, Jr. (2009 - 2017)
- Sean G. J. Stackley (acting) (2017)
- Richard V. Spencer (2017 - 2019)
- Thomas B. Modly (acting) (2019-2020)
- James E. McPherson (acting) (2020)
- Kenneth J. Braithwaite (2020-2021)
- Thomas W. Harker (acting) (2021)
- Carlos Del Toro (2021-present)
- Biography
- Civil War 1861-1865
- Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV)
- Image (gif, jpg, tiff)
- NHHC
George M. Robeson
16 March 1829 – 27 September 1897
George Maxwell Robeson was born in Oxford Furnace, New Jersey, on 16 March 1829. His father was a judge and his mother the daughter of a U.S. congressman. Known for his scholarly aptitude, Robeson graduated from Princeton University at the young age of 18. He went on to study law and passed the New Jersey bar in 1850. In 1858, he was appointed a public prosecutor for Camden County, New Jersey. During the Civil War, he was appointed a brigadier general for the militia and worked to recruit enlistments for the Union. After the war, he was appointed New Jersey attorney general.
In 1869, Robeson was named Secretary of the Navy for President Ulysses S. Grant’s administration. During his tenure, Robeson supported and developed the early stages of submarine and torpedo technology. In addition, he secured $50,000 in congressional funding for the 1871 Polaris Arctic expedition led by Captain Charles F. Hall.
After serving as Secretary of the Navy, Robeson was elected a representative of New Jersey in the House of Representatives. He ran for the Senate in 1876, but was defeated. Robeson died on 27 September 1897.
Footnotes
- Accessibility/Section 508 |
- Employee Login |
- FOIA |
- NHHC IG |
- Privacy |
- Webmaster |
- Navy.mil |
- Navy Recruiting |
- Careers |
- USA.gov |
- USA Jobs
- No Fear Act |
- Site Map |
- This is an official U.S. Navy web site