# United States Under Secretary of the Navy

The Under Secretary of the Navy is the second-highest ranking civilian official in the United States Department of the Navy. The Under Secretary, called the "Under" in Pentagon slang, reports to the Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV). Before the creation of the Under Secretary's office, the second-highest civilian at the Department of the Navy was the Assistant Secretary of the Navy.

## List of Under Secretaries of the Navy, 1940–present

The following men and women have held the post:
| No. | Name | Assumed office | Left office | President appointed by | Secretary served under |
| 1 | James V. Forrestal | August 22, 1940 | May 16, 1944 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Frank Knox |
| 2 | Ralph A. Bard | June 24, 1944 | June 30, 1945 | Franklin D. Roosevelt | James Forrestal |
| 3 | Artemus Gates | July 3, 1945 | December 31, 1945 | Harry S. Truman | James Forrestal |
| 4 | John L. Sullivan | June 17, 1946 | September 18, 1947 | Harry S. Truman | James Forrestal |
| 5 | W. John Kenney | September 19, 1947 | September 24, 1949 | Harry S. Truman | John L. Sullivan |
| 6 | Dan A. Kimball | May 25, 1949 | July 31, 1951 | Harry S. Truman | Francis P. Matthews |
| 7 | Francis P. Whitehair | August 7, 1951 | January 29, 1953 | Harry S. Truman | Dan A. Kimball |
| 8 | Charles S. Thomas | February 9, 1953 | August 5, 1953 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | Robert B. Anderson |
| 9 | Thomas S. Gates Jr. | October 7, 1953 | April 1, 1957 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | Robert B. Anderson Charles Thomas |
| 10 | William B. Franke | April 17, 1957 | June 7, 1959 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | Thomas S. Gates Jr. |
| 11 | Fred A. Bantz | June 8, 1959 | January 20, 1961 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | William B. Franke |
| 12 | Paul B. Fay | February 16, 1961 | January 15, 1965 | John F. Kennedy | John Connally Fred Korth Paul Nitze |
| 13 | Kenneth E. BeLieu | February 26, 1965 | July 1, 1965 | Lyndon B. Johnson | Paul Nitze |
| 14 | Robert H. B. Baldwin | July 2, 1965 | July 31, 1967 | Lyndon B. Johnson | Paul Nitze |
| 15 | Charles F. Baird | August 1, 1967 | January 20, 1969 | Lyndon B. Johnson | Paul Robert Ignatius |
| 16 | John Warner | February 11, 1969 | May 4, 1972 | Richard Nixon | John Chafee |
| 17 | Frank P. Sanders | May 5, 1972 | June 29, 1973 | Richard Nixon | John Warner |
| 18 | J. William Middendorf | August 3, 1973 | June 20, 1974 | Richard Nixon | John Warner |
| 19 | David S. Potter | August 28, 1974 | April 1, 1976 | Gerald Ford | J. William Middendorf |
| 20 | David R. Macdonald | September 14, 1976 | February 4, 1977 | Gerald Ford | J. William Middendorf |
| 21 | R. James Woolsey Jr. | March 9, 1977 | December 7, 1979 | Jimmy Carter | W. Graham Claytor Jr. |
| 22 | Robert J. Murray | February 7, 1980 | September 29, 1981 | Jimmy Carter | Edward Hidalgo John Lehman |
| 23 | James F. Goodrich | September 29, 1981 | August 6, 1987 | Ronald Reagan | John Lehman |
| 24 | Henry L. Garrett III | August 6, 1987 | May 15, 1989 | Ronald Reagan | Jim Webb William L. Ball |
| 25 | J. Daniel Howard | August 7, 1989 | January 20, 1993 | George H. W. Bush | Henry L. Garrett III Sean O'Keefe |
| 26 | Richard J. Danzig | November 29, 1993 | May 30, 1997 | Bill Clinton | John Howard Dalton |
| 27 | Jerry MacArthur Hultin | November 13, 1997 | July 14, 2000 | Bill Clinton | John Howard Dalton Richard Danzig |
| 28 | Robert B. Pirie Jr. | October 12, 2000 | June 6, 2001 | Bill Clinton | Richard Danzig |
| 29 | Susan M. Livingstone | July 26, 2001 | February 28, 2003 | George W. Bush | Gordon R. England |
| 30 | Dionel M. Aviles | October 8, 2004 | May 19, 2009 | George W. Bush | Gordon R. England Donald C. Winter |
| 31 | Robert O. Work | May 19, 2009 | March 22, 2013 | Barack Obama | Ray Mabus |
| – | Robert C. Martinage (acting) | March 22, 2013 | January 15, 2014 | Barack Obama | Ray Mabus |
| – | Thomas W. Hicks (acting) | January 15, 2014 | March 17, 2016 | Barack Obama | Ray Mabus |
| 32 | Janine A. Davidson | March 17, 2016 | January 20, 2017 | Barack Obama | Ray Mabus |
| – | Thomas W. Hicks (acting) | January 20, 2017 | February 17, 2017 | Donald Trump | Sean Stackley (acting) |
| – | Thomas P. Dee (acting) | February 17, 2017 | December 4, 2017 | Donald Trump | Richard V. Spencer |
| 33 | Thomas B. Modly | December 4, 2017 | April 7, 2020 Serving as Acting Secretary of the Navy: November 24, 2019 – April 7, 2020 | Donald Trump | Richard V. Spencer |
| – | Gregory J. Slavonic (acting) | April 24, 2020 | January 20, 2021 | Donald Trump | James E. McPherson (acting) Kenneth J. Braithwaite |
| – | James F. Geurts (acting) | February 4, 2021 | August 24, 2021 | Joe Biden | Thomas Harker (acting) |
| – | Meredith A. Berger (Performing the Duties of) | August 25, 2021 | April 13, 2022 | Joe Biden | Carlos Del Toro |
| 34 | Erik Raven | April 13, 2022 | August 2024 | Joe Biden | Carlos Del Toro |
| – | Thomas Mancinelli (acting) | August 20, 2024 | January 20, 2025 | Joe Biden | Carlos Del Toro |
| – | Victor Minella (acting) | January 22, 2025 | Incumbent | Donald Trump | Terence G. Emmert (acting) |