SECRETARIES OF WAR

AND

SECRETARIES OF THE ARMY

SECRETARIES

OF WAR

SECRETARIES

OF THE ARMY

Portraits & Biographical Sketches

by

William Gardner Bell

CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY

UNITED STATES ARMY

WASHINGTON, D.C., 2010

AND
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Bell, William Gardner.

Secretaries of war and secretaries of the army : portraits and biographical sketches / by

William Gardner Bell.—[Rev. ed.].

 p. cm

Includes bibliographical references.

 1. Cabinet officers—United States—Biography. 2. Cabinet officers—United 

States—Portraits. 3. United States. Dept. of the Army—Officials and employees—

Biography. 4. United States. War Dept.—Officals and employees—Biography.

I. Title.

E176.B42 2010

355’.6092’273—dc22

[B] 2010015727

First Printed 1981—CMH Pub 70–12
v

FOREWORD

The Center of Military History first published Secretaries of War and Secretaries 

of the Army: Portraits & Biographical Sketches in 1981 during the bicentennial of the 

American Revolution and the U.S. Constitution. The book reflected two major 

themes of the Army’s commemoration: the role of the soldier-statesmen of the 

Revolution in the creation of our government and the constitutional principle of 

civilian control of the military. This updated printing continues to recognize those 

twin legacies. The first Secretaries of War were prominent members of the soldierstatesmen generation, and they and their successors have embodied the Founding 

Fathers’ intent to ensure civilian leadership in military affairs.

The original author, William Gardner Bell, retired from service many years ago, 

but subsequent updates of the volume have preserved his concept of its purpose and 

scope and have retained his Preface to the first printing. His approach was straightforward: a brief institutional history of the Secretariat followed by side-by-side presentations of each secretary’s biography and official portrait. The portraits, in the 

immediacy of their human dimension, were always intended to be the heart of the 

book.

Secretaries of War and Secretaries of the Army is relevant to students and scholars 

in such diverse fields as military history, political science, American studies, and 

art and portraiture. We trust that this new edition will continue to be useful as 

background for the nomination of Army secretaries, as a handbook for the congressional armed services committees, and as a reference book throughout the Army. It 

has been a valuable source of information for libraries, and we hope that its distinctive perspective on the history of the Army will interest a new generation of the 

American public as well.

As this volume carries us through the roll of the Secretaries of War and the 

Secretaries of the Army, it provides insights into the character and background of 

those who have served as the Army’s most senior official. It also honors them for 

their contributions as eminent leaders in the history of the Army and in the history 

of the nation. We hope that you, the reader, will find it interesting, informative, and 

inspiring. 

Washington, D.C. JEFFREY J. CLARKE

30 July 2010 Chief of Military History
vi

THE AUTHOR

William Gardner Bell was inducted into the Army in 1941, was commissioned 

through the officer candidate course at the Cavalry School in 1943, and served in 

the Italian Campaign in 1944–1945 as a platoon leader, company commander, and 

battalion staff officer with the 350th Infantry, 88th Infantry Division. From 1947 to 

1950 he was associate editor of the Cavalry Journal, and from 1950 to 1953, as editor of Armor Magazine, he assured that the mounted arm’s publication reflected the 

transition from horse to horsepower. From 1956 to his retirement in 1962, he served 

as a historian in the Office of the Chief of Military History; in 1963 he returned as a 

civilian historian. Before embarking upon this book, he compiled the annual reports 

of the Secretary of the Army and the annual Department of the Army Historical 

Summary. He served as the staff specialist on the frontier army and wrote the Indian 

Wars chapter of the Army’s historical volume American Military History.
vii

PREFACE TO THE FIRST PRINTING

A little over a hundred years ago, against a 

backdrop of a century of American independence, 

Secretary of War George Washington McCrary 

wrote Lurton Dunham Ingersoll, a well-informed 

and well-connected individual then in charge 

of the War Department Library, to suggest that 

Ingersoll prepare a history of the department for 

publication. Ingersoll adopted the proposal with 

alacrity, although it would be a private venture, 

and his book, A History of the War Department of 

the United States With Biographical Sketches of the 

Secretaries, was published in 1880.

In the opening lines, Ingersoll noted that “in 

nearly all instances” the War Department had 

been “placed in the control of men of high renown 

throughout the republic, and indeed throughout 

Christendom.” He noted further that “in but very 

few instances had it been given in charge to men 

of ordinary abilities or of little reputation.”

The department’s second century, recently 

completed, is a match for its first, and tends to 

confirm Ingersoll’s assessment, although many of 

the secretaries would have been quick to disavow 

the superlatives. The occasion of the bicentennial 

thus offered a suitable historical moment in which 

to compile a comprehensive record of the Army’s 

civilian leaders over the course of the two hundred years since the War Office was established.

Although this is the first Army historical publication to be devoted exclusively to the civilian 

leadership, the department heads have not been 

ignored previously; the secretarial dimension has 

been woven into every one of the department’s 

official historical works where its inclusion was 

germane.

Considerations of style and format have dictated the approach to the biographical feature of 

this book. Thus, the personality sketches, telegraphic in nature, have been scaled roughly to 

uniform size despite variations in the terms of 

office, substance of service, and celebrity or distinction of the incumbents. Army stewardship is 

the common denominator.

It also seemed appropriate to include in the 

main listing of office holders only the primary secretaries—those nominated by the President and 

confirmed by the Senate. The only exceptions are 

James Monroe and James Porter. Monroe, while 

Secretary of State, a position to which he had 

been nominated and confirmed, was designated 

by President James Madison to serve concurrently 

as Secretary of War following Secretary John 

Armstrong’s resignation, and Monroe ran the War 

Department for an extended period in wartime. 

Porter served as secretary for almost a full year 

before the Senate, for political reasons, declined 

to confirm him.

A break in continuity in public office is not 

an unusual thing, of course, and interruptions in 

secretarial progression have occurred through the 

years. Secretaries ad interim have been required 

on a number of occasions. Often they were high 

level Army officers who carried out the secretarial 

function in addition to their other duties. These 

temporary and unconfirmed officials are reviewed 

in Appendix A.

Published sources disagree on the dates of 

secretarial incumbency; disparities exist because 

compilers have used such different service bases 

as date of appointment, date of announcement, 

date of acceptance, date of confirmation, date of 

administration of the oath of office, or date of 

assumption of office. For purposes of consistency, 

the dates set out in the Department of the Army 

Manual, an internal reference handbook published for many years and drawn upon for other 

publications and uses, have been cited herein and 

are treated as authoritative.

For readers who wish to probe more deeply 

into the history of the United States Army, the 

operation of the departmental headquarters, the 

lives of the respective secretaries, or the backgrounds of the portrait painters, a selective bibliography is supplied. Intended only as a starting 

point, it is by no means exhaustive. The material 

available on the secretaries is as uneven as the 

careers of the individuals involved. Full biographies, if not autobiographies, exist on the more 

prominent figures, while little information is 

available on others of more modest service. The 

same may be said with even more emphasis where 

the painters are concerned.
viii

Every effort has been made to ensure that the 

material in this book is accurate, but because of 

the two-century time span, a paucity of records, 

and occasionally conflicting information, it is 

possible that errors have crept in. There are also 

some informational gaps, especially on the portrait painters. For readers primarily interested in 

the paintings reproduced in this work, portrait 

dimensions are given in inches, with height preceding width, and are sight measurements in the 

frame.

Thanks are due Mr. John G. Connell, Jr., former Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of 

the Army, for his interest and assistance in this 

project. As the pivotal administrative official in 

the Army civilian secretariat under fifteen department heads ranging from Secretary Stimson to 

Secretary Alexander, Mr. Connell superintended 

the secretarial portrait collection with a careful 

regard for its unique character and its historical 

significance. Mr. Thomas J. Scheblik and Mr. C. 

Leslie Walleigh, former directors of the Defense 

Supply Service, Washington, were also most helpful in their agency’s Pentagon custodial role.

The Department of the Army, the Center of 

Military History, and the author gratefully acknowlege the substantive assistance of key staff members 

of a number of official and private agencies and 

institutions: Mrs. Mona Dearborn, Keeper of the 

Catalog of American Portraits and Mr. Richard K. 

Doud, Survey Coordinator, of the National Portrait 

Gallery; Mrs. Katherine Ratzenberge, Assistant 

Librarian of the National Collection of Fine Arts 

and the National Portrait Gallery; Mr. Michael 

Musick, Archivist in the National Archives; 

Mr. George Hobart, Curator of Documentary 

Photography in the Library of Congress; Mrs. 

Andrea Ericson, Gallery Director, Portraits, Inc., 

New York; and numerous directors, curators, 

research assistants, and librarians of museums, galleries, historical societies, and libraries.

The author is indebted to three independent reviewers who read and commented upon 

the manuscript: Russell F. Weigley, Professor of 

History at Temple University and a member of 

the Department of the Army Historical Advisory 

Committee; Edward M. Coffman, Professor of 

History at the University of Wisconsin and Visiting 

Professor (1977–1978) at the United States Military 

Academy; and John K. Mahon, Professor of History 

at the University of Florida and Visiting Professor 

(1977–1978) at the U.S. Army Military History 

Institute–U.S. Army War College.

The manuscript was also reviewed within 

the Center of Military History, and the author 

benefited from the comments of key members of 

the professional staff: Dr. Maurice Matloff, Chief 

Historian, and Dr. Robert W. Coakley, Deputy 

Chief Historian; Col. James F. Ransone, Jr., Chief, 

Histories Division, and Dr. Walter G. Hermes, 

Chief, Staff Support Branch; Col. William F. 

Strobridge, Chief, Historical Services Division, 

and Mrs. Marian R. McNaughton, Staff Art 

Curator, and Miss Marylou Gjernes, Museum 

Specialist, Army Art Activity. Mrs. Loretto C. 

Stevens gave generously of her time and editorial 

experience from the earliest stages of preparation. 

Mrs. Anita L. Dyson typed the manuscript, and 

Mrs. Joanna M. Fringer edited it.

Mr. James M. Breedlove of the Adjutant General 

Center designed the book. Mr. William Rosenmund 

and Mrs. Viola Destefano of the Army Audiovisual 

Activity made important contributions.

A general expression of appreciation must 

go also to other members of the staff of the U.S. 

Army Center of Military History—historical, 

reference, editorial, curatorial, clerical, administrative—and the staffs of the National 

Archives, Library of Congress, General Services 

Administration, National Portrait Gallery, 

Defense Supply Service, and Military District of 

Washington—archivists, librarians, audiovisual 

and information specialists, photographers, laboratory technicians, administrative force—whose 

individual contributions always come into focus 

with the publication of a historical work such as 

this, but whose recognition is often completely 

overlooked or submerged under the umbrella credit accorded an institution or the personal mention 

conferred upon a superior. That it must be that 

way because of the lines of authority or the rule of 

numbers neither diminishes the contribution nor 

dilutes the acknowledgment.

The kind assistance of so many individuals 

does not relieve the author of full responsibility 

for the finished work; errors of fact or of interpretation are mine and mine alone.

William Gardner Bell

Washington, D.C.
ix

CONTENTS

Page

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Secretaries of War

Henry Knox. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Timothy Pickering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

James McHenry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Samuel Dexter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Henry Dearborn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

William Eustis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

John Armstrong. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

James Monroe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

William Harris Crawford. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

John Caldwell Calhoun. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

James Barbour. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Peter Buell Porter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

John Henry Eaton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Lewis Cass. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Joel Roberts Poinsett. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

John Bell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

John Canfield Spencer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

James Madison Porter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

William Wilkins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

William Learned Marcy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

George Washington Crawford. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Charles Magill Conrad. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Jefferson Davis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

John Buchanan Floyd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Joseph Holt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Simon Cameron. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Edwin McMasters Stanton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

John McAllister Schofield. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

John Aaron Rawlins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

William Worth Belknap. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Alphonso Taft. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

James Donald Cameron. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

George Washington McCrary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Alexander Ramsey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Robert Todd Lincoln. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

William Crowninshield Endicott. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Redfield Proctor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
x

Page

Stephen Benton Elkins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Daniel Scott Lamont. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Russell Alexander Alger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Elihu Root. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

William Howard Taft. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Luke Edward Wright. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Jacob McGavock Dickinson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Henry Lewis Stimson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Lindley Miller Garrison. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Newton Diehl Baker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

John Wingate Weeks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Dwight Filley Davis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

James William Good. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Patrick Jay Hurley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

George Henry Dern. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Harry Hines Woodring. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

Henry Lewis Stimson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Robert Porter Patterson. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Secretaries of the Army

Kenneth Claiborne Royall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Gordon Gray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Frank Pace, Jr.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Robert Ten Broeck Stevens. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Wilber Marion Brucker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Elvis Jacob Stahr, Jr.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Cyrus Roberts Vance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Stephen Ailes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Stanley Rogers Resor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Robert Frederick Froehlke. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

Howard Hollis Callaway. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Martin Richard Hoffmann. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154

Clifford Leopold Alexander, Jr.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

John Otho Marsh, Jr.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Michael Patrick William Stone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Togo Dennis West, Jr.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Louis Edward Caldera. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

Thomas Eugene White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166

Francis Joseph Harvey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Preston Murdoch (Pete) Geren. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

John Michael McHugh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
xi

Page

Appendixes

A. Secretaries of War Ad Interim and 

Acting Secretaries of the Army. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177

B. Chronological List of Presidents of the United States, 

Secretaries of War, and Secretaries of the Army. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181

General Bibliography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

Bibliography of Secretaries and Artists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

List of

Introductory Illustrations

Horatio Gates, President of the Board of War. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Benjamin Lincoln, First Secretary at War. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Henry Knox, Second Secretary at War. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Fraunces Tavern. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Carpenters’ Hall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

New Hall. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

William Worth Belknap, Creator of the Portrait Gallery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Norris Row. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

The Six Buildings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Old War Office. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Modified Executive Office Building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

State-War-Navy Building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Munitions Building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

New War Department Building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

The Pentagon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

The United States Army has evolved during more than two hundred and thirty 

years from the assorted volunteer elements of a weak confederation of colonies into the composite and balanced standing 

force of a leading world power. Its evolution has 

paralleled the social, economic, political, and 

geographical development of the nation. In the 

opening struggle for independence, the middle 

period of continental expansion, and the modern era of international operations, the Army 

has played a constant and substantive role in 

American history. Today the Army acts in concert with the other military services to protect 

the nation and carry out American policies at 

home and around the world.

The Army’s senior official is its civilian secretary, who conducts its affairs subject only to the 

direction, authority, and control of the President 

of the United States as commander in chief and 

the Secretary of Defense who represents the chief 

executive as head of the Department of Defense.1

The principle of civilian control over the military took root early in colonial America under the 

stewardship of legislators who, “mindful of classical examples of caesarism and praetorianism, and 

with the spectacle of Cromwell’s military dictatorship arising before them,” were determined that 

such absolute forms of government—especially 

those of a military complexion—would not gain a 

foothold in the new land.2

As the sentiment for independence came into 

focus in the closing decades of the eighteenth 

century, the framers of the Constitution of the 

United States codified the concept of civil direction over military affairs by assigning to the 

Congress the power to raise and support armies, 

make rules for the government and regulation 

of the land forces, and declare war. In addition 

the President was given the role of commander 

in chief of the Army and the Navy and the state 

militia when called into federal service.

The United States Army was created in June 

1775, when the Continental Congress authorized 

the muster of troops under national auspices and 

appointed George Washington of Virginia to command them. The Continental Army was administered initially by the Congress, and the creation 

of an executive military department with carefully defined powers and responsibilities became 

a lengthy process of trial and error. In June 1776, 

for example, the Congress established a Board of 

War and Ordnance composed of five legislators, 

the lineal ancestor of the War Department. John 

Adams chaired this congressional committee for 

more than a year. In July 1777 the Congress established a new Board of War composed first of three 

and then of five individuals who were not members of Congress. Horatio Gates was named to 

head it and served during the winter of 1777–1778.

Further change came in the fall of 1778, when 

Congress again rearranged the board to consist 

of two legislators and three outsiders. Timothy 

Pickering and Richard Peters, two of its members, both signed documents as President during 

Introduction
2

1779–1780, although neither had been appointed to 

the office. Then in 1781 the Congress set up a War 

Office, staffed it with non-legislators, and appointed 

Benjamin Lincoln to head it with a new title, of 

British origin, Secretary at War. Henry Knox succeeded him in 1781.

Despite these efforts to provide direction 

and control over the Army, during the 1780s the 

Congress often acted upon military matters as a 

committee of the whole or through special subcommittees, independent of the Board of War and 

the Secretary at War. Yet there was an unmistakable trend in the direction of a separate military 

department. All that was needed was the formalization of the executive branch of government and 

the installation of a chief executive.3

On 30 April 1789, George Washington 

became the first President of the United States 

under the new Constitution. Three months 

later, on 7 August 1789, Congress established 

a Department of War, changed the title of the 

department head from Secretary at War to 

Secretary of War, and made that official directly 

responsible to the President rather than to the 

Congress. Henry Knox remained in office to 

become the first Secretary of War.

Another major change in the designation 

of the department and its executive head came 

158 years later with the passage of the National 

Security Act of 1947. Under this legislation and 

its 1949 amendments, the Air Force was removed 

from the Army to become a separate and equal 

military department; the Army, Navy, and Air 

Force were brought under a national military establishment headed by a civilian of cabinet rank; and 

the service secretaries lost cabinet status while their 

institutions were reduced from executive agencies to military departments within a Department 

of Defense. The War Department became the 

Department of the Army, certainly a less bellicose 

and more precise designation that comprehended 

its peacetime as well as its wartime role in the military and societal structures. The Secretary of War 

became the Secretary of the Army, and incumbent 

Kenneth C. Royall presided over the transition to 

become the first Secretary of the Army.

In its more than two and a third centuries of 

service to the nation, the Army has had, by and 

large, a distinguished body of civilian leaders. A 

majority of the secretaries studied and practiced 

law before entering public service. Many moved 

on to higher public office, and their contributions 

Horatio Gates (1728–1806), President of the Board 

of War, 1777–1778. Gates was born in England, served 

in the British Army under Cornwallis in Nova Scotia, 

and was wounded at Fort Duquesne in 1755 as a member of Braddock’s expedition in the French and Indian 

War. After further service in the colonies and an interlude in England, he returned to America, embraced the 

patriot cause, was commissioned in the Continental 

Army, and served as its adjutant general and as a field 

commander in various geographical departments. He 

retired in 1783 and moved from Virginia to New York in 

1790, where he served one term in the state legislature. 

Portrait by James Peale after Charles Willson Peale. 

Oil on canvas, 37 x 29 inches, circa 1782. Original 

in the National Portrait Gallery. The whereabouts of 

a Gates portrait painted for the Army collection by 

Daniel Huntington in 1874 is unknown. A texturized 

photographic reproduction of the Peale portrait hangs 

in the secretarial gallery.
3

extended beyond the military sphere. James 

Monroe and William Howard Taft both achieved 

the office of President of the United States. John 

C. Calhoun reached the vice presidency, and 

Jefferson Davis held a unique office—President of 

the Confederate States of America.

Nine of the Army’s chief executives served 

also as Secretary of State, three were Secretary 

of the Treasury, two Postmaster General, one 

Attorney General of the United States, and one 

Secretary of Veterans Affairs. William Howard 

Taft’s tenure as Secretary of War was followed by 

his election to the presidency; he then moved over 

from the executive to the judicial branch of government to become Chief Justice of the Supreme 

Court. Another secretary, Edwin M. Stanton, 

was nominated by President Ulysses S. Grant to 

be an associate justice of the Supreme Court, but 

Stanton died before he could take office.4

Twenty-one secretaries served in the United 

States Senate and twenty in the United States 

House of Representatives, while twenty-one 

served in state legislatures. Twelve were state governors, one was a territorial governor, and four 

served as Governor General of the Philippines. 

Fifteen held diplomatic posts, two were university 

presidents, and many served at federal and state 

levels in a variety of other capacities. Henry L. 

Stimson holds the distinction of being the only 

one to have served two nonconsecutive terms as 

Secretary of War, one (1911–1913) under President 

William Howard Taft, the other (1940–1945) 

under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. As the 

nation entered its third century, Secretary Clifford 

L. Alexander took office, the first black to head 

the Army department. Louis E. Caldera was the 

first Hispanic Secretary. Forty-three of the seventy-six individuals who have been Secretary 

of War or Secretary of the Army saw military 

service, principally in wartime. Jefferson Davis, 

John M. Schofield, Howard H. Callaway, Louis E. 

Caldera, and Thomas E. White were graduates of 

the United States Military Academy, and John W. 

Weeks was a graduate of the United States Naval 

Academy. Three other secretaries—Charles M. 

Conrad, John B. Floyd, and Luke E. Wright—

served in the Confederate forces during the Civil 

War. Michael P. W. Stone served in the British 

Royal Navy during World War II.

There are two father-son combinations in 

the roster of Secretaries of War: Simon Cameron 

(1861–1862) and James D. Cameron (1876–1877) 

Be n ja m i n Li n c ol n (1733–1810), Secretar y 

at War, 1781–1783. Lincoln was born in Hingham, 

Massachusetts, and farmed and held local office until 

trouble with England moved him to higher provincial 

office and later to Continental military service. Assigned 

to command the Vermont militia, he served in the north in 

1776 and 1777, suffering a serious leg wound at Saratoga. 

As commander in the south he was forced to surrender Charleston, South Carolina, to the British. Later 

exchanged, he participated in the Yorktown campaign. 

In 1787 he led Massachusetts troops that helped suppress Shays’ Rebellion and the next year was a member 

of the Constitutional Convention. He served a term as 

lieutenant governor of Massachusetts, held federal office 

as collector of the port of Boston, and served on several 

commissions that negotiated treaties with the Indians. 

Portrait by James Harvey Young. Oil on canvas, 

29 x 24 inches, 1874.
4

and Alphonso Taft (1876) and William Howard 

Taft (1904–1908). Another secretary, Robert Todd 

Lincoln, was the son of a president, and George 

W. and William H. Crawford were cousins. It is 

engaging to note that Joel R. Poinsett gave us the 

lovely Christmas flower, poinsettia, while Dwight 

F. Davis sponsored the Davis Cup, a cherished 

prize in international tennis competition.

War Department headquarters has always 

been located at the seat of government. In the 

early years of the republic, when the government functioned initially in New York and later 

in Philadelphia, the department rented modest quarters in private buildings. In New York 

City, for example, with the Revolutionary War 

ended and British troops withdrawn, the War 

Office shared quarters with the Foreign Office in 

Fraunces Tavern at the corner of Great Dock (now 

Pearl) and Broad Streets, the site of Washington’s 

farewell address to his officers in 1783. The government’s outlay for space to accommodate two 

of its key, albeit small, departments was a modest $812.50 per annum. In May 1788 the offices 

moved to a house on lower Broadway.5

In December 1790, when the federal government moved to Philadelphia, Secretary Henry 

Knox established his headquarters in Carpenters’ 

Hall, a building the department had occupied 

while the Confederation Congress was convened 

in Independence Hall before the move to New 

York City and the inauguration of constitutional 

government. The War Department moved in 

1791 to adjacent New Hall for a year, then in 1792 

to the southeast corner of Fifth and Chestnut 

Streets in a building that was one of a block 

of houses called Norris Row. After a four-year 

residence there, the department moved again in 

1797, this time to one of the row houses on the 

northeast corner of Fifth and Chestnut Streets. 

Here the headquarters remained until 1800, when 

the government moved to the new capital at 

Washington.6

Not long after taking office in 1789, President 

Washington had begun to plan for a new and permanent capital. Throughout most of his tenure he 

personally attended to the selection of the site, the 

purchase of the land, the design of the city, and 

the construction of the public buildings. Only six 

months after his death in retirement in December 

1799, his successor, President John Adams, moved 

the government to Washington City on the banks 

of the Potomac River.7

Henry Knox (1750–1806), Secretary at War, 1785–

1789. Knox was born in Boston of Scots-Irish parents. 

His father died when he was twelve, and after working in 

a Boston bookstore he opened his own London Bookstore 

there. He was present at the Boston Massacre in 1770, 

where he tried to restrain British grenadiers from firing on 

the mob. He joined that city’s grenadier corps and studied 

military science and engineering avidly in his early years. 

After joining the patriot cause, he organized the American 

artillery, became an adviser and close friend of General 

Washington, organized the Continental defenses in several areas, and took part in many Revolutionary battles, 

including the Delaware crossing. In 1782 he commanded 

the post at West Point and the following year organized 

the Society of the Cincinnati. He retired in 1794 to live in 

Maine. (See also his biographical sketch as first Secretary 

of War.) Medallion portrait by Constantino Brumidi, 

wall of President’s Room, Senate Wing, United States 

Capitol Collection.
5

George Washington’s plan for an executive 

quarter centered around the President’s House had 

begun to take shape in 1798 with the start of construction on the first two of four similar buildings, 

to be located on sites about two hundred yards 

from the corners of the executive mansion. The 

southeast and southwest structures were completed 

in 1800, and the War Department occupied space 

in the southwest unit with several other agencies, 

while the Treasury Department occupied the southeast unit. Early in their occupancy, both buildings 

had serious fires that forced the tenants out to 

rented quarters during a period of reconstruction. 

The Army headquarters operated on several occasions from private accommodations along the south 

side of Pennsylvania Avenue between Twenty-first 

and Twenty-second Streets, a row-house complex 

sometimes called the Six Buildings.

The government’s key departments resumed 

operations in their rebuilt structures for a dozen 

years until disaster struck once again during the 

War of 1812: British forces invaded the capital 

in 1814 and burned the government buildings to 

the ground. The War Department again resumed 

operations in private quarters while the capital was 

being reconstructed. By 1817 the damaged structures had been rebuilt, and by 1820 the entirely 

new northeast and northwest buildings had been 

added to the executive grouping. The northeast 

unit was now occupied by the Department of 

State, the southeast by the Department of the 

Treasury, and the southwest by the Department 

of the Navy. Secretary John C. Calhoun moved 

the Department of War into the new northwest 

building, taking along the name War Office for 

the new edifice, an identification that would later 

become “Old War.”8

As the Army’s responsibilities were gradually 

enlarged, the War Department had to expand its 

staff and facilities to meet both normal growth 

and the surges created by wartime activity. 

Because of the expense and delay inherent in new 

construction, during the Mexican War Secretary 

William L. Marcy turned to lease arrangements 

with private builders, while during the Civil War 

Secretary Edwin M. Stanton secured sufficient 

funds to add two floors to Old War. Two floors 

and a wing were added to “Old Navy” at the same 

Fraunces Tavern. In the mid-1780s, when the Confederation government was headquartered in New York City, the 

War Office shared Fraunces Tavern with the Foreign Office. This building, still standing on the corner of Broad and Pearl 

Streets in lower Manhattan, was the site of General Washington’s farewell address to his officers in 1783. Lithograph by 

G. Hayward, 120 Water Street, for D. T. Valentine’s Manual, 1854. Reproduced from the collections of the Library of 

Congress.
Carpenters’ Hall. During the early 

1780s, when the Confederation Congress 

held its sessions in Independence Hall in 

Philadelphia, the War Office was quartered in nearby Carpenters’ Hall. The 

building was retained under lease to the 

Department during the federal government’s five-year interval in New York 

City, and upon the government’s return to 

Philadelphia in December 1790, the War 

Office occupied it once again for about a 

year. Independence National Historical 

Park Collection.
7

time.9 Yet, as the years passed, it was evident that 

some major new construction was needed, and the 

subject was under continuing consideration within 

the department and elsewhere in the executive 

and legislative branches of government over an 

extended period.

In the closing weeks of 1869, the Congress 

established a commission to select a suitable site 

and prepare plans for a new executive office building and, in 1871, began annual appropriations 

for such a structure. Wing-by-wing construction 

was begun in June 1871 at a site to the west of 

the White House, near existing northwest and 

southwest buildings. Progressive demolition of 

the old buildings was geared to construction of 

the wings of the new building, and evacuations 

and occupancies by departmental personnel were 

carefully phased with construction schedules to 

ensure optimum use of facilities. The south wing 

was completed first, in July 1875, and occupied 

by the State Department. In 1879 the Old War 

Department building was demolished as the east 

wing of the new structure was completed, and 

War and Navy department staff members moved 

in. Although he had been closely associated, as 

a department head, with the design, planning, 

and construction of the State-War-Navy Building, 

Secretary of War William W. Belknap was not 

destined to run his department from the new 

headquarters. That distinction fell to Secretary 

George W. McCrary, Belknap’s successor thriceremoved.

Early in 1888, almost seventeen years after 

the start of construction, the mammoth StateWar-Navy Building was fully completed at a cost 

slightly greater than $10 million. Under congressional space allocations the War Department 

initially “occupied all the north, west, and center 

wings and shared the east wing with the Navy 

and the south wing with State and Navy.”10

Expansion of government agencies is a natural concomitant to national growth; as a nation’s 

population and territory grow, political, economic, and social responsibilities multiply, and 

the various arms of government must expand to 

keep pace. Agencies seem to constantly outgrow 

their accommodations, and rarely are the larger 

departments concentrated in one location or a 

single building. Fifty years after settling down in 

the State-War-Navy Building on the west side of 

the White House grounds, the War Department 

was being gradually displaced by an expanding 

State Department and was petitioning for its 

own building.

New Hall. With the federal government’s 

move from New York back to Philadelphia 

in December 1790, the War Department 

resumed operations in its former Carpenters’ 

Hall quarters for about a year. The next 

move came late in 1791, when the headquarters moved to adjacent New Hall, a 

new building constructed and owned by the 

Carpenters’ Company. The modest size of 

the building suggests the modest size of the 

departmental headquarters in the period.

Independence National Historical Park 

Collection.
8

Noting that his agencies were occupying seventeen separate buildings throughout the city and 

that the State Department was scheduled to take 

over all of State-War-Navy, Secretary George H. 

Dern in his annual report of 1934 emphasized 

that “the need for a new War Department building is pressing, and its erection should be undertaken without delay.” As if to dramatize the plea, 

Harry H. Woodring, who as under secretary succeeded Dern upon the latter’s death in August 

1936, moved the Secretary of War’s office out of 

State-War-Navy and into the Munitions Building 

on Constitution Avenue, a “temporary” structure 

left over from World War I. Both the Secretary 

and the Chief of Staff kept the pressure on, and 

in his 1938 report, General Malin Craig addressed 

the subject. Speaking to the demands of efficiency, 

he stressed that “a fundamental requisite for the 

successful conduct of war is that the directing elements of the military machine be closely and mutually articulated permitting prompt decisions and 

their coordinate actions.” General Craig warned 

prophetically that “in the event of a major war one 

of the first steps that would have to be taken would 

be the reconcentration of the major elements of the 

War Department in a single building.”11

A valid philosophy and an urgent need coincided all too soon as World War II broke out 

in Europe and the prospect of United States 

participation loomed ever larger on the horizon. By the end of fiscal year 1941, yet a few 

months short of American involvement in the 

war, Secretary Henry L. Stimson, still quartered 

in the Munitions Building, could report that the 

space situation had been “somewhat improved by 

putting into service the New War Department 

Building on Twenty-first Street, but this was in 

no way adequate to house all of the personnel.” 

Under emergency conditions, plans for a new 

building were prepared, a site was selected on the 

Virginia side of the Potomac River across from 

the Washington Monument and the Jefferson and 

Lincoln Memorials, and construction proceeded 

apace as the nation became ever more deeply 

involved in the global struggle.12

The new building was completed in January 

1943, just beyond the midpoint of American participation in the war. Called the Pentagon for its 

five-sided configuration, the building was constructed at a cost of about $83 million. Secretary 

Stimson was the first executive to run the department from the new headquarters. By the nation’s 

William Worth Belknap (1829–1890), Secretary of 

War, 1861–1876. Shortly after taking office, Belknap 

conceived the idea of a portrait gallery of the Army’s civilian heads as an appropriate way for the department to 

take note of the nation’s centennial in 1876. Engaging the 

services of such competent artists as Daniel Huntington, 

Robert Weir, and Henry Ulke, Belknap put them to work 

painting his long line of predecessors, and he himself sat 

for Huntington in 1874. Thus, the portraits of a century 

of department heads were painted and assembled in a 

distinctive collection, continued by Belknap’s successors. 

Despite the stigma attached to his departure from office, 

Secretary Belknap deserves unqualified credit for the 

creation of the War Department gallery with its portraits 

of secretaries and other figures prominent in the conduct 

of military affairs. (See also his biographical sketch as 

Secretary of War.) Photo by Matthew Brady from the 

Brady Collection in the National Archives.
9

bicentennial year of 1976, however, although the 

Pentagon was still the Army’s command post, 

organizational evolution in the military had made 

the Army a tenant with the other armed services that together constitute the Department of 

Defense—the Pentagon’s proprietor since the parent department was established in 1949.13

As the world’s largest office building, the 

Pentagon draws its share of attention in the congeries of public buildings and monuments in the 

nation’s capital. Visitors to its five floors, arranged 

in five concentric rings and connected by ten corridors radiating from the inner hub, are exposed not 

only to an architectural marvel but also to a variety 

of exhibits that represent the military heritage 

of America. One feature is the Army’s “Portrait 

Gallery” of Secretaries of War and Secretaries of 

the Army. The gallery represents a unique and 

valuable collection of paintings of the Army’s civilian leaders from earliest times to the present.14

Credit for conceiving and launching the gallery belongs to President Grant’s Secretary of War, 

William Worth Belknap. Looking ahead from the 

vantage point of the early 1870s, Belknap fastened 

upon the idea of a secretarial portrait gallery as 

an appropriate way for the department to mark 

the nation’s centennial in 1876. It would not be 

an easy task; few of his predecessors had had their 

portraits painted, and even those portraits might 

be in private possession and out of reach. Thus, 

most of the gallery had to be created from scratch.

For his own portrait, Belknap sat in 1874 for 

Daniel Huntington, a distinguished portrait, historical, and landscape painter of the day. Most of 

his predecessors were painted at Belknap’s behest 

during 1873, 1874, and 1875, the bulk of them by 

three artists who had to work in most instances 

from existing paintings or family photographs 

rather than from life. Huntington produced nine; 

Robert W. Weir, instructor in drawing and professor at West Point, produced seven; and Germanborn and German-trained Henry Ulke produced 

five. With the arrival of the centennial year and 

Belknap’s departure from office under a cloud, 

the War Department Portrait Gallery was a going 

enterprise that could be updated portrait by portrait by Belknap’s successors. This has, indeed, 

happened.15

Norris Row. From 1792 to 1796 the War Department was located at the southeast corner of Fifth and Chestnut Streets in 

one of a group of houses called Norris Row. From 1797 to 1800, when the government moved to Washington, the department 

was in a similar type of building at the northeast corner of Fifth and Chestnut Streets. Independence National Historical 

Park Collection.
10

As the gallery was expanded to cover key officials from a century of operation, it was not limited 

to secretarial principals alone, but also included 

several ad interim secretaries and other officials 

prominent in the conduct of military affairs. The 

portraits were executed in large part by eminent 

artists. In addition to Huntington, Weir, and 

Ulke, they included Walter M. Brackett, a Boston 

painter and the younger brother of sculptor Edward 

A. Brackett, who painted Secretaries Pickering, 

Dexter, Dearborn, and Eustis; George P. A. Healy, 

a prominent portraitist of statesmen, who painted 

General William T. Sherman; John Wesley Jarvis, 

one of the foremost portrait painters of the early 

nineteenth century in New York, who portrayed 

Secretary Calhoun; and James Harvey Young, a 

successful Boston artist, who painted Secretary 

Henry Knox as well as his predecessor, Secretary 

at War Benjamin Lincoln. All in all, the quality of 

the series is commendable when it is remembered 

that it has been attended by complications, spans 

more than two hundred years, and is marked by an 

evolution in both fashion and artistic style.

The Six Buildings. Until the executive office buildings that were constructed on the White House grounds were ready 

for occupancy, the War and Navy Departments were headquartered in what were known as the Six Buildings, a row of 

private dwellings on the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue between Twenty-first and Twenty-second Streets in Northwest 

Washington, just up the street from the executive mansion. These buildings served as alternate accommodations when 

needed. Photograph reproduced from the collections of the Columbia Historical Society.

Because portraiture is a subjective matter 

involving ego, individuality, and perception as 

well as creativity, style, and technique, secretarial 

sitters and painters have not always achieved harmonious results—this despite the fact that the 

secretaries have traditionally selected their own 

portraitists. This is not unusual among public 

figures; in a notable instance, Lyndon Baines 

Johnson openly expressed his discontent over artist Peter Hurd’s portrait of him as the thirty-sixth 

President of the United States.

Problems related to secretarial portraits occasionally involved not only the subject but also his 

family. Mrs. Daniel S. Lamont, for example, did not 

like Raimundo de Madrazo’s portrait of Secretary 

Lamont, and in 1912, seven years after her husband’s death, she asked the War Department if 

it could be exchanged for another. Although the 

Lamonts had added $2,750 to the War Department’s 

standard $750 fee to retain Madrazo, the portrait 

had become government property upon submission, and the Judge Advocate General ruled that 

congressional action would be required to dispose 
11

Old War Office. To create the executive quarter envisioned by President Washington, British architect George Hadfield 

designed four office buildings that were constructed on the corners of the White House grounds. The southeast and southwest 

units were erected first and were occupied in 1800. The northeast and northwest units, differing only in the Ionic portico on 

their Pennsylvania Avenue facade, were opened in 1820. With interruptions from fire and torch, the Department of War 

occupied the southwest structure, initially called the War Office, from 1800 to 1820, and the northwest unit, later called Old 

War, from 1820 to 1879, when demolition was begun to make way for construction of the north wing of the State-War-Navy 

Building. Drawn by C. Burton, engraved and printed by Fenner, Sears, and Company, and published in London in 1831 

by L. T. Hinton and Simpkin & Marshall. Reproduced from the collections of the Library of Congress.

of it in any manner. The situation was resolved 

when Mrs. Lamont retained Samantha Huntley to 

paint a new portrait and presented it to the War 

Department. Secretary Stimson then acceded to 

Mrs. Lamont’s wishes by hanging the Huntley in 

the gallery and storing the Madrazo.16

The circumstances were somewhat different 

for Secretary John W. Weeks. He described his 

portrait as “so satisfactory to my family that they 

decided they wanted to retain it,” so Mr. Weeks 

arranged for another portrait to represent him in 

what he noted was sometimes referred to as the 

“Chamber of Horrors.”17

The cost of secretarial portraits has risen 

steadily through the years. Except for the $500 

that James Harvey Young received for his portrait of Henry Knox, the $525 that Henry Ulke 

received for his portrait of Edwin M. Stanton, the 

presentation of John Armstrong’s portrait, and 

the transfer from West Point of John C. Calhoun’s 

portrait, the War Department paid $300 for all 

portraits up to and including Secretary Belknap’s. 

For the portraits of Alphonso Taft through 

George McCrary, the going rate was $500, while 

for Robert Lincoln through Russell Alger the 

portraitist received $750. Elihu Root’s portrait by 

Madrazo cost $2,000, and this departure from 

scale introduced an element of fluctuation that 

has existed to this day, with prices ranging from 

$750 to $2,000 in the earlier years of the twentieth century and increasing to $20,000 in modern 

times. Artists’ fees have been influenced by such 

factors as the market’s trend, the subject’s prominence, and the artist’s renown.18

The Army’s secretarial portrait gallery has 

not functioned in a military vacuum or without surveillance from the art world. In 1931, 

for example, the members of the American 

Federation of the Arts, meeting in annual convention and sensitive to the fact that foreign 
12

Modified Executive Office Building. At Secretary Stanton’s direction and with congressional approval and funding, two 

floors were added to Old War and Old Navy to meet Civil War expansion requirements. From Ingersoll’s History of the 

War Department (1880), reproduced by the Library of Congress.

artists like Raimundo de Madrazo and Douglas 

Chandor were getting the prestigious secretarial 

commissions, passed a resolution recommending 

that “all portraits designed for display in a [government] Department building in Washington 

shall be painted by American artists of recognized standing; that such portraits shall be in oil, 

of a suitable size, and shall be framed in a simple 

frame of good design. Also that in each building wall space shall be set apart for the display 

of portraits, and that a means be taken to bring 

existing portraits into as much order as may be 

possible, with regard to size and framing, to the 

end that the requirements of history, of good 

order, and of good taste shall be promoted.”19

It was perhaps a misnomer to call the War 

Department’s secretarial paintings a Portrait 

Gallery and tie the gallery almost exclusively to 

the executive portraits, for the Army’s total art 

collection included earlier acquisitions and other 

categories of work, either commissioned by or purchased for the Army. Through the middle years 

of the nineteenth century, for example, the Army 

acquired a series of portraits of Indian chiefs done 

mostly by Charles Bird King, a series of Mexican 

War paintings by James Walker, and a series of 

Civil War etchings by Edwin Forbes. In acquiring 

these and other works, the Army demonstrated 

that, despite organizational and custodial alterations through the years, it perceived the value of 

art as history and recognized that military art is at 

once a contribution to the Army’s heritage and a 

tool of morale and esprit.20

The thousands of items in the Army Art 

Collection today represent a variety of regions, 

periods, and subjects and constitute a unique 

body of documentary art. The portraits of the 

department’s secretaries provide substance and 

foundation in this collection of national as well as 

military and service significance.21

As the United States celebrated its bicentennial in 1976, the specter of inflation was abroad 

in the land and the high cost of government was 

a central issue for candidates in the quadrennial 

presidential election. The new administration had 

been in office only a few weeks into 1977 when 

attention turned to the subject of cabinet members’ portraits as a possible area of economy.

Three months after taking office, President 

Jimmy Carter issued a directive to department 
13

State-War-Navy Building. As the nation expanded in the post–Civil War period, governmental departments were 

enlarged to keep pace and rapidly outgrew their small executive office buildings adjacent to the White House. In 1871 the 

Congress appropriated funds and construction was begun on a multidepartment building west of the executive mansion. The 

State-War-Navy Building, erected wing by wing, gradually displaced Old War and Old Navy. The War Department was a 

tenant until 1938. Now called the Dwight D. Eisenhower Executive Office Building, it serves today as a White House office 

annex. Henri Lovie’s perspective drawing of architect Alfred B. Mullett’s design. Public Buildings Service reproduction 

from the National Archives.

heads ordering that the custom of commissioning portraits of outgoing agency heads be stopped: 

“As I understand it, past Cabinet Secretaries 

have commissioned oil portraits, at Government 

expense, as a method of maintaining an official, 

historical record of the line of succession of Cabinet 

Secretaries. Although the practice has existed for 

over a century, these portraits have become an 

unnecessary luxury costing anywhere from $6,000 

to $12,000. . . . Therefore, I ask that you discontinue this practice and in the future use color photographs to record the line of succession.”22

President Carter’s ban on the commissioning 

of oil portraits of cabinet secretaries at government 

expense remained in effect until the eve of his departure from office. As a result of the proscription, the 

portraits of Carter administration department heads 

were done in the photographic medium. Assembled 

in a special exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery 

in Washington prior to placement in their respective collections, they inspired mixed critical reaction in the nation’s press and periodical literature. 

Whether for this or other reasons, President Carter 

on 19 January 1981, only twenty-four hours before 

his departure from office, authorized a return to 

the traditional custom of contracting for oil portraits to record the line of succession in government 

departments. Since then the portraits of Secretaries 

Alexander, Marsh, Stone, West, Caldera, White, 

Harvey, and Geren have been painted and added to 

the secretarial portrait gallery in the Pentagon.

It is interesting to note that a bicentennial 

appraisal of the Army’s secretarial portrait collection placed its value at many times its original 

cost. Indeed, because of date, subject, or artist, 

some of the portraits may be said to fall in the 

category of national treasures.

More than two hundred years ago, George 

Washington expressed the belief that “The 

Instituting of a War Office is certainly an Event 

of great importance, and, in all probability, will be 

recorded as such in the Historic page.”23 The first 

President’s observation has been borne out largely 

because of the efforts of a long line of distinguished secretaries at the head of the department. 

This book introduces them in consecutive order, 

with a brief biographical sketch and a portrait of 

each incumbent.
14

Munitions Building. Edged out of the State-War-Navy Building in the late 1930s by an expanding State Department, the 

War Department established its next base in the Munitions Building, a World War I temporary structure erected along the 

Mall on the south side of Constitution Avenue, Northwest, midway between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln 

Memorial. The Secretary of War maintained his office there until the Pentagon opened in 1943. Signal Corps photo from 

the National Archives.

New War Department Building. The War Department’s sustained appeal through the 1930s for additional construction 

to ease the space problem was answered with the completion in 1941 of the New War Department Building at Twenty-first 

Street and Virginia Avenue, Northwest. But the structure was far from the size required to permit a concentration of department offices scattered in various buildings around the District of Columbia and the Virginia suburbs. Although the Under 

Secretary of War established his office in the new building, the Secretary of War remained in the Munitions Building. State 

Department photo.
15

Pentagon. The War Department finally achieved the ideal in spatial accommodations and centralization in January 1943, 

when it moved across the Potomac River to take up operations in its brand-new headquarters—the Pentagon. The world’s 

largest office building, constructed on a plot of swampy wasteland, held space for 30,000 employees. By the end of the World 

War II decade, however, the Pentagon had evolved from a Department of War to a Department of Defense headquarters, 

housing elements of all the services. A number of Army offices were moved out to a variety of locations in the Washington 

metropolitan area. Navy Department photo, circa 1981, from the National Archives.
16

1. Title 10, United States Code, subtitle B, part I, 

contains the statutory provisions concerning the organization of the Army and the powers and responsibilities of the secretary.

2. Russell F. Weigley, History of the United States 

Army (New York: Macmillan Co., 1967), p. 6.

3. Maurice Matloff, ed., American Military History

(Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 

1969), p. 55. During gaps in the incumbencies of Gates, 

Lincoln, and Knox, continuity of operations was ably 

maintained by Joseph Carlton, who served as administrative assistant in the Board of War and Ordnance, 

the Board of War, and the Department of War. For a 

general treatment of the organization and operation of 

the War Office, see Harry M. Ward, The Department 

of War, 1781–1795 (Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of 

Pittsburgh Press, 1962).

4. As the nation’s third century opened, former 

Secretary of the Army Cyrus R. Vance was confirmed 

as Secretary of State in the administration of President 

Jimmy Carter, becoming the ninth Army secretary to 

also hold the State portfolio.

5. Richard S. Patterson, “The [State] Department’s 

New Home—175 Years Ago,” Foreign Service Journal

(January 1960):33–34.

6. Ltr, Interior Department, National Park Service, 

Independence National Historical Park, 29 Apr 77, 

CMH files.

7. Lurton D. Ingersoll, A History of the War 

Department of the United States With Biographical 

Sketches of the Secretaries (Washington: Francis B. 

Mohun, 1880), ch. 4; General Services Administration 

Historical Study no. 3, Executive Office Building

(Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 

1970), pp. 2–8; Unpublished “Historical Report of the 

Executive Office Building,” Department of the Interior, 

1957, pp. 1–4, CMH files. Although these sources differ 

on minor details, they are in general accord on the 

substance of the development of the executive quarter 

on its present site.

8. GSA Study no. 3, p. 7.

9. To meet emergency housing needs during the 

Mexican War, the government rented two commercial 

office buildings, one at 17th and F Streets, NW, built 

by William H. Winder, the other at 15th and F Streets, 

NW, built by W. W. Corcoran. During the Civil War 

some badly needed space was acquired by adding two 

floors to the executive office buildings and a wing to 

Old Navy. The Winder building was later purchased by 

the government and remains in use today as an executive office annex.

10. GSA Study no. 3, p. 57; Interior Report, pp. 

9–10.

11. Annual Reports of the Secretary of War, 1935, 

pp. 2, 3; and 1938, p. 35. For related details, see also the 

annual reports of 1936, pp. 2, 6, 39; and 1937, pp. 3, 6, 

36.

12. Sec’y War Rpt, 1941, p. 11. The New War 

Department Building was turned over to the State 

Department when Army headquarters moved to the 

Pentagon. It was permanently joined to that agency’s 

new headquarters building constructed on adjacent 

land in the late 1950s and opened in January 1961.

13. The Pentagon, (undated, 1943) pamphlet published in Washington, D.C., by the Pentagon Post 

Restaurant Council, CMH files.

14. In 1992 the portraits of the Secretaries of War 

were hanging in the inner or “A” Ring on the third 

floor of the Pentagon between the Fourth and Fifth 

corridors; those of the smaller number of Secretaries 

of the Army were in the “A” Ring of the third floor 

between the Sixth and Seventh corridors. Several of 

the portraits of key secretaries (Root and Stimson) 

were hanging in the Secretary of the Army’s office, 

Notes to Introduction
17

and one—General Knox—was in the General Officers’ 

Mess. Texturized photographic reproductions were substituted in the main collection on public display.

15. “Portrait Gallery of Secretary of War Belknap,” 

a list compiled by Dallas Irvine, Chief Archivist, War 

Records Branch, National Archives, 1955, copy in 

CMH files. In addition to the predecessors, Huntington 

painted four and Ulke one of Belknap’s successors.

16. Memo, Office of the Assistant and Chief Clerk 

of the War Department, undated, sub: War Department 

Portrait Gallery. In Portraits of Ex-Secretaries of War, 

007.2, Fine Arts, National Archives.

17. Ltr, John W. Weeks to John C. Scofield, 

Assistant and Chief Clerk, War Department, 23 Oct 

25, sub: Arrangements to provide his portrait for the 

War Department Gallery, in Ibid.

18. Memo, Office of the Assistant and Chief 

Clerk of the War Department, undated, sub: War 

Department Portrait Gallery, in Ibid.

19. Resolution, The American Federation of 

the Arts to the War Department, 26 May 31, sub: 

Recommendations concerning portraits of government 

figures, in Ibid.

20. The matter of custodianship surfaces in these 

examples. Most of the Indian portraits, commissioned 

by Thomas L. McKenney, first superintendent of Indian 

Affairs when that bureau was in the War Department, 

were destroyed by a fire in the Smithsonian Institution 

in 1865. Fortunately, McKenney had published 

them privately, in his three-volume work, History of 

the Indian Tribes of North America With Biographical 

Sketches and Anecdotes of the Principal Chiefs (1836–

1844), which perpetuated the gallery and became a 

classic. Capt. Montgomery C. Meigs, an Army engineer 

officer charged with decorating the Capitol Building, 

commissioned James Walker to paint “The Battle of 

Chapultepec” and may have arranged for the acquisition 

of the twelve small Mexican War and two Civil War 

paintings by the Army Art Collection. When Edwin 

Forbes produced his etchings for the nation’s centennial celebration, General Sherman took the first set for 

the Army. They hung in Army offices for many years, 

apparently gradually disappearing as the headquarters 

made its frequent moves.

21. The Chief of Military History, who commands 

the U. S. Army Center of Military History, is custodian of the Army Art Collection. In addition to 

soldier art and works commissioned with commercial 

artists, the Center has custody on behalf of the nation 

of the Life and Abbott Laboratories Collections of 

World War II art. The Army Art Collection includes 

several watercolors by Adolf Hitler, original cartoons 

by Bill Mauldin, and important works—in addition to 

those listed above—by such noted American artists as 

Peter Hurd, Charles Johnson Post, Norman Rockwell, 

Howard Brodie, and Tom Lea. Another significant element is a series of portraits of the Army Chiefs of Staff. 

These portraits are featured in William Gardner Bell, 

Commanding Generals and Chiefs of Staff: Portraits and 

Biographical Sketches of the United States Army’s Senior 

Officer (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing 

Office, 1999).

22. Memo, President Jimmy Carter for Cabinet 

Officers, 18 Apr 77, directing that the practice of commissioning oil portraits of agency heads be discontinued, copy in CMH files. News accounts of the period 

indicate that a constituent of Senator Charles H. Percy 

of Illinois raised the subject of the cost to the taxpayer 

of cabinet member portraits. The Illinois legislator was 

reported to have raised the subject in turn with the 

director of the Office of Management and Budget; the 

presidential memorandum followed.

23. George Washington, The Writings of George 

Washington (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing 

Office, 1962), vol. 5, p. 159.

Secretaries of War
20

HENRY KNOX was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on 25 July 1750; upon his 

father’s death left school at twelve to work in a bookstore; joined a local military 

company at eighteen, was present at the Boston Massacre, 1770; joined the Boston 

Grenadier Corps in 1772; married Lucy Flucker in 1774; joined the patriot cause and 

offered his services to General Washington in 1775; was commissioned colonel of the 

Continental Regiment of Artillery; led the expedition to transfer captured British guns 

from Fort Ticonderoga to Boston in 1776, a move that forced the British to evacuate 

the city; led the Delaware River crossing and participated in the Battle of Trenton 

in 1776; was promoted to brigadier general and Chief of Artillery of the Continental 

Army, December 1776; participated in the battles of Princeton, Brandywine, and 

Germantown in 1777 and Monmouth in 1778; sat on the court-martial of Major John 

Andre in 1780; placed the American artillery at the Yorktown siege in 1781; commanded the West Point post, 1782–1783; organized the Society of the Cincinnati, 1783; was 

commander in chief of the Army, 23 December 1783–20 June 1784; served under the 

Confederation as Secretary at War, 8 March 1785–11 September 1789; served under the 

Constitution as first Secretary of War, 12 September 1789–31 December 1794; prepared 

a plan for a national militia, advocated and presided over initial moves to establish a 

regular Navy, urged and initiated the establishment of a chain of coastal fortifications, 

and supervised Indian policy; retired to Thomaston, Maine, 1796; engaged in lumbering, shipbuilding, stock raising, and brick manufacturing; died in Thomaston on 25 

October 1806.

The Artist

James Harvey Young (1830–1918) was born in Salem, Massachusetts, and studied architecture before opening a studio in Boston. Examples of his work are in the collections 

of the American Antiquarian Society and the Essex Institute; the latter organization 

owns a self-portrait. Young used Gilbert Stuart’s painting of Knox, hanging in Faneuil 

Hall in Boston, to produce a faithful likeness of the Revolutionary War hero, omitting 

only the cannon Stuart had included as a rest for Knox’s left hand, which had been 

crippled in a hunting accident. Young also painted Benjamin Lincoln for the Army’s 

secretarial portrait gallery.
HENRY KNOX

Washington Administration

By James Harvey Young after Gilbert Stuart

Oil on canvas, 351/2” x 281/2”, 1873
22

TIMOTHY PICKERING was born in Salem, Massachusetts, on 17 July 1745; 

graduated from Harvard College, 1763; was commissioned a lieutenant in the Essex 

County militia, 1766; studied law and was admitted to the bar, 1768; served as judge of 

the Maritime Court for the Boston-Salem district; wrote An Easy Plan of Discipline for 

a Militia in 1775, one of several guides used by the Army before von Steuben’s manual; 

became colonel of the Essex militia regiment and participated in military operations 

of the spring of 1775; married Rebecca White, 1776; participated in Revolutionary 

campaigns in New York and New Jersey; was adjutant general of the Army, 1777–1778, 

and concurrently a member of the Board of War; was quartermaster general of the 

Army, 1780–1785; returned to a mercantile business in Philadelphia, 1785; moved to 

Pennsylvania and organized the county of Luzerne, 1787; served as a delegate to the 

Constitutional Convention; was appointed by President Washington to treat with 

the Seneca Indians; was Postmaster General, 1791–1795; was called upon concurrently to negotiate with the Six Nations; served as Secretary of War, 2 January–10 

December 1795; advocated establishment of a military academy at West Point and 

expedited naval ship construction; was Secretary of State ad interim, 20 August–9 

December 1795, running the affairs of War and State concurrently; was Secretary of 

State, 10 December 1795–12 May 1800; returned to farming in Pennsylvania, then 

Massachusetts; was a Senator from Massachusetts 1803–1811; was a member of the 

State Executive Council, 1812–1813; was a Representative from Massachusetts, 1813–

1817; died in Salem on 29 January 1829.

The Artist

In the early 1870s, when Secretary Belknap was assembling a War Department gallery, 

the Army acquired two portraits of Secretary Pickering. One by Walter M. Brackett, 

painted in 1873, was donated to the United States Military Academy because of 

Pickering’s instrumental role in its founding and remains in the West Point collection 

today. The other portrait, represented here and hanging in the secretarial gallery in 

the Pentagon, was painted by an unknown artist at an unknown date and place. A 

notation in Army records indicates that the Army purchased a Pickering portrait from 

George E. Daniels of Potter Brothers, New York, who acted on behalf of an unknown 

owner.
TIMOTHY PICKERING

Washington Administration

By an unknown artist

Oil on canvas, 281/4” x 231/4”, circa 1873
24

JAMES McHENRY was born in Ballymena, County Antrim, Ireland, on 16 

November 1753; received a classical education at Dublin University; emigrated to the 

United States in 1771 followed by his parents a year later; attended Newark Academy 

in Delaware in 1772; studied medicine in Philadelphia under Dr. Benjamin Rush; joined 

the patriot cause and volunteered for military service in 1775; was assigned to the military hospital at Cambridge, Massachusetts, as assistant surgeon, 1776; was named surgeon of the 5th Pennsylvania Battalion in August; was captured at Fort Washington in 

the Long Island campaign in November; was paroled in January 1777 and exchanged 

in March 1778; was appointed secretary to General Washington in May; was posted 

to General Lafayette’s staff in 1780; was a member of the Maryland Senate from 1781–

1786 and appointed a delegate to the Confederation Congress in 1783, serving concurrently; married Margaret Allison Caldwell in 1784; was a Maryland delegate to the 

Constitutional Convention in 1787; was a member of the Maryland commission that 

welcomed George Washington on his inaugural journey to New York in 1789; served 

in the Maryland Assembly, 1789–1791; served again in the State Senate, 1791–1795; 

served as Secretary of War, 27 January 1796–13 May 1800; sustained his predecessor’s 

attention to coastal fortification and naval construction; defended his administration 

of the department in a formal paper read in the House of Representatives in 1802 and 

privately printed in 1803; published a Baltimore directory in 1807; served as president of 

the first bible society founded in Baltimore, 1813; died in Baltimore on 3 May 1816.

The Artist

Although H. Pollock is identified in an early Army portrait list as Miss H. Pollock, 

an 1873 letter from the artist to Secretary Belknap discloses a masculine hand even 

though it fails to reveal the writer’s sex. Baltimore directories of the period 1868–1886 

list a Henry Pollock as a resident of that city at the address on the Belknap letter, and 

give his occupation as artist and photographer and proprietor of a portrait gallery. 

This would seem to confirm that Henry Pollock is Secretary McHenry’s portraitist. 

Additional information about him is elusive.
JAMES MCHENRY

Washington and J. Adams Administrations

By H. Pollock

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, 1873
26

SAMUEL DEXTER was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on 14 May 1761; studied 

under the Reverend Aaron Putnam of Pomfret; graduated from Harvard College in 

1781; studied law at Worcester under Levi Lincoln, the future attorney general of the 

United States; was admitted to the bar in 1784; practiced at several locations until settling at Charlestown, Massachusetts, in 1788; married Catherine Gordon that year; 

served in the state House of Representatives, 1788–1790; served in the U.S. House 

of Representatives, 1793–1795, and the U.S. Senate, 1799–1800; wrote the memorial eulogy to George Washington upon the first president’s death in December 1799; 

served as Secretary of War, 13 May 1800–31 January 1801; urged congressional action 

to permit appointment and compensation of field officers for general staff duty; served 

as Secretary of the Treasury, 1801–1802; briefly conducted the affairs of the Foreign 

Office and administered the oath of office to Chief Justice John Marshall; returned 

to private life and the practice of law at Roxbury, Massachusetts; appeared frequently 

before the higher state courts and the Supreme Court to argue cases; left the Federalist 

party to espouse Republican views on the War of 1812, opposing an embargo and nonintercourse policy and unsuccessfully contesting its constitutionality; declined a special 

mission to the Court of Spain tendered by President Madison; was an unsuccessful 

candidate for governor of Massachusetts in 1814 and 1815; was an ardent supporter of 

the temperance movement and presided over its first formal organization in his home 

state; died in Athens, New York, his son’s home, on 3 May 1816.

The Artist

Walter M. Brackett (1823–1919) was born in Unity, Maine, the younger brother of 

sculptor Edward A. Brackett. He spent most of his professional career in Boston, 

Massachusetts, exhibiting his work at the Boston Athenaeum, the Apollo Association, 

and the National Academy. He painted the portraits of Secretaries Pickering, 

Dearborn, and Eustis, in addition to Secretary Dexter’s, for the Army’s portrait gallery 

of civilian leaders. His Pickering portrait was donated to West Point.
SAMUEL DEXTER

J. Adams Administration

By Walter M. Brackett

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, 1874
28

HENRY DEARBORN was born in Hampton, New Hampshire, on 23 February 

1751; studied medicine under Dr. Hall Jackson at Portsmouth; married Mary Bartlett, 

his first wife, in 1771; entered practice as a physician in 1772; was elected captain of 

a militia company; participated in the Battle of Bunker Hill, served under Benedict 

Arnold in the Quebec expedition and was captured, 1775; was paroled in 1776 and 

exchanged in 1777; was appointed major of the 3d New Hampshire Regiment; participated in operations at Ticonderoga and Freeman’s Farm with the 1st New Hampshire 

Regiment; spent the winter of 1777–1778 at Valley Forge; took part in the Battle of 

Monmouth, 1778; engaged in the 1779 operations against the Six Nations; married 

his second wife, Dorcas Marble, in 1780; joined Washington’s staff as deputy quartermaster general; commanded the 1st New Hampshire at Yorktown in 1781; returned to 

private life in Maine, 1783; was appointed brigadier and major general of militia; was 

appointed U.S. Marshal for the District of Maine, 1790; served in the U.S. House of 

Representatives, 1793–1797; served as Secretary of War, 5 March 1801–7 March 1809; 

helped plan the removal of the Indians beyond the Mississippi; was appointed Collector 

of the Port of Boston, 1809; was appointed senior major general in the U.S. Army, 1812; 

was ineffective in command of the northeastern theater in the War of 1812; captured 

York (Toronto) and Fort George (Quebec) in 1813; was transferred to command in 

New York City in 1813; married his third wife, Sarah Bowdoin; was nominated and 

withdrawn for the post of Secretary of War; served as minister to Portugal, 1822–1824; 

died in Roxbury, Massachusetts, on 6 June 1829.

The Artist

Walter M. Brackett (1823–1919), the Boston artist, became actively engaged in 

Secretary of War Belknap’s plans for an Army portrait gallery and painted four of the 

secretary’s earliest predecessors—Pickering, Dexter, Dearborn, and Eustis—in 1873. 

Only Daniel Huntington, Robert W. Weir, and Henry Ulke exceeded his output. 

Fittingly, his subjects were all residents of Massachusetts. His Pickering portrait is in 

the West Point collection.
HENRY DEARBORN

Jefferson Administration

By Walter M. Brackett

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, 1873
30

WILLIAM EUSTIS was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on 10 June 1753; studied at the Boston Latin School in preparation for college; graduated from Harvard 

College in 1772; studied medicine under Dr. Joseph Warren; helped care for the 

wounded at Bunker Hill, where Warren was killed; served in the Revolutionary Army 

as surgeon of the artillery regiment at Cambridge and then as a hospital surgeon; 

entered practice in Boston after the war; served as surgeon with the Shays’ Rebellion 

expedition, 1786–1787; became vice president of the Society of the Cincinnati, serving 

from 1786 to 1810 and again in 1820; served in the Massachusetts legislature (General 

Court), 1788–1794; was a member of the Governor’s Council for two years; served two 

terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1801–1804, having won close races over 

Josiah Quincy and John Quincy Adams; married Caroline Langdon, 1810; served as 

Secretary of War, 7 March 1809–13 January 1813; attempted to prepare the Army 

before the outbreak of the War of 1812 and resigned in the face of criticism following 

American reverses on the battlefield; was appointed minister to Holland by President 

Madison, serving from 1814 to 1818; returned home because of ill health; purchased 

and resided in the historic Shirley Mansion in Roxbury, Massachusetts; was again 

elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, 1820–1823; ran unsuccessfully for governor of Massachusetts in 1820, 1821, and 1822; was elected governor of Massachusetts 

and served two terms, 1823–1825; died in Boston while governor, on 6 February 1825.

The Artist

Walter M. Brackett (1823–1919), a Boston artist, painted four Secretaries of War whose 

stewardship over the department occurred before he was born; indeed, all had died 

before Brackett reached age seven, which was well before the age of photography and 

even before Louis Daguerre had perfected his daguerreotype process. Thus, Brackett 

had to rely upon the products of earlier artists and engravers for his image research; he 

was undoubtedly fortunate that his four subjects were men of both national and regional prominence who were inevitably subjects of pen or brush.
WILLIAM EUSTIS

Madison Administration

By Walter M. Brackett

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, 1873
32

JOHN ARMSTRONG was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on 25 November 1758; 

interrupted his education at Princeton University when the Revolutionary War broke 

out, joined the colonial army, and served on the staffs of Generals Mercer and Gates; 

participated in the Saratoga campaign and was present when Burgoyne surrendered; 

wrote the famous “Newburgh Letters” in 1783, outlining Continental Army services 

and grievances; returned to civilian life in Pennsylvania to become secretary of the 

state’s Supreme Executive Council; led state militia into the Wyoming Valley region in 

1784 to quell settler disturbances; was appointed state adjutant general of Pennsylvania; 

was elected a delegate to the Confederation Congress in 1787; married Alida Livingston 

in 1789; moved to Dutchess County, New York, to settle at Red Hook and engage in 

agriculture; served in the U.S. Senate, 1800–1802; was reappointed to the Senate to 

fill De Witt Clinton’s unexpired term; was minister to France, 1804–1810; was commissioned a brigadier general and assigned to command New York City and its defenses; 

served as Secretary of War, 13 January 1813–27 September 1814; was instrumental in 

securing legislative action for a permanent War Department management staff and 

pruned the general officer ranks; shared with President Madison and General William 

H. Winder the blame for the British capture of Washington and burning of the capital; 

resigned as secretary in September 1814; returned to agricultural pursuits at Red Hook, 

New York; wrote Notices of the War of 1812 (1836) and A Treatise on Agriculture (1839); 

died in Red Hook on 1 April 1843.

The Artist

Daniel Huntington (1816–1906) was born in New York City. He attended Hamilton 

College in Utica, where Charles Loring Elliott encouraged him to become an artist. He 

studied under Samuel F. B. Morse and Henry Inman in New York and pursued further 

studies in Europe, especially in Rome, in the late 1830s and the 1840s, finally achieving 

a reputation as a leading portrait, historical, and landscape painter. Huntington painted portraits of fifteen Army secretaries, most notably that of William Worth Belknap, 

creator of the gallery of civilian chief executives. His portrait of Secretary Armstrong, 

presented to the department by William B. Astor of New York, is after one by John 

Vanderlyn (1775–1852).
JOHN ARMSTRONG

Madison Administration

By Daniel Huntington after John Vanderlyn

Oil on canvas, 36” x 29”, 1873
34

JAMES MONROE was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, on 28 April 1758; 

attended private school and entered William and Mary College at sixteen; interrupted his education to become an officer in the Continental Army in 1776; participated in operations at Harlem, White Plains, Trenton, Brandywine, Germantown, and 

Monmouth; studied law under Governor Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, 1780–1783; 

served in the Virginia legislature, 1782–1786; served in the Confederation Congress, 

1783–1786; married Eliza Kortright, 1786; was admitted to the Virginia bar and practiced at Fredericksburg; was a delegate to the state convention called to ratify the 

Constitution, 1788; served in the U.S. Senate, 1790–1794; served as minister to France, 

1794–1796; was governor of Virginia, 1799–1802; was appointed special envoy to France 

in 1803 and participated in negotiations related to the Louisiana Purchase; served as 

minister to Great Britain, 1803–1807; headed a mission to Spain to negotiate American 

claims to Florida, 1804–1805; was offered and refused the governorship of Upper 

Louisiana, 1809; was again elected to the Virginia legislature, 1810; was again governor of Virginia, 1811; served as Secretary of State, 1811–1814; served concurrently as 

Secretary of War, 27 September 1814–2 March 1815; urged that conscription be introduced; was again Secretary of State, 1815–1817; was President of the United States, 

1817–1825; enunciated the Monroe Doctrine restraining European intrusions into the 

Americas; was elected to and presided over the Virginia Constitutional Convention of 

1829; moved to New York City after his wife’s death to live with his married daughter; 

died there on 4 July 1831.

The Artist

Robert Walter Weir (1803–1889) was born in New York City. He studied under John 

Wesley Jarvis and the English heraldic artist, Robert Cox. Weir established himself as 

a professional artist and studied in Florence, Italy, for three years before opening a New 

York studio in the late 1820s. In 1834 he became instructor in drawing at the United 

States Military Academy and was made professor in 1846, a post he held for three 

decades. A portraitist as well as landscape and genre painter, he executed half a dozen 

likenesses for the Army gallery.
JAMES MONROE

Madison Administration

By Robert Walter Weir

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, 1873
36

WILLIAM HARRIS CRAWFORD was born in Nelson County, Virginia, on 22 

February 1772; during his boyhood the family moved to South Carolina and then to 

Columbia County, Georgia; studied under Dr. Moses Waddel at Carmel Academy in 

Augusta, 1796–1798; commenced the practice of law in Oglethorpe County, 1799, and 

in 1802 completed a digest of the laws of Georgia covering the period 1755–1800; killed 

Peter L. Van Allen in a duel inspired by political rivalries, 1802; served in the Georgia 

legislature, 1803–1807; married Sussana Girardin, 1804; suffered a crippled left wrist in 

a duel with John Clark, 1806; was elected to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy created 

by the death of Senator Abraham Baldwin, 1807; was again elected to the U.S. Senate, 

1811, and elected president pro tempore upon the death of Vice President George 

Clinton, 1812; declined an offer to be Secretary of War, 1813; served as minister to 

France, 1813–1815; served as Secretary of War, 1 August 1815–22 October 1816; recommended to Congress the perpetuation of a War Department management staff; was 

actively considered by the Republicans as a candidate for president; served as Secretary 

of the Treasury, 1816–1825, was again a strong candidate for president in 1824; was 

stricken with paralysis during the campaign and temporarily incapacitated; declined 

to remain in the John Quincy Adams administration as Secretary of the Treasury; was 

appointed judge of the Northern Court of Georgia upon the death of the incumbent, 

1827; was reelected to the judgeship in 1828 and 1831; died at a friend’s home near 

Elberton, Georgia, while on the judicial circuit, 15 September 1834.

The Artist

Daniel Huntington (1816–1906) of New York was one of the more prolific artists 

engaged by Secretary Belknap to launch the Army’s portrait gallery of civilian leaders. In the period from 1873 to 1876, when the secretarial collection was created and 

brought up to date, Huntington produced portraits of Horatio Gates, President of 

the Board of War, and ten of Belknap’s predecessors, including Secretary William 

H. Crawford, as well as Belknap himself. He also painted several interim secretaries, 

including Generals Grant and Sherman.
WILLIAM HARRIS CRAWFORD

Madison Administration

By Daniel Huntington

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, 1875
38

JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN was born in Abbeville district, South Carolina, 

on 18 March 1772; studied under his brother-in-law, Dr. Moses Waddel, at Carmel 

Academy, Columbia County, Georgia; graduated from Yale College in 1804; studied 

law at Judge Tapping Reeve’s school in Litchfield, Connecticut, and continued his 

study at Charleston, South Carolina, in the office of Henry W. De Saussure; opened 

practice at Abbeville in 1807 but gave it up for plantation life; was elected to the South 

Carolina legislature in 1808 for two terms; married Floride Bouneau Calhoun in 1811; 

served in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1811–1817; joined the “war hawks” in 

recommending a declaration of war against England, 1812; served as Secretary of War, 

8 October 1817–7 March 1825; established the Army’s bureau system and formalized 

the lines of authority between staff and line; advocated an expansible regular Army 

in lieu of dependence upon militia; created the position of Commanding General of 

the Army; established the Artillery School of Practice, the Army’s first postgraduate school; authorized and instituted reforms at West Point; was Vice President of the 

United States under John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson; resigned in a dispute 

with Jackson over states’ rights and nullification; served in the U.S. Senate from South 

Carolina, 1832–1843; became a leading spokesman for slavery and states’ rights; served 

as Secretary of State, 1843–1845; served as South Carolina delegate and presiding 

officer of a rail and waterway convention at Memphis, Tennessee, 1845; was again a 

U.S. senator from South Carolina, 1845–1850; died in Washington, D.C., on 31 March 

1850.

The Artist

John Wesley Jarvis (1780–1840), portrait and miniature painter, engraver, and sculptor, 

was born in England. His family came to America about 1785, where he was apprenticed to engraver Edward Savage in Philadelphia. He began painting portraits in his 

early twenties, established a studio in New York City where Henry Inman and John 

Quidor studied, and became the foremost portrait painter in New York until he was 

paralyzed in 1834. Secretary Belknap found his portrait of Calhoun at West Point and 

gathered it into the secretarial collection. Several of his other portraits served as models for artists who contributed to the Army gallery.
JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN

Monroe Administration

By John Wesley Jarvis

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, date unknown
40

JAMES BARBOUR was born in Barboursville, Orange County, Virginia, on 10 

June 1775; studied under James Waddel, a blind Presbyterian minister, at Gordonsville, 

but attended no institution of higher learning and remained largely self-taught; married Lucy Johnson in 1792; was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1794 after private study 

while serving as a deputy sheriff; was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates and 

served from 1798 to 1804 and from 1808 to 1812; supported the Virginia Resolutions 

of 1798 concerning the powers of the central government and the rights of the states, 

holding himself against “absolute consolidated government”; was speaker of the House 

of Delegates, 1809–1812; drafted the legislation that established the Virginia Literary 

Fund and laid the foundation for public education in the state; was elected governor 

of Virginia and served from 1812–1815; served in the United States Senate, 1815–1825; 

was chairman of the Senate Committees on Military Affairs and Foreign Relations; 

served as Secretary of War, 7 March 1825–23 May 1828; established the Army’s 

Infantry School of Practice; served as minister to Great Britain, 1828–1829; after a 

contested election, served temporarily in the House of Delegates, 1830–1831, but was 

forced to give way to his opponent through a decision of the Committee of Privileges 

and Elections; retired to private life at Barboursville; presided over the 1839 Whig 

convention that nominated Harrison and Tyler; served as president of the Virginia 

Agricultural Society; was actively involved in the efforts of the Orange County 

Humane Society to educate the children of the poor; died in Barboursville, Virginia, 

on 7 June 1842.

The Artist

Henry Ulke (1821–1910) was born at Frankenstein, Germany. Educated in Berlin, he 

studied under the court painter, Professor K. W. Wach, joined the revolutionary army, 

and was wounded, captured, and imprisoned at Spandau before emigrating to the 

United States in 1849. After working as a designer and illustrator in New York City, he 

moved to Washington to become a portraitist of statesmen. In addition to the James 

Barbour portrait, he painted Secretaries Marcy, Holt, Stanton, Rawlins, and McCrary, 

and interim secretary Reverdy Johnson for the Army portrait gallery.
JAMES BARBOUR

J. Q. Adams Administration

By Henry Ulke

Oil on canvas, 28” x 22”, 1873
42

PETER BUELL PORTER was born at Salisbury, Connecticut, on 14 August 1773; 

graduated from Yale College in 1791; studied law at Judge Tapping Reeve’s school at 

Litchfield, Connecticut; moved to Canandaigua, New York, in 1795; entered into the 

practice of law; was clerk of Ontario County, 1797–1805; served in the New York legislature, 1801–1802; moved to Black Rock on the Niagara River; was a member of the 

firm of Porter, Barton, & Company, which controlled transportation on the Niagara 

Falls portage; served in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1809–1813; served on a 

commission on inland navigation established in 1810 to survey a Lake Erie–Hudson 

River canal route; was a leading figure among Congressional “war hawks” and chairman of the committee that recommended preparation for war with Great Britain; was 

quartermaster general of New York militia, May–October 1812; participated in and 

criticized General Alexander Smyth’s abortive operations against British Canada, 1812; 

fought a bloodless duel with Smyth; raised and commanded a brigade of New York 

militia that incorporated a Six Nations Indian contingent; led his command with distinction in the battles of Chippewa, Lundy’s Lane, and Fort Erie, 1814; again served in 

the Congress, 1814–1816; served on the U.S.–Canadian boundary commission, 1816–

1822; was Secretary of State of New York, 1816–1817; was defeated by De Witt Clinton 

for the New York governorship; married Letitia Breckinridge, 1818; was a regent of the 

State University, 1824–1830; served as Secretary of War, 26 May 1828–9 March 1829; 

advocated removal of Eastern Indians beyond the Mississippi; retired to private life; 

died at Niagara Falls, New York, on 20 March 1844.

The Artist

Daniel Huntington (1816–1906), the New York portrait, historical, and landscape 

painter, faced the same problems that confronted several of his fellow artists who were 

commissioned in the 1870s to execute portraits of early Secretaries of War. To produce 

likenesses that were reasonably contemporary to a subject’s stewardship, especially 

when the office-holder had served before the inception of the daguerreotype and photography and was no longer living to pass upon the finished work, the artist had no 

recourse except to consult a predecessor’s work. Huntington’s portrait of Porter falls 

into this category.
PETER BUELL PORTER

J. Q. Adams Administration

By Daniel Huntington after Matthew Harris Jouett

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, 1873
44

JOHN HENRY EATON was born in Halifax County, North Carolina, on 18 June 

1790; attended the University of North Carolina at sixteen; later studied law; moved to 

Tennessee about 1808 and settled at Franklin in Williamson County, where his father 

had acquired some land; served as a private soldier in the War of 1812; married his 

first wife, Myra Lewis, a ward of General Andrew Jackson; wrote The Life of Andrew 

Jackson, Major General in the Service of the United States, published in 1817; became a 

speculator in Florida land; was appointed to the U.S. Senate from Tennessee to fill an 

unexpired term, 1818; was elected by the state legislature to fill that seat in his own 

right and served to 1829; married Margaret “Peggy” O’Neale, daughter of a Washington 

tavern keeper and recent widow of a seaman, January 1829; was selected by President 

Jackson to be Secretary of War in his new administration despite a clamor raised by 

several cabinet wives and the local elite who considered the new Mrs. Eaton to be 

unacceptable to Washington society; served as Secretary of War, 9 March 1829–18 

June 1831; advocated compensation upon discharge for soldiers who served honorably; 

made the Topographical Engineers a separate bureau; resigned the secretaryship as 

the controversy concerning his wife nourished factionalism that helped rupture the 

cabinet; was defeated for reelection to the Senate, 1833; served as governor of Florida, 

1834–1836; served as minister to Spain, 1836–1840; retired to private life in the nation’s 

capital; died in Washington on 17 November 1856.

The Artist

Robert Walter Weir (1803–1889), longtime professor and instructor in drawing at West 

Point, painted not only Secretary Eaton but also Secretaries Monroe, Spencer, and 

Wilkins and interim Secretary Butler for the Army portrait gallery. The portraits were 

executed in 1873, long after the subjects had died, forcing Weir and his associates in 

the Army project to make good use of available graphic documentation.
JOHN HENRY EATON

Jackson Administration

By Robert Walter Weir

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, 1873
46

The Artist

Daniel Huntington (1816–1906) was a student at Hamilton College in Utica, New 

York, while Lewis Cass was Secretary of War. He had advanced in his profession to 

become president of the prestigious National Academy of Design by the time Cass 

died in 1866 and painted the former secretary’s portrait seven years later. Huntington 

produced some 1,200 works during his artistic career, about 1,000 of them portraits. 

Fifteen of his portraits were of primary (nominated and confirmed) Secretaries of War.

LEWIS CASS was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, on 9 October 1782; attended 

Exeter Academy; taught school in Wilmington, Delaware, 1799; moved to Marietta, 

Ohio, 1800, where he entered the practice of law in 1802; moved to Zanesville, Ohio; 

married Elizabeth Spencer, 1806; was elected to the Ohio legislature, 1806; served 

as marshal of Ohio, 1807–1812; was appointed colonel of the 3d Ohio Regiment and 

served with Generals Hull and Harrison in operations in the Old Northwest in the 

War of 1812; was commissioned a colonel and then brigadier general in the Regular 

Army, 1813; held joint command with Harrison of the Eighth Military District; participated in the Battle of the Thames, 1813; served as governor of Michigan Territory, 

1813–1831; served concurrently as superintendent of Indian affairs of the region, 

negotiating treaties with several tribes; served as Secretary of War, 1 August 1831–5 

October 1836; superintended the removal of Eastern Indians to trans-Mississippi lands; 

recommended a public armory for fabrication of cannon; recommended establishment 

of a regiment of dragoons; pressed for a plan for the efficient organization of the militia; was appointed minister to France, 1836; served in the U.S. Senate from Michigan, 

1845–1848; was nominated for President on the Democratic ticket, 1848; again served 

in the U.S. Senate, 1849–1857; served as Secretary of State, 1857–1860, and resigned in 

protest over the government’s decision not to reinforce Fort Sumter and the Charleston 

defenses; returned to his home in Detroit and continued to write in retirement on 

Indian and Western subjects; died there on 17 June 1866.
LEWIS CASS

Jackson Administration

By Daniel Huntington

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, 1873
48

The Artist

Army records note that Secretary Poinsett’s portrait was painted by an unknown artist 

at an unknown place and date and was already in the department’s possession when 

the portrait gallery project was launched in 1873, but records also indicate that Robert 

Walter Weir painted Poinsett for the collection. Although the Poinsett work seems 

to fall within the Weir style as seen in his portraits of Secretaries Monroe, Eaton, 

Spencer, and Wilkins, the lack of signature, date, and substantive documentary record 

leaves the matter in doubt.

JOEL ROBERTS POINSETT was born in Charleston, South Carolina, on 

2 March 1779; was educated by his father and the Reverend J. H. Thompson of 

Charleston; attended the academy of Timothy Dwight at Greenfield Hill, Connecticut, 

1794; continued his studies abroad; visited Portugal for reasons of health; returned 

home to study law under H. W. De Saussure; toured Europe and Asia in 1801–1804 and 

1806–1808; returned home amid indications of war with Great Britain; was a special 

agent to the South American states, 1810–1814; returned to South Carolina in 1815; 

served in the state legislature, 1816–1820; was chairman of the state’s Board of Public 

Works, 1818–1820; served in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1821–1825; served as 

a special envoy to Mexico, 1822–1823; was appointed the first American minister to 

Mexico, 1825, and became embroiled in the country’s political turmoil until his recall 

in 1830; returned to South Carolina to espouse the Unionist cause in nullification 

quarrels, 1830–1833; married Mary Izard Pringle, 1833; served as Secretary of War, 7 

March 1837–5 March 1841; presided over the continuing removal of Indians west of 

the Mississippi and over the Seminole War; reduced the fragmentation of the Army 

by concentrating elements at central locations; equipped the light batteries of artillery 

regiments as authorized by the 1821 army organization act; again retired to his plantation at Georgetown, South Carolina, 1841; developed the poinsettia from a Mexican 

flower; was a founder of the National Institute for the Promotion of Science and the 

Useful Arts, 1840; died near Statesburg, South Carolina, on 12 December 1851.
JOEL ROBERTS POINSETT

Van Buren Administration

By an unknown artist

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, date unknown
50

The Artist

Thomas Le Clear (1818–1882), portrait and genre painter, showed artistic aptitude in 

childhood: He sold his first work when he was twelve and engaged in portrait and 

decorative painting while yet in his teens. He was born at Owego, New York, and lived 

with his family in various locations in New York, Ontario, and Wisconsin before settling in New York City in 1839. From 1844 to 1860, he lived in Buffalo, then returned 

to New York City to continue his art career. Elected a National Academician in 

1863, his work is represented in the collections of the Maryland Historical Society in 

Baltimore and the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.

JOHN BELL was born on his father’s farm near Nashville, Tennessee, on 15 

February 1797; graduated from Cumberland College in 1814 at seventeen; was admitted 

to the bar and began practice in Franklin, Tennessee; was elected to the state legislature before reaching twenty-one; moved to Nashville to continue the practice of law, 

circa 1819; married Sally Dickinson and, following her death, Jane Yeatman; served 

in the U.S. House of Representatives from Tennessee, 1827–1841; served as Speaker of 

the House, 1834–1835, defeating James K. Polk, who was also a candidate for the office; 

although originally a member of President Jackson’s party and a supporter of administration policies, opposed Jackson’s bank policy and selection of Van Buren as a successor; became the leader of the Whig party in Tennessee; served as Secretary of War in 

the Harrison and Tyler cabinets, 5 March 1841–13 September 1841; presided over the 

final stages of the Seminole War; returned to private life, 1841–1847; was elected to the 

U.S. Senate in 1847 and served to 1859; remained a nationally minded Southerner in 

the Congress as sectional attitudes sharpened over the slavery issue; was the presidential candidate of the Constitutional Union Party in 1860; at first opposed secession and 

influenced Tennessee’s decision not to secede; after Fort Sumter, supported his state’s 

decision to join the Confederacy; moved to the lower South after Union troops entered 

Tennessee; returned home after the Civil War; died near Bear Spring Furnace, Stewart 

County, Tennessee, on 10 September 1869.
JOHN BELL

W. H. Harrison and Tyler Administrations

By Thomas Le Clear

Oil on canvas (tondo), 29” x 24”, 1874
52

The Artist

Robert Walter Weir (1803–1889), landscape, portrait, and genre painter, illustrator, 

and a National Academician, was instructor in drawing at the United States Military 

Academy when Secretary Spencer presided over the War Department. Although 

Spencer may well have visited West Point in the discharge of his official duties, Weir 

did not have the opportunity to paint him from life. The portrait was not painted until 

three decades later, eighteen years after Spencer’s death.

JOHN CANFIELD SPENCER was born in Hudson, New York, on 8 January 

1788; entered college at Williamstown, Massachusetts, transferred to Union College, 

Schenectady, New York, and graduated with honors in 1806; became secretary to 

Governor Daniel D. Tompkins, 1807; studied law in Albany and was admitted to the 

bar, 1809; married Elizabeth Scott Smith, 1809; moved to Canandaigua, New York; 

entered the practice of law there and became a master of chancery, 1811; was appointed 

brigade judge advocate on the northern frontier, 1813; was postmaster at Canandaigua, 

1814; became assistant attorney general and district attorney for the five western counties of New York, 1815; served in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1817–1819; was 

a member of the committee that reported unfavorably on the affairs of the National 

Bank; was nominated but defeated for the U.S. Senate; served in the state assembly, 

1820–1822; served in the state senate, 1825–1828; became special prosecutor to investigate the disappearance of William Morgan, author of a manuscript on Masonic rituals, 

1829; again served in the state legislature, 1831–1833; moved to Albany, 1837; edited 

an English edition of De Tocqueville’s Democracy in America, 1838; was secretary of 

state of New York, 1839; served as Secretary of War, 12 October 1841–3 March 1843; 

proposed a chain of posts extending from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to the Columbia River; 

urged that the government adhere to field commander arrangements by compensating the Creek Indians, who were removed; lost his son Philip, who was executed for 

attempted mutiny aboard the brig Somers, 1842; was nominated to the Supreme Court 

but rejected by the U.S. Senate, 1844; died in Albany, New York, on 18 May 1855.
JOHN CANFIELD SPENCER

Tyler Administration

By Robert Walter Weir

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, 1873
54

The Artist

Daniel Huntington (1816–1906), New York portrait, landscape, and historical painter, 

National Academician, and twice president of the National Academy of Design (1862–

1870 and 1877–1890), drew upon the work of a provincial artist to execute his portrait 

of Secretary James M. Porter. He painted it three decades after the subject held office 

and a dozen years after his death. Huntington was a key artist in the creation of the 

Army portrait gallery; his contribution is of major significance as to both quantity and 

quality.

JAMES MADISON PORTER was born near Norristown, Pennsylvania, on 6 

January 1793; received his early education in the home, then attended Norristown 

Academy; began the study of law in an office at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 1809; joined 

his brother, Judge Robert Porter, to study law at Reading; moved to Philadelphia to 

clerk in the prothonotary’s office, 1812; helped raise and officer a volunteer militia 

company to garrison Fort Mifflin, 1813; advanced to the rank of colonel; was admitted 

to the bar and began the practice of law, 1813; moved to Easton, 1818; was appointed 

deputy attorney general for Northhampton County; married Eliza Michler, 1821; was 

instrumental in the founding of Lafayette College, 1826; was president of its board of 

trustees, 1826–1852, and professor of jurisprudence and political economy, 1837–1852; 

was appointed to a vacancy as president judge of the Twelfth Judicial District, 1839; 

resigned in 1840 and returned to the practice of law; was nominated by President Tyler 

to be Secretary of War, 1843, and served 8 March 1843–30 January 1844; directed the 

preparation of a history of the Indian tribes; was ultimately rejected by the Senate, 

30 January 1844; was elected to the state legislature, 1849; served as chairman of the 

judiciary committee; served as president judge of the Twenty-second Judicial District, 

1853–1855; was president of the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill & Susquehanna Railroad, 

1847–1853, continuing when it became the Lehigh Valley Railroad, 1853–1856; became 

president of the Belvidere Delaware Railroad; died at Easton, Pennsylvania, on 11 

November 1862.
JAMES MADISON PORTER

Tyler Administration

By Daniel Huntington

Oil on canvas, 29” x 24”, 1874
56

WILLIAM WILKINS was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, on 20 December 1779; 

moved with his family to Pittsburgh in 1783; graduated from Dickinson College, 

Carlisle, in 1802; studied law with David Watts at Carlisle; returned to Pittsburgh and 

was admitted to the Allegheny County bar; was censured in 1806 for participating as a 

second in a duel; was an organizer of the Pittsburgh Manufacturing Company; became 

its president when it was chartered in 1814 as the Bank of Pittsburgh; was president of 

the Monongahela Bridge Company; was president of the Greensburg and Pittsburgh 

Turnpike Company; married Catherine Holmes, 1815, who died the following year; was 

president of the Pittsburgh Common Council, 1816–1819; married Mathilda Dallas, 

1818; was elected to the state legislature, 1819; resigned in December 1820 to become 

presiding judge of the Fifth Judicial District; was appointed judge of the U.S. District 

Court for Western Pennsylvania, 1824; was an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. 

House of Representatives, 1826; was elected to the House in 1828 but resigned before 

taking office; was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1831; resigned to accept appointment 

as minister to Russia, 1834–1836; was again defeated as a candidate for Congress, 

1840; was again elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, 1842–1843; served as 

Secretary of War, 15 February 1844–4 March 1845; espoused territorial expansion and 

favored the annexation of Texas; returned to private life in Pittsburgh; served in the 

Pennsylvania Senate, 1855–1857; became major general in the Pennsylvania Home 

Guard, 1862; lived in retirement in Pittsburgh; died there on 23 June 1865.

The Artist

Robert Walter Weir (1803–1889) is second only to Daniel Huntington in the number 

of portraits he produced for the Army portrait gallery. Weir received $300 each for his 

portraits of Secretaries Monroe, Eaton, Spencer, Wilkins, and interim Secretary Butler. 

When Secretary Belknap’s portrait project, begun in the centennial year, was terminated in the bicentennial year, the taxpayers’ investment appeared to have been well 

secured. The five Weir paintings, produced in the 1870s at a total cost of $1,500, were 

appraised in the 1970s at slightly more than $10,000.
WILLIAM WILKINS

Tyler Administration

By Robert Walter Weir

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, 1873
58

The Artist

Henry Ulke (1821–1910), a German-born and German-trained artist and a court painter and revolutionary in Berlin before he emigrated to the United States in 1849, was 

next only to Huntington and Weir in the number of portraits he contributed to the 

first century of the War Department’s secretarial gallery project. His portraits of six of 

Secretary Belknap’s predecessors—Barbour, Marcy, Holt, Stanton, Rawlins, Johnson—

and one successor—McCrary—were among the more than one hundred he produced 

while a limner of statesmen in the nation’s capital.

WILLIAM LEARNED MARCY was born in Sturbridge (now Southbridge), 

Massachusetts, on 12 December 1786; was educated at Leicester and Woodstock 

Academies; graduated from Brown University, 1808; taught school briefly at Newport, 

Rhode Island; moved to Troy, New York, to study law and was admitted to the bar, 

1811; married Dolly Newell in 1812 (deceased in 1821); wrote for the Northern Budget 

and the Albany Argus; joined the 155th New York Regiment and served in several 

actions of the War of 1812; was appointed adjutant general of New York, 1821; was 

appointed recorder of Troy, 1816–1818 and 1821–1823; was an associate in the firm of 

Marcy & Lane, 1818–1823; was appointed state comptroller of New York and moved to 

Albany, 1823; married Cornelia Knower, circa 1825; was appointed associate justice of 

the state Supreme Court, 1829; was elected to the U.S. Senate, 1831–1832; served three 

terms as governor of New York, 1833–1838; executed the state’s first survey of fiftysix counties; was a member of the Mexican Claims Commission, 1840–1842; served 

as Secretary of War, 6 March 1845–4 March 1849; recommended augmentation of 

existing Army units to meet a growing threat from Mexico and the Indians; proposed 

establishment of an Indian agency in the Oregon territory to deal with northwestern 

tribes; was a key figure in the settlement of the Oregon boundary dispute, 1846; served 

as Secretary of State, 7 March 1853–6 March 1857, and directed the negotiation of 

twenty-four pacts, including the Gadsden Treaty that added 29,640 square miles to the 

United States; returned to private life in Albany; died at Ballston Spa, New York, on 4 

July 1857.
WILLIAM LEARNED MARCY

Polk Administration

By Henry Ulke

Oil on canvas, 273/4” x 221/4”, 1873
60

The Artist

Daniel Huntington (1816–1906), a well-known New York painter and the major 

contributor to the War Department secretarial portrait gallery, received $300 for his 

portrait of Secretary Belknap and for each portrait of eight of Belknap’s predecessors, 

including Secretary Crawford. As fine art tends to increase in value with time, these 

nine Huntington portraits, commissioned for the nation’s 1876 centennial celebration 

at a total cost to the department of $2,700, were appraised in the 1976 bicentennial 

year at $15,300. Huntington’s portrait of Secretary Crawford is after one by Alexander 

Hay Ritchie (1822–1895).

GEORGE WASHINGTON CRAWFORD was born in Columbia County near 

Augusta, Georgia, on 22 December 1798; graduated from Princeton College in 1820; 

studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1822; entered the practice of law, opening 

an office in Augusta; was elected attorney general of Georgia and served in the period 

1827–1831; returned to the practice of law; served in the Georgia legislature from 1837 

to 1842; was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Whig in 1843 and served 

about one month, resigning to accept the nomination for governor; served as governor 

of Georgia for two terms, 1843–1847; served as Secretary of War in President Taylor’s 

cabinet, 8 March 1849–23 July 1850; proposed that a bounty be granted to encourage 

enlistees to enter service at remote stations; resigned upon President Taylor’s death; 

retired to private life at his Georgia home; served as chairman of the Georgia secession 

convention, 1861; died at his Bel Air estate near Augusta on 22 July 1872. (Secretary 

Crawford’s middle name is given as Walker in some sources.)
GEORGE WASHINGTON CRAWFORD

Taylor Administration

By Daniel Huntington after Alexander Hay Ritchie

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, 1873
62

The Artist

Daniel Huntington (1816–1906) painted presidents and generals, writers and artists, 

Astors and Vanderbilts in seven active decades as a working artist. Despite the fact 

that he achieved prominence in his day, he has been largely ignored by art historians, 

suggesting that what Richard Muther wrote of the French artist Leon Cogniet (1794–

1880) applies in some degree to Huntington: “As an artist he belongs to the list of 

great men who have paid for overpraise in their lifetime by oblivion after their death.” 

Huntington painted Charles M. Conrad twenty years after his subject’s Army stewardship and five years before Conrad’s death.

CHARLES MAGILL CONRAD was born in Winchester, Frederick County, 

Virginia, on 24 December 1804; moved to Mississippi with his family as a boy; moved 

to Louisiana and was educated under a Dr. Huld at New Orleans; studied law in the 

office of Abner L. Duncan in that city; fought a duel in which he killed his opponent; 

was admitted to the bar and began the practice of law in New Orleans, 1828; married M. W. Angella Lewis; was elected to the Louisiana legislature in 1840 and served 

two terms; was appointed to the U.S. Senate in April 1842 to fill the unexpired term 

of Alexander Mouton, serving to March 1843; was defeated for reelection in his own 

right; served as a delegate to the Louisiana state constitutional convention, 1844; 

served in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1849–1850; resigned to accept appointment as Secretary of War in President Fillmore’s cabinet; served as Secretary of War, 15 

August 1850–7 March 1853; recommended that another mounted regiment be raised 

for Indian service; proposed that local militia, provided with government arms, be 

formed to meet the Indian threat; urged that the government feed Indians who would 

abandon predatory habits and cultivate the soil; resumed the practice of law; served as 

a delegate from New Orleans to the state convention to ratify national and state tickets, 1860; served as a delegate to the Provisional Confederate Congress, February 1861; 

served as a representative from Louisiana to the Confederate Congress, 1862–1864; 

lost his estate through confiscation; resumed the practice of law after the Civil War; 

suffered a seizure while testifying in federal circuit court in New Orleans, 1878; died in 

New Orleans on 11 February 1878.
CHARLES MAGILL CONRAD

Fillmore Administration

By Daniel Huntington

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, 1873
64

The Artist

Daniel Huntington (1816–1906) was at the midpoint of his career when he painted 

Secretary Davis in 1874; he had first exhibited circa 1836 at the National Academy of 

Design in New York, when he was only twenty, and would paint until the year of his 

death, 1906. Jefferson Davis’ tour in the department was seventeen years in the past 

when Huntington painted him, and, although Davis was still living, Huntington’s portrait of him was after a copy rather than from life.

JEFFERSON DAVIS was born in Christian (now Todd) County, Kentucky, on 

3 June 1808; moved with his family to Wilkinson County, Mississippi; attended St. 

Thomas’s Seminary, 1815, and Transylvania University, 1821; graduated from West 

Point, 1828; was assigned to frontier service in Wisconsin-Illinois; participated in the 

Black Hawk War, 1832; resigned his commission, 1835; married and lost his first wife 

Sarah Knox Taylor, daughter of Zachary Taylor, 1835; was a planter in Mississippi, 

1835–1845; married Varina Howell, 1845; served in the U.S. House of Representatives, 

1845–1846; resigned to take part in the Mexican War and participated in the battles of 

Monterey and Buena Vista, 1846–1847; served in the U.S. Senate, 1847–1851; was an 

unsuccessful candidate for governor of Mississippi, 1851; served as Secretary of War, 7 

March 1853–6 March 1857; sponsored Army map and route surveys of the trans-Mississippi West, experimented with a camel corps, obtained four new regiments for the 

Army, and sponsored the adoption of a new rifled infantry musket; was again elected 

to the U.S. Senate, 1857–1861; announced the secession of Mississippi and tendered his 

resignation, 21 January 1861; was appointed major general of Mississippi militia; was 

appointed President of the Confederate States of America by a provisional Congress, 18 

February 1861, elected by popular vote, and inaugurated as President, 22 February 1862; 

fled Richmond as Union troops advanced, 3 April 1865; was captured at Irwinville, 

Georgia, and interned at Fortress Monroe, Virginia; refused to ask for Federal pardon; 

was released on bond, 13 May 1867; retired to Mississippi; died in New Orleans on 6 

December 1889; full rights of citizenship restored by the U.S. Congress, 1978.
JEFFERSON DAVIS

Pierce Administration

By Daniel Huntington

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, 1874
66

The Artist

Daniel Huntington (1816–1906) was not only a National Academician and twice 

president of the National Academy of Design but also a founder of the Century 

Club, serving as its president for sixteen years, and a vice president and trustee of 

the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. A self-portrait hangs in the Century 

Club, and his work is represented in public and private collections around the country, including the White House (President and Mrs. Rutherford B. Hayes, President 

Chester A. Arthur, Mrs. Benjamin Harrison) and the Capitol (Speaker Robert C. 

Winthrop). His portrait of Secretary Floyd was executed more than a decade after the 

subject’s death.

JOHN BUCHANAN FLOYD was born in Smithfield, Virginia, on 1 June 

1806; was educated by gifted parents, was probably a student at Georgetown College, 

Washington, D.C., before transferring to South Carolina College, from which he 

graduated in 1829; married Sally Preston in 1830; entered the practice of law at 

Wytheville, Virginia; moved to Arkansas to take up cotton planting and practice law 

at Helena; was stricken along with many of his slaves by malignant fever; returned to 

Virginia to recuperate and resume his law practice, 1837; was elected to the state legislature in 1847 and 1848; was governor of Virginia, 1849–1852; resumed the practice 

of law at Abingdon, Virginia; was again elected to the General Assembly, 1855; served 

as Secretary of War, 6 March 1857–29 December 1860; disagreed with the government’s decision to sustain Major Anderson’s occupation of Fort Sumter; was asked to 

resign for accepting drafts by government contractors against future services; departed 

office amid complaints he had transferred arms to Southern arsenals in anticipation 

of approaching war; was investigated by a congressional committee, but no action 

resulted, 1861; was appointed brigadier general in the Confederate Army; participated 

in actions with Lee’s Army in West Virginia; was removed from command by Jefferson 

Davis for his conduct at Fort Donelson, Tennessee, 1862; was promoted to major general by the Virginia legislature; died at Abingdon, Virginia, on 26 August 1863; was 

held later (1868) by a divided Supreme Court to have been in violation of the law for 

the contractor acceptances honored in advance during his administration of the War 

Department.
JOHN BUCHANAN FLOYD

Buchanan Administration

By Daniel Huntington

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, 1874
68

The Artist

Louis P. Spinner (1852–1929) was born near Warren, Pennsylvania. As a teenager he 

worked as a sign painter and colored tintype photographs. At the age of eighteen he 

moved to Washington, D.C., and by 1871 he opened his own studio. For the next forty 

years he painted landscapes in oils and watercolors. He also painted portraits of such 

prominent Washingtonians as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Melville W. Fuller, 

California Senator Leland Stanford, and Secretary of the Navy William C. Whitney. 

He is buried in the Congressional Cemetery.

JOSEPH HOLT was born in Breckenridge County, Kentucky, on 6 January 1807; 

was educated at St. Joseph’s College, Bardstown, and Centre College, Danville; entered 

into the practice of law at Elizabethtown, Kentucky, 1828; married Mary Harrison; 

moved to Louisville, 1832; was assistant editor of the Louisville Advertiser; was commonwealth’s attorney, 1833–1835; moved to Port Gibson, Mississippi, to practice law, 

1835–1842; returned to Louisville to recuperate from tuberculosis after losing his 

wife to the disease; continued to practice law; married Margaret Wickliffe; moved to 

Washington to serve as commissioner of patents, 1857–1859; served as U.S. postmaster 

general, 1859–1861; served as Secretary of War, 18 January–5 March 1861; was appointed the first Judge Advocate General of the U.S. Army, 3 September 1862; prosecuted 

the John Wilkes Booth conspirators in the Lincoln assassination and was accused of 

suppressing evidence; issued a pamphlet, Vindication of Judge Advocate General Holt 

From the Foul Slanders of Traitors, Confessed Perjurers and Suborners, Acting in the 

Interest of Jefferson Davis, 1866; resigned as Judge Advocate General, 1875; died in 

Washington, D.C., on 1 August 1894.
JOSEPH HOLT

Buchanan Administration

By Louis P. Spinner

Oil on canvas, 28” x 22”, 1889
70

The Artist

Freeman Thorp (1844–1922) was born in Geneva, Ohio. He studied portrait painting 

and at twenty-seven began to paint statesmen in a studio built for his use on the roof 

of the U.S. Capitol. It was there that Ulysses Grant sat for his portrait. Thorp painted 

four other presidents—Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Cleveland—among a number of eminent Americans, including Chief Justice Salmon Chase, Horace Greeley, 

and Robert E. Lee. He was thirty years old when he painted Secretary Cameron, who, 

although a dozen years beyond his War Department stewardship, was still sitting in the 

Senate.

SIMON CAMERON was born in Maytown, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, on 

8 March 1799; was orphaned at nine and later apprenticed to a printer before entering the field of journalism; was editor of the Bucks County Messenger, 1821; moved to 

Washington in 1822 and studied political movements while working for the printing 

firm of Gales and Seaton; married Margaret Brua; returned to Harrisburg to purchase 

and run the Republican, 1824; served as state printer of Pennsylvania, circa 1825–1827; 

was state adjutant general, 1826; constructed several rail lines and merged them into 

the Northern Central Railroad; founded the Bank of Middletown, 1832, and engaged 

in other business enterprises; was appointed a commissioner to settle claims of the 

Winnebago Indians, 1838; served in the U.S. Senate, 1845–1849; was again elected 

to the Senate, 1857–1861; was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination for president, 1860; served as Secretary of War, 5 March 1861–14 January 1862; 

centralized recruiting in the War Department; was widely criticized for favoritism in 

awarding departmental positions and contracts, and was censured by the House of 

Representatives for contract manipulations; was again elected to the Senate and served 

from 1867 to 1877; saw his son, James Donald Cameron, appointed Secretary of War, 

1876; resigned his Senate seat upon assurances from the subservient Pennsylvania legislature that his son would be elected his successor, 1877; retired to his farm at Donegal 

Springs, Pennsylvania; died there on 26 June 1889.
SIMON CAMERON

Lincoln Administration

By Freeman Thorp

Oil on canvas, 291/4” x 241/4”, 1874
72

The Artist

Henry Ulke (1821–1910), German-born and German-trained, was active as an illustrator and designer from his arrival in New York City in 1849 until his move to 

Washington in 1857. Switching from illustration to fine art, he painted over a hundred 

portraits, mostly of eminent Americans, in his more than half a century of activity in 

the nation’s capital. In addition to half a dozen Secretaries of War, he painted a number 

of Secretaries of the Treasury and such notable figures as Chief Justices Salmon Chase 

and Roger Taney, Secretary of State James G. Blaine, Senator Charles Sumner, and 

Mrs. Jefferson Davis.

EDWIN McMASTERS STANTON was born in Steubenville, Ohio, on 19 

December 1814; left school as a teenager, upon his father’s death, to work and continued spare time study, 1827; attended Kenyon College but withdrew for financial reasons; studied law and was admitted to the bar, 1836; married Mary Ann Lamson; was 

prosecuting attorney of Harrison County, Ohio, 1837–1839; entered the practice of law 

at Cadiz and Steubenville, 1839; lost his wife, 1844; moved to Pittsburgh to pursue his 

law career, 1847; was counsel for the state of Pennsylvania, 1849–1856; married Ellen 

Hutchinson, 1856; was appointed a special government counsel to adjudicate fraudulent 

land claims in California, 1858; was attorney general of the United States, 1860–1861; 

served as Secretary of War, 20 January 1862–28 May 1868; persuaded Congress that the 

government should assume selective control over the railroads and telegraph; prevailed 

upon the president to release political prisoners in military custody and transfer control 

over extraordinary arrests from the State to the War Department; established a Bureau 

of Colored Troops; rejected President Andrew Johnson’s August 1867 request that he 

resign; was suspended by President Johnson but resumed his seat when the Senate 

nonconcurred, January 1868; resigned in May 1868; resumed the practice of law; was 

nominated by President Grant to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court and was 

confirmed by the Senate on 20 December 1869, but died in Washington, D.C., on 24 

December 1869, before he could take office.
EDWIN MCMASTERS STANTON

Lincoln and A. Johnson Administrations

By Henry Ulke

Oil on canvas, 28” x 22”, 1872
74

The Artist

Stephen William Shaw (1817–1900) was born in Windsor, Vermont. At thirty-one he 

journeyed to California by way of New Orleans and Panama to settle at San Francisco 

and pursue a career as a portrait painter. He became the official artist to the Masonic 

order there, painting a large number of Masons and other Western notables. He also 

participated in the expedition that discovered Humboldt Bay in New Guinea. Shaw 

painted Secretary Schofield from life in 1874 while his subject was commander of the 

Military Division of the Pacific with headquarters at San Francisco.

JOHN McALLISTER SCHOFIELD was born in Gerry, New York, on 29 

December 1831; moved to Freeport, Illinois, 1843; graduated from West Point, 1853; 

served with 2d Artillery in Georgia and the 1st Artillery in Florida, 1853–1855; taught 

natural and experimental philosophy at West Point, 1855–1857; married his first wife, 

Harriet Bartlett, 1857; taught physics at Washington University, St. Louis, 1860; was 

detailed at the outbreak of the Civil War as mustering officer in Missouri; was major of 

the 1st Missouri Volunteer Infantry; moved up to command the Army of the Frontier 

in Missouri operations, 1862–1863; commanded the Department of the Missouri, 

1863; commanded the XXIII Corps, 1864; participated in the battles of Franklin 

and Nashville; was commissioned brigadier general in the regular Army, 1864; commanded the Department of North Carolina; participated with Sherman’s forces in final 

operations in the South; was dispatched to France as confidential agent to deal with 

Mexican affairs, 1865–1866; commanded the Department of the Potomac, 1867; served 

as Secretary of War, 1 June 1868–13 March 1869; recommended that the management 

of Indian affairs be restored to the War Department; was promoted to major general 

and command of the Department of the Missouri; commanded the Division of the 

Pacific; served as superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy, 1876–1881; successively 

commanded the divisions of the Pacific, Missouri, and Atlantic; served as commanding 

general of the Army, 1888–1895; married Georgia Kilbourne, 1891; was promoted to 

lieutenant general and retired, 1895; died in St. Augustine, Florida, on 4 March 1906.
JOHN MCALLISTER SCHOFIELD

A. Johnson Administration

By Stephen William Shaw

Oil on canvas, 30” x 25”, 1874
76

The Artist

Henry Ulke (1821–1910), the German-born artist who left revolutionary activities 

behind when he emigrated to the United States in 1849, became not only a leading 

portrait painter in his adopted land but also a celebrated naturalist as well; his collection of American beetles, the largest known at the time, was exhibited in the Museum 

of Natural History at the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh. Ulke would undoubtedly have painted Secretary Rawlins from life had the Army official not succumbed to 

tuberculosis. Rawlins had been dead about four years when Ulke produced his portrait 

for the Army gallery.

JOHN AARON RAWLINS was born in Galena, Illinois, on 13 February 1831; 

attended local schools followed by eighteen months at Rock River Seminary at Mount 

Morris, Illinois; studied law in the office of Isaac P. Stevens of Galena and was admitted to the bar in 1854; practiced law in partnership with Stevens and later with one 

of his own pupils, David Sheean; married his first wife, Emily Smith, 1856; was city 

attorney in 1857; was nominated a presidential elector on the Douglas ticket, 1860; 

helped organize the 45th Illinois Infantry and was designated a major in the regiment; 

was requested by Col. Ulysses S. Grant of the 21st Illinois Infantry to accept a commission as lieutenant and assignment as Grant’s aide-de-camp; was appointed captain and 

assistant adjutant general of volunteers on Grant’s staff, 1861; lost his wife to tuberculosis; served as Grant’s principal adviser; was promoted to major in May 1862, lieutenant 

colonel in November 1862, and brigadier general of volunteers, August 1863; married 

Mary Hurlbut, 1863; was designated chief of staff of the Army, 1865; was brevetted 

major general of volunteers in February 1865 and of the regular army in April 1865; 

contracted tuberculosis; attempted to restore his health by accompanying Grenville 

Dodge on a survey of the proposed route of the Union Pacific Railroad to Salt Lake 

City; served as Secretary of War, 13 March 1869–6 September 1869; died in office in 

Washington, D.C., on 6 September 1869.
JOHN AARON RAWLINS

Grant Administration

By Henry Ulke

Oil on canvas, 28” x 221/2”, 1873
78

The Artist

Daniel Huntington (1816–1906), who produced a larger number of secretarial portraits 

than any other artist, and Secretary Belknap, who created the portrait gallery, came 

together in a direct association in 1874, when Huntington painted the sitting secretary 

from life. With the line of descent brought up to date, a new era opened. Secretaries 

began to select their own portraitists, and the artists began to paint their subjects from 

life. The first century with its predominance of copy work gave way to a second century marked by an interplay of personal relationships that is reflected in the official 

portraiture.

WILLIAM WORTH BELKNAP was born in Newburgh, New York, on 22 

September 1829; graduated from Princeton University in 1848; studied law at 

Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.; was admitted to the bar, 1851; moved 

to Keokuk, Iowa, and entered the practice of law; served in the state legislature, 

1857–1858; was commissioned major in the 15th Iowa Infantry, 1861; participated in 

the Civil War battles of Shiloh, Corinth, and Vicksburg; was promoted to brigadier 

general and given command of the 4th Division, XVII Corps, 1864; participated in 

General Sherman’s operations in Georgia and the Carolinas; was mustered out of 

service as a major general, 1865; married and lost his first two wives, Cora LeRoy and 

Carrie Tomlinson, and married Mrs. John Bower, his second wife’s sister; was collector 

of internal revenue in Iowa, 1865–1869; served as Secretary of War, 25 October 1869–2 

March 1876; launched the secretarial portrait gallery, circa 1872; recommended that 

Congress act to fix 1 May as the start of the fiscal year; inaugurated the preparation of 

historical reports by post commanders; proposed actions to preserve Yellowstone Park; 

was impeached by a unanimous vote of the House of Representatives for allegedly having received money in return for post tradership appointments; resigned the secretaryship before being brought to trial, March 1876; was tried by the United States Senate, 

but the vote fell short of the two-thirds required for conviction; moved to Philadelphia, 

then returned to Washington to resume the practice of law; died in Washington, D.C., 

on 13 October 1890.
WILLIAM WORTH BELKNAP

Grant Administration

By Daniel Huntington

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, 1874
80

The Artist

Daniel Huntington (1816–1906) had completed four of his seven decades as a working 

artist and had secured his reputation as a portrait, historical, and landscape painter 

when Secretary Alphonso Taft sat for him during the nation’s centennial year. The 

Army increased the fee for secretarial portraits from $300 to $500, effective with 

Huntington’s work on Taft, an increase fully justified in light of the additional requirements of painting from life—requirements involving appointments, sittings, and 

approvals.

ALPHONSO TAFT was born in Townshend, Vermont, on 5 November 1810; 

attended local schools and taught school to obtain funds to study at Amherst 

Academy; graduated from Yale College, 1833; taught school at Ellington, Connecticut; 

held a tutorship at Yale while studying law; was admitted to the Connecticut bar, 1838; 

moved to Cincinnati and commenced the practice of law, circa 1840; married Fanny 

Phelps, 1841, and, after her death, Louisa Torrey, 1853; was appointed to the superior 

court of Cincinnati to fill a vacancy, then elected to the post for two terms, 1865–1872; 

resumed the practice of law, 1872–1876; served as Secretary of War, 8 March–22 May 

1876; was appointed attorney general of the United States, 1876–1877; was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Ohio, 1875 and 1879; served as minister to AustriaHungary, 1882–1884; served as minister to Russia, 1885–1886; died in San Diego, 

California, on 21 May 1891.
ALPHONSO TAFT

Grant Administration

By Daniel Huntington

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, 1876
82

The Artist

Daniel Huntington (1816–1906) made his mark upon the Army’s portrait collection 

not only in the number of paintings he executed but also in the variety and distinction of his subjects. In addition to his contribution to the secretarial line of succession, 

he painted two distinguished Revolutionary War soldiers, George Washington and 

Horatio Gates; one notable Mexican War commander, Winfield Scott; and three eminent Civil War leaders, Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, and Philip H. Sheridan. 

All but Washington had direct official connections to the administration of the War 

Department. Huntington’s portrait of Secretary Cameron was painted from life.

JAMES DONALD CAMERON was born in Middletown, Pennsylvania, on 

14 May 1833; graduated from Princeton University in 1852; clerked in the Bank of 

Middletown founded by his father, Simon Cameron; moved up to cashier and finally 

president of the bank; married Mary McCormick, who died in 1874; during the 

Civil War supervised the transportation of Union troops over the Northern Central 

Railroad, one of his father’s enterprises; was president of the railroad from 1863 to 1874; 

was active in coal, iron, and manufacturing interests; joined with his father in dominating Pennsylvania politics; was a delegate to the Republican national conventions 

of 1868 and 1880; served as Secretary of War, 22 May 1876–3 March 1877; requested 

legislation requiring contractors to stand on their bids for specified periods of time; 

requested authorization to devote a portion of the funds allocated to publishing War 

of the Rebellion records to the preservation of the Matthew Brady photo collection; 

was elected to fill the unexpired term of his father in the U.S. Senate after his father 

resigned to make way for him, 1877–1879; was returned to the Senate for three terms, 

serving from 1879 to 1897; married General Sherman’s niece, Elizabeth Sherman, 1878; 

was chairman of the Republican national committee, 1879; retired from public life to 

live on his Lancaster farm and devote his time to private affairs; died on 30 August 

1918.
JAMES DONALD CAMERON

Grant Administration

By Daniel Huntington

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, 1877
84

The Artist

Henry Ulke (1821–1910) was ideally situated as a resident of the nation’s capital to 

paint the portraits of government officials. For his last portrait for the secretarial collection, Ulke was able to switch from the copy technique used in his work on his earlier Army portraits and to paint Secretary McCrary—a sitting official—from life. The 

portrait is signed and dated and brought Ulke the higher fee that had been inaugurated 

with Huntington’s portrait of Alphonso Taft.

GEORGE WASHINGTON McCRARY was born near Evansville, Indiana, on 

29 August 1835; moved with his family to Van Buren County, Iowa, 1837; was educated 

at regional schools and taught in a country school at eighteen; studied law in Keokuk, 

Iowa, in the office of John W. Rankin and Samuel F. Miller; was admitted to the bar in 

1856; married Helen Gelatt, 1857; served in the state assembly, 1857–1860; served as a 

state senator, 1861–1865; was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served 

from 1869 to 1877; was chairman of the committee on elections; published A Treatise 

on the American Law of Elections, 1875; helped create the Electoral Commission; served 

on the committee that investigated the Credit Mobilier scandal; was a member of the 

Committee on the Judiciary and the Committee on Canals and Railroads; served as 

Secretary of War, 12 March 1877–10 December 1879; withdrew federal troops from the 

remaining reconstruction governments in South Carolina and Louisiana; used federal 

troops in the 1877 railway strike and in Mexican border disturbances; became judge 

of the Eighth Judicial District and served from 1880 to 1884; moved to Kansas City, 

Missouri, and became general counsel for the Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe Railroad 

for the remainder of his active career; died in St. Joseph, Missouri, on 23 June 1890.
GEORGE WASHINGTON MCCRARY

Hayes Administration

By Henry Ulke

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, 1879
86

The Artist

Daniel Huntington (1816–1906) turned to Charles Loring Elliott for his first instruction in art when Elliott, only twenty-one at the time, visited Hamilton College to paint 

its president while Huntington was a student there. Carried away by the challenge of 

art, Huntington was soon painting the janitor, his brother, and an imaginary scene 

from “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” little realizing that in the future, as a successful 

artist, he would paint a portrait of the Legend’s creator, Washington Irving. Art captured Huntington to such a degree that he left college after a year to devote himself to 

painting. Huntington painted Secretary Ramsey from life.

ALEXANDER RAMSEY was born near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on 8 September 

1815; was orphaned at ten; was employed in a granduncle’s store; was a clerk in the 

office of the register of deeds; studied privately and attended local schools; attended 

Lafayette College briefly; studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1839; began 

the practice of law in Harrisburg; was secretary of the state electoral college, 1840; 

served as chief clerk in the state assembly, 1841; was elected to the U.S. House of 

Representatives and served from 1843 to 1847; married Anna Jenks, 1845; was chairman of the Whig central committee of Pennsylvania, 1848; was commissioned governor of Minnesota Territory, 1849; ordered a general election and negotiated land treaties with the Sioux; was charged with fraud in the Indian negotiations but was exonerated by the U.S. Senate; retired to private life in St. Paul and became mayor, 1853; 

was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Minnesota, 1857; was elected governor 

in 1859 and reelected in 1861; was elected to the U.S. Senate and served from 1863 

to 1875; served as chairman of the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads; served 

as Secretary of War, 10 December 1879–5 March 1881; recommended that Congress 

authorize the position of Assistant Secretary of War; was chairman of the Utah commission appointed to deal with the problem of polygamy, 1881–1886; retired to private 

life; was president of the Minnesota Historical Society, 1849–1863 and 1891–1903; was 

president of the Germania Bank of St. Paul, 1889; died in St. Paul on 22 April 1903.
ALEXANDER RAMSEY

Hayes Administration

By Daniel Huntington

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, 1881
88

The Artist

Daniel Huntington (1816–1906) painted President Abraham Lincoln as well as his son, 

Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln. His portrait of Secretary Lincoln was his last 

contribution to the War Department gallery. He was the first beneficiary of yet another 

increase in the artist’s fee for a secretarial portrait, receiving $750 for the Lincoln 

image, a scale that would prevail until the turn of the century. Huntington painted 

Secretary Lincoln from life.

ROBERT TODD LINCOLN was born in Springfield, Illinois, on 1 August 1843; 

attended local schools and then the Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire; 

attended Harvard University, 1859–1864; saw his father elected President of the United 

States, 1861–1865; entered Harvard Law School but left after four months to enter the 

Army; served on General Grant’s staff until the end of the Civil War; studied law in 

Chicago and was admitted to the bar, 1867; acquired clients among railroad and corporate interests; married Mary Harlan, 1868; was a charter member of the Chicago 

Bar Association, 1874; was a delegate to the Republican convention of 1880; served as 

Secretary of War, 5 March 1881–5 March 1885; recommended legislation to prevent 

and punish white intrusion upon Indian lands; recommended that the Weather Bureau 

be separated from the Army; recommended an increase in pay for private soldiers as 

one way to discourage desertion; proposed liberal appropriations to the states to support the formation of volunteer militia organizations; resumed the practice of law, 1885; 

was recalled to public service as minister to Great Britain and served from 1889 to 

1893; resumed his legal practice as counsel to corporate interests including the Pullman 

Company; became president of the Pullman Company, 1897; resigned in 1911 for reasons of health but continued as chairman of the board; moved to Washington, D.C., 

1912, and spent his summers at his Manchester, Vermont, estate; died in Washington, 

D.C., on 26 July 1926.
ROBERT TODD LINCOLN

Garfield and Arthur Administrations

By Daniel Huntington

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, 1885
90

The Artist

George Bernard Butler, Jr. (1838–1907), portrait, genre, animal, and still-life painter, 

was born in New York City, where he studied art under Thomas Hicks. In 1859 he 

went to Paris to study under Thomas Couture, then returned to serve in the military 

during the Civil War. Despite the loss of his right arm, Butler continued his art career 

in New York and San Francisco and was elected a National Academician in 1873. Two 

years later he returned to Europe and remained in Italy for an extended period. He 

painted Secretary Endicott from life in 1890.

WILLIAM CROWNINSHIELD ENDICOTT was born in Salem, 

Massachusetts, on 19 November 1826; was educated at Salem Latin School; graduated from Harvard University, 1847; studied law in the office of Nathaniel J. Lord, 

1847–1849; attended Harvard Law School, 1849–1850; was admitted to the bar, 1850; 

with Jairus W. Perry formed the law firm of Perry and Endicott; was a member of the 

Salem Common Council, 1852, 1853, and 1857, and its president in the latter term; 

was city solicitor, 1858–1863; married Ellen Peabody, 1859; was defeated for Congress 

by Benjamin F. Butler in 1879; served as a judge of the Massachusetts Supreme Court, 

1873–1882; was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Massachusetts, 1884; served 

as Secretary of War, 5 March 1885–5 March 1889; was a key member of the Board on 

Fortification; proposed that Congress enact legislation requiring that Army officers 

pass an examination as a condition for promotion; suggested that Congress enact a 

statute permitting police officers or private citizens to arrest and surrender deserters 

to military authorities; requested that Congress authorize the publication of the War 

Department’s records by the Public Printer; recommended that the powers of the War 

and Treasury Departments be clearly defined by legislative act to prevent problems 

over disbursements; retired from public life to settle in Salem; moved to Boston; was 

overseer of Harvard College, 1875–1885, president of the Harvard Alumni Association, 

1888–1890, and a fellow of the corporation, 1884–1895; was president of the Peabody 

Academy of Science and the Peabody Education Fund; was a resident member of the 

Massachusetts Historical Society; died in Boston on 6 May 1900.
WILLIAM CROWNINSHIELD ENDICOTT

First Cleveland Administration

By George Bernard Butler, Jr.

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, 1890
92

The Artist

Robert Gordon Hardie (1854–1904) was born and died in Brattleboro, Vermont, and 

was thus a logical choice to paint one of the state’s prominent citizens, Secretary 

Proctor. He studied painting at the Cooper Institute and the National Academy of 

Design in New York, and under Jean Léon Gerôme in Paris, and was elected to the 

Society of American Artists in 1879. Hardie painted Secretary Proctor from life shortly 

after Proctor resigned from the War Department post to succeed George Edmunds in 

the United States Senate. 

REDFIELD PROCTOR was born in Proctorsville, Vermont, on 1 June 1831; was 

raised by his mother after the early death of his father; received his bachelor’s degree 

from Dartmouth College in 1851 and his advanced degree in 1854; married Emily 

Dutton, 1858; completed studies at Albany Law School in 1859 and entered practice 

with a cousin in Boston until the outbreak of the Civil War; enlisted as quartermaster of the 3d Vermont Regiment in 1861; was promoted to major in the 5th Vermont 

Regiment; contracted tuberculosis and was ordered home in 1862; pursued an outdoor life that restored his health; commanded the 15th Vermont Regiment in the 

Gettysburg campaign; returned home to form a law partnership in Rutland, Vermont, 

with Wheelock G. Veazey; was elected to the state legislature, 1867 and 1868; was 

appointed receiver of a small marble company at Sutherland Falls, 1869; entered the 

marble business; moved to Sutherland Falls; served in the Vermont Senate, 1874–1875; 

served as lieutenant governor of Vermont, 1876–1878; served as governor of Vermont, 

1878–1880; became president of the Vermont Marble Company, 1880; headed the 

Vermont delegation to the Republican national convention, 1888; served as Secretary 

of War, 5 March 1889–5 November 1891; revised the military justice code, instituted a 

system of efficiency records and promotion examinations for officers, and established a 

single record and pension division in the department; was elected to the U.S. Senate 

and served from 1891 until his death in Washington, D.C., on 4 March 1908.
REDFIELD PROCTOR

B. Harrison Administration

By Robert Gordon Hardie

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, 1892
94

The Artist

Charles Ayer Whipple (1859–1928) was born in Southboro, Massachusetts, and 

received his major art instruction in Paris under Adolphe Bouguereau, Joseph Fleury, 

and Gabriel Ferrier. Among his major works are portraits of Presidents William 

McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt and Generals Nelson A. Miles and Grenville 

M. Dodge. One of his important commissions, executed in 1919, was to restore the 

Brumidi-Costaggini mural decorations in the United States Capitol. Whipple painted 

Secretary Elkins from life in a portrait that differed from the general format of the 

series.

STEPHEN BENTON ELKINS was born near New Lexington, Perry County, 

Ohio, on 26 September 1841; moved with his family to Westport, Missouri, in the mid1840s; graduated from the University of Missouri at Columbia in 1860; taught school 

in Cass County, Missouri; entered the Union Army as a captain of militia in the 77th 

Missouri Infantry; with the help of a former student, the future outlaw Cole Younger, 

escaped from Quantrill’s guerrillas; studied law and was admitted to the bar, 1864; 

crossed the plains to New Mexico, 1864; entered the practice of law at Mesilla; was 

elected to the territorial legislature, 1864 and 1865; was appointed territorial district 

attorney, 1866–1867; married Sarah Jacobs, his first wife, 1866; was attorney general of 

the territory, 1867, and U.S. district attorney, 1867–1870; was elected territorial delegate 

to the U.S. Congress, 1872, and reelected in 1874, serving to 1877; married his second 

wife, Hallie Davis, 1875; continued to practice law and founded and was president of 

the Santa Fe National Bank; pursued broad business interests in land, rail, mining, and 

finance; moved to Elkins, West Virginia, a town he had founded earlier, to pursue coal 

and rail interests, circa 1890; served as Secretary of War, 17 December 1891–5 March 

1893; recommended that the rank of lieutenant general be revived; recommended 

increased pay, at least for noncommissioned officers, to improve the quality of the 

service; broadened the intelligence functions of the Division of Military Information; 

was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1895, 1901, and 1907, serving until his death in 

Washington, D.C., on 4 January 1911.
STEPHEN BENTON ELKINS

B. Harrison Administration

By Charles Ayer Whipple

Oil on canvas, 421/2” x 331/2”, 1896
96

The Artist

Samantha Littlefield Huntley (1865–1949) was born in Watervliet, New York. She studied under John Twachtman and Henry Mowbray at the Art Students League in New 

York, 1893–1897, then pursued her studies in Paris at the Académie Julien, École des 

Beaux Arts, and École Normale d’Enseignement du Dessin, 1897–1900. Mrs. Huntley’s 

portrait of Secretary Lamont, executed from a photograph in 1912 some seven years 

after his death, was presented to the department by Mrs. Lamont with a request that it 

replace one painted from life by Raimundo de Madrazo, which Mrs. Lamont thought 

was not a good likeness.

DANIEL SCOTT LAMONT was born on his family’s farm in Cortland County, 

New York, on 9 February 1851; attended Union College in Schenectady, New York, 

but did not graduate; was employed as engrossing clerk and assistant journal clerk in 

the state capitol at Albany; was a clerk on the staff of the Democratic state central 

committee, 1872; was chief clerk of the New York department of state, 1875–1882; 

was employed on and later acquired a financial interest in the Albany Argus, 1877–

1882; was assigned by his mentor, Daniel Manning, to New York Governor Grover 

Cleveland’s staff as a political prompter; became private and military secretary with 

the rank of colonel on the governor’s staff, 1883; was appointed private secretary to 

President Cleveland, 1885; was employed by William C. Whitney in his business ventures, 1889; served as Secretary of War, 5 March 1893–5 March 1897; urged throughout 

his tenure the adoption of a three-battalion infantry regiment as a part of a general modernization and strengthening of the Army; recommended the construction 

of a central hall of records to house Army archives; urged that Congress authorize the 

marking of important battlefields in the manner adopted for Antietam; recommended 

that lands being used by Apache prisoners at Fort Sill be acquired for their permanent 

use and their prisoner status be terminated; was vice president of the Northern Pacific 

Railway Company, 1898–1904; was a director of numerous banks and corporations; 

died in Millbrook, Dutchess County, New York, on 23 July 1905.
DANIEL SCOTT LAMONT

Second Cleveland Administration

By Samantha Littlefield Huntley

Oil on canvas, 42” x 29”, 1912
98

The Artist

Percy Ives (1864–1928) was born in Detroit, Michigan. He studied art for four years at 

the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and for six years in Paris, France. Among his 

more important works is his portrait of President Grover Cleveland. He was a member 

of the Society of Western Artists and an official of the Detroit Museum of Art and the 

Archaeological Institute of America. Ives painted Secretary Alger from life soon after 

Alger’s departure from the War Department.

RUSSELL ALEXANDER ALGER was born in Lafayette Township, Medina 

County, Ohio, on 27 February 1836; was orphaned at twelve and worked on a farm; 

attended Richfield Academy in Ohio and taught school for two winters; studied law, 

was admitted to the bar, and began practice in Cleveland, 1859; moved to Grand 

Rapids, Michigan, 1860; married Annette Henry, 1861; entered the lumber business; 

enlisted as a private soldier in the Civil War, 1861; was commissioned and served 

as a captain and major in the 2d Michigan Regiment, as lieutenant colonel in the 

6th Michigan, and as colonel of the 5th Michigan; participated in Sheridan’s Valley 

Campaign in Virginia; was brevetted brigadier general and major general of volunteers; 

settled in Detroit as head of Alger, Smith, & Company and the Manistique Lumbering 

Company; was governor of Michigan, 1885–1886; was elected by his comrades as 

commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, 1889; served as Secretary of War, 5 

March 1897–1 August 1899; recommended that military attachés serving at embassies 

be given the rank and pay of colonel and at legations the rank and pay of lieutenant 

colonel; recommended legislation to authorize a Second Assistant Secretary of War; 

recommended a constabulary force for Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines; was 

criticized for the inadequate preparation and inefficient operation of the department 

during the Spanish-American War; resigned at President McKinley’s request, 1899; 

published The Spanish-American War, 1901; was appointed to serve out the unexpired 

term of the deceased James McMillan in the U.S. Senate, September 1902; was elected 

in his own right and served in the Senate, 1903–1907; died in Washington, D.C., on 24 

January 1907.
RUSSELL ALEXANDER ALGER

McKinley Administration

By Percy Ives

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, 1900
100

The Artist

Raimundo de Madrazo (1841–1920), portrait and genre painter, was a member of a 

family of Spanish painters. His grandfather, Jose de Madrazo, was a portrait and historical painter. His father, Federico de Madrazo, also a portrait and historical artist, 

was Spanish court painter and curator of the Madrid Gallery of Art. Raimundo studied 

at Rome and at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris, where he eventually established a 

studio. As an artist of international standing, he commanded premium prices for his 

work. His $2,000 fee for painting Secretary Root from life moved the scale for official 

portraits beyond the traditional modest progressions and into twentieth century levels.

ELIHU ROOT was born in Clinton, Oneida County, New York, on 15 February 

1845; graduated from Hamilton College, 1864, and New York University Law School, 

1867; was admitted to the bar and after a year with the office of Mann and Parsons 

opened his own firm with John H. Strahan; married Clara Frances Wales, 1878; was 

U.S. attorney for the southern district of New York, 1883–1885; was a delegate to the 

New York State constitutional convention, 1894; served as Secretary of War, 1 August 

1899–31 January 1904; was influential in the postwar administration of the former 

Spanish islands of Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Philippines; instituted a series of major 

Army reforms, including a permanent increase in strength, creation of a General Staff, 

rotation of officers between staff and line, reduced dependency upon seniority, joint 

planning by Army and Navy, an improved reserve program with special attention to 

the National Guard, and reorganization of the Army school system; served on the 

Alaskan Boundary Commission, 1903; served as Secretary of State, 1905–1909; served 

in the U.S. Senate, 1909–1915; was a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration 

at The Hague, 1910; was president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 

1910–1925; was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, 1912; was president of the New York 

State constitutional convention, 1915; was head of a special diplomatic mission to 

Russia, 1917; was a member of the committee of international jurists that planned the 

Permanent Court of International Justice, 1920; was U.S. commissioner plenipotentiary 

to the International Conference on the Limitation of Armament, 1921–1922; wrote a 

number of books on government and international relations; died in New York City on 

7 February 1937.
ELIHU ROOT

McKinley and T. Roosevelt Administrations

By Raimundo de Madrazo

Oil on canvas, 311/2” x 251/2”, 1907
102

The Artist

William Valentine Schevill (1864–1951) was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, studied at the 

School of Design there, and moved on to advanced training under Ludwig von Loeffts 

in Munich, Germany. He pursued his studies in London, England, and later painted on 

the Continent as well as in the United States. Schevill painted three portraits of Taft, 

who was Secretary of War, President of the United States, and Chief Justice of the 

Supreme Court. The secretarial portrait was painted in Taft’s first year as chief executive. Another Taft portrait by Schevill was presented to the National Portrait gallery by 

the artist’s son in 1972.

WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on 15 September 

1857; graduated from Woodward High School, 1874, Yale University, 1878, and 

Cincinnati Law School, 1880; was admitted to the bar and served as court reporter for 

the Cincinnati Commercial; was assistant prosecuting attorney of Hamilton County, 

1881–1883; was assistant solicitor of Hamilton County, 1885–1887; married Helen 

Herron, 1886; was judge of the superior court, Cincinnati, 1887–1890; was solicitor 

general of the United States, 1890–1892; was judge of the 6th Judicial Circuit Court, 

1892–1900; was professor and dean of the law department, University of Cincinnati, 

1896–1900; was president of the Philippine Commission, 1900–1901; became the first 

civil governor of the Philippine Islands, 1901–1904; declined an appointment to the 

Supreme Court; served as Secretary of War, 1 February 1904–30 June 1908; began 

American construction of the Panama Canal and served as conciliator in a threatened 

upheaval in Cuba; posed the possibility of probationary service for recruits before formal enlistment; directed an investigation into procurement procedures; approved the 

design of a new Medal of Honor; proposed disposal of small posts and concentration of 

the Army at brigade posts; was elected President of the United States and served from 

1909 to 1913; was defeated by Woodrow Wilson in a reelection bid, 1912; was Kent professor of law at Yale University, 1913–1921; was chairman of the National War Labor 

Board, 1918; was appointed Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, 1921; 

retired from the bench on 3 February 1930 for reasons of health; died in Washington, 

D.C., on 8 March 1930.
WILLIAM HOWARD TAFT

T. Roosevelt Administration

By William Valentine Schevill

Oil on canvas, 35” x 31”, 1909
104

The Artist

William Gerard Barry (1864–1941) was born in County Cork, Ireland. In 1885 he 

entered the Académie Julien in Paris, France, where he studied under Jules Lefebvre, 

Gustave Boulanger, and Carolus Duran. He exhibited in the Paris salons in 1885 and 

1886 and at the Royal Academy in London in 1887. In the following year he came to 

the United States to live permanently, except for an eighteen-month visit abroad to 

study under Carmon. Secretary Wright was still in Washington when Barry painted 

him from life in 1909. Barry’s portrait of House Speaker John White hangs in the U.S. 

Capitol.

LUKE EDWARD WRIGHT was born in Giles County, Tennessee, on 29 

August 1846; moved with his family to Memphis in 1850; attended the public schools; 

enlisted at fifteen in the Confederate Army and served with Company G, 154th 

Senior Tennessee Regiment; was promoted to second lieutenant and cited for bravery 

under fire in the battle of Murfreesboro, 1863; entered the University of Mississippi, 

1867–1868, but did not graduate; married Katherine Semmes, 1868; read law in his 

father’s office, was admitted to the bar, and entered into practice in Memphis; served 

as attorney general of Tennessee for eight years; was instrumental in establishing a 

relief committee during an epidemic of yellow fever in 1878; was a member of the second Philippine Commission, 1900; was appointed vice-governor of the Philippines, 

1901; was appointed governor general of the Philippines, 1904; served as United States 

ambassador to Japan, 1906–1907; served as Secretary of War, 1 July 1908–11 March 

1909; stressed actions to eliminate unfit officers and sought to take advantage of aviation technology; returned to private life; died in Memphis, Tennessee, on 17 November 

1922.
LUKE EDWARD WRIGHT

T. Roosevelt Administration

By William Gerard Barry

Oil on canvas, 311/2” x 261/2”, 1909
106

The Artist

Ralph Clarkson (1861–1942) was born in Amesbury, Massachusetts, and studied at the 

Boston Art Museum in the early 1880s before moving to Paris to study under Jules 

Lefebvre and Gustave Boulanger at the Académie Julien from 1884 to 1887. After a 

period of portrait painting in New York and a sojourn in Italy, he established a studio 

in Chicago in 1896, where he became president of the Municipal Art Commission and 

an instructor and governing member of the Art Institute of Chicago. He served on the 

art juries of the Paris Exposition (1900), the St. Louis Exposition (1904), and the San 

Francisco Exposition (1915), and was a founder of Friends of American Art.

JACOB McGAVOCK DICKINSON was born in Columbus, Mississippi, on 30 

January 1851; enlisted at fourteen as a private in the Confederate cavalry; moved with 

his family to Nashville, Tennessee; graduated from the University of Nashville, 1871, 

and received his master’s degree in 1872; studied law briefly at Columbia University and 

continued his studies abroad in Leipzig and Paris; was admitted to the Tennessee bar in 

1874; married Martha Overton, 1876; was president of the Tennessee Bar Association, 

1889–1893; was an assistant attorney general of the United States, 1895–1897; was 

attorney for the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, 1897–1899; moved to Chicago, 

Illinois, 1899; became general solicitor for the Illinois Central Railroad, 1899–1901, 

and general counsel, 1901–1909; was a counsel for the Alaskan Boundary Tribunal, 

1903; was president of the American Bar Association, 1907–1908; helped organize 

the American Society of International Law, served on its executive council from 

1907 to 1910, and was its vice president in 1910; served as Secretary of War, 12 March 

1909–21 May 1911; proposed legislation to permit the admission of foreign students to 

West Point; recommended an annuity retirement system for civil service employees; 

suggested that Congress consider stopping the pay of soldiers rendered unfit for duty 

because of venereal disease or alcoholism as a means of combatting those problems; 

was a special assistant attorney general, helped prosecute the U.S. Steel Corporation 

in 1913, and acted in several important labor cases in 1922; was receiver of the Rock 

Island Lines, 1915–1917; was president of the Izaak Walton League, 1927–1928; died in 

Nashville, Tennessee, on 13 December 1928.
JACOB MCGAVOCK DICKINSON

Taft Administration

By Ralph Clarkson

Oil on canvas, 29” x 24”, 1911
108

The Artist

Julius Gari Melchers (1860–1932) was born in Detroit, Michigan, and studied art at the 

Dusseldorf Academy in Germany and under Jules Lefebvre and Gustave Boulanger at 

the école des Beaux Arts in Paris, France. In addition to portraits, Melchers excelled 

in religious paintings, mural decorations, and genre pictures, especially of Dutch peasant life. His portrait of Colonel Theodore Roosevelt is in the National Gallery in 

Washington, D.C.; a mural, “Peace and War,” is in the Library of Congress. Melchers’s 

portrait of Secretary Stimson, painted from life, represents a notable departure from 

traditional style.

HENRY LEWIS STIMSON was born in New York City on 21 September 1867; 

lost his mother when he was eight and lived with grandparents; was educated at 

Andover, 1880–1884, Yale University, 1884–1888, and Harvard Law School, 1888–

1890; entered the law firm of Root and Clark, 1891; married Mabel Wellington White, 

1893; moved up through political circles to a seat on the New York County Republican 

committee; established a law partnership with Bronson Winthrop, 1899; was U.S. 

attorney for the southern district of New York, 1906–1909; was an unsuccessful candidate for governor, 1910; served as Secretary of War, 22 May 1911–4 March 1913; 

enlarged upon troop and administrative reorganizations begun by Secretary Root; 

sponsored a peacetime Army based upon divisional rather than regimental organization; asserted the authority of the Secretary and the Chief of Staff over bureau heads 

by relieving the Adjutant General from active duty for insurbordination; ordered troops 

to the Mexican border, 1913. (For details of Stimson’s second term as Secretary of War 

and his later life, see page 126.)
HENRY LEWIS STIMSON

Taft Administration

By Julius Gari Melchers

Oil on canvas, 511/2” x 303/4”, 1913
110

The Artist

Emil Fuchs (1866–1929), painter and sculptor, was born in Vienna, Austria, and studied 

at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts there before going on to study in Berlin. He later 

taught at the Royal Academy in London and at Paris, Berlin, Munich, Vienna, and 

Rome before emigrating to the United States in 1905. In 1924 he became a naturalized 

citizen, and a year later published a memoir, With Pencil, Brush and Chisel: The Life of 

an Artist. Fuchs exhibited at the National Academy of Design in New York, where he 

made his home, and is represented in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum and 

Public Library there, as well as in the Library of Congress.

LINDLEY MILLER GARRISON was born in Camden, New Jersey, on 28 

November 1864; attended public schools and the Protestant Episcopal Academy in 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; studied at Phillips Exeter Academy for one year before 

attending Harvard University as a special student, 1884–1885; studied law in the office 

of Redding, Jones, & Carson of Philadelphia; received a law degree from the University 

of Pennsylvania and was admitted to the bar, 1886; practiced law in Camden, 1888–

1898; became a partner in the firm of Garrison, McManus, & Enright in Jersey City, 

1899; married Margaret Hildeburn, 1900; served as vice-chancellor of New Jersey, 

1904–1913, where he came to Governor Woodrow Wilson’s notice; served as Secretary 

of War, 5 March 1913–10 February 1916; directed his efforts towards military preparedness against the background of developing war in Europe and unrest along the Mexican 

border, proposing a federal reserve force to back up the regular Army; resigned because 

of differences with President Wilson over military policy; returned to the practice 

of law in the firm of Hornblower, Miller, & Garrison; was appointed receiver of the 

Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, December 1918, serving to the end of the receivership in June 1923; died in Seabright, New Jersey, on 19 October 1932.
LINDLEY MILLER GARRISON

Wilson Administration

By Emil Fuchs

Oil on canvas, 411/4” x 341/2”, 1917
112

The Artist

Edmund Hodgson Smart (1873–1942) was born at Ainwick, England. He studied art 

at the Antwerp Academy in Belgium, at the Académie Julien in Paris, and under 

Sir Hubert von Herkomer in England. He traveled widely and painted portraits in a 

number of countries before settling in the United States in 1916. Among his principal 

portraits are those of England’s King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, American 

President Warren G. Harding, and three World War I military figures—Marshal Foch, 

General Pershing, and Admiral Sims. Smart painted Secretary Baker from life in 

Cleveland in the year Baker left office.

NEWTON DIEHL BAKER was born in Martinsburg, West Virginia, on 3 

December 1871; was educated at Johns Hopkins University, 1888–1892; received 

a law degree from Washington and Lee University, 1894; entered into practice in 

Martinsburg, 1894; was secretary to Postmaster General W. L. Wilson, 1896–1897; 

joined the law firm of Martin G. Foran in Cleveland, Ohio; was assistant director of 

Cleveland’s law department; married Elizabeth Leopold, 1902; was city solicitor of 

Cleveland, 1902–1912; was mayor of Cleveland, 1912–1916; served as Secretary of War, 

9 March 1916–4 March 1921; issued orders for General Pershing’s Punitive Expedition 

into Mexico, 1916; administered the World War I conscription act; chaired the Council 

of National Defense; adhered rigidly to a policy of professional command free from 

political intrusion; formalized the “G” sections of the General Staff under the Chief 

of Staff, refining a concept begun by Secretary Root into a workable pattern that was 

maintained up to World War II; returned to the private practice of law with the firm 

of Baker, Hostetler, Sidlo, and Patterson; was appointed a member of the Permanent 

Court of Arbitration at The Hague, 1928; was a member of the Law Enforcement 

Commission, 1929; was president of the American Judicature Society and president of 

the Woodrow Wilson Foundation; died in Cleveland, Ohio, on 25 December 1937.
NEWTON DIEHL BAKER

Wilson Administration

By Edmund Hodgson Smart

Oil on canvas, 531/2” x 341/2”, 1921
114

The Artist

Arthur Merton Hazard (1872–1930) was born in North Bridgewater, Massachusetts. 

He studied initially at the Museum of Fine Arts and the Cowles Art School in Boston 

before going to Europe to study under a number of leading instructors in Paris. He was 

best known for his war pictures, which are included in the collections of the National 

Gallery of Art and the American Red Cross in Washington, Temple Israel in Boston, 

and the Canadian Houses of Parliament in Ottawa. Hazard, who made his home in 

Hollywood, California, died while on a visit to France. He painted Secretary Weeks in 

the brief interval between the Army official’s resignation and his death.

JOHN WINGATE WEEKS was born in Lancaster, New Hampshire, on 11 April 

1860; attended local schools and as a teenager taught school for a year; graduated from 

the United States Naval Academy, 1881; served as a midshipman in the Navy, 1881–

1883; married Martha Sinclair, 1885; was assistant land commissioner of the Florida 

Southern Railway, 1886–1888; moved to Boston to enter the banking and brokerage 

business; became a partner in the firm of Hornblower and Weeks, 1888–1912; served 

with the Massachusetts naval militia on coastal patrol during the Spanish American 

War; retired from the naval reserve as a rear admiral, 1900; was elected alderman of his 

hometown of Newton, Massachusetts, 1900–1902; was mayor of Newton, 1903–1904; 

served as chairman of the state Republican convention, 1905; served in the U.S. House 

of Representatives, 1905–1913; was appointed by the state legislature to fill the U.S. 

Senate seat of Winthrop M. Crane and served from 1913 to 1919; was a member of the 

military affairs committee; was a candidate for the Republican nomination for president, 1916; served as Secretary of War, 5 March 1921–13 October 1925; supervised the 

final transition from a wartime to a peacetime footing; established the Army Industrial 

College 25 February 1924 at the Munitions Building, Washington, D.C.; appeared 

before Congress to defend the adequacy of U.S. air defenses against charges advanced 

by General Billy Mitchell; urged congressional authorization for special promotions of 

outstanding officers, not to exceed two percent of the number promoted on the basis 

of seniority; resigned the Army secretaryship because of ill health, 1925; died at Mount 

Prospect, Lancaster, New Hampshire, on 12 July 1926.
JOHN WINGATE WEEKS

Harding and Coolidge Administrations

By Arthur Merton Hazard

Oil on canvas, 411/2” x 321/2”, 1926
116

The Artist

Douglas Chandor (1897–1953) was born in Woldingham, Surrey, England, and studied 

art at the Slade School in London. He served with the British Army throughout World 

War I and was disabled and discharged in 1918. The following year he took up portrait 

painting and within three years had his first exhibit at the Royal Academy in London. 

In the early 1920s he painted a series of portraits of the former prime ministers of the 

British Empire, and in 1926 he painted Queen Marie of Rumania. Chandor moved to 

the United States in 1926 and began to paint notable Americans, including Secretaries 

of War Davis and Good.

DWIGHT FILLEY DAVIS was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on 5 July 1879; attended Smith Academy in St. Louis; graduated from Harvard University, 1900; established 

the Davis Cup as a trophy for excellence in international tennis competition; received 

a law degree from Washington University of St. Louis, 1903; became active in civic 

affairs; was a member of the public library board, 1904–1907, and the board of control of the Museum of Fine Arts, 1904–1907 and 1911–1912; married Helen Brooks, 

1905; was a member of the house of delegates of the city government, 1907–1909, a 

member of the board of freeholders, 1909–1911, and chairman of the City Planning 

Commission, 1911–1915, and concurrently city park commissioner; exercised his special 

interest in recreational facilities by developing golf courses, baseball fields, and the first 

municipal tennis courts in the United States; served on the executive committee of 

the National Municipal League, 1908–1912; attended the Plattsburg Military Camp for 

businessmen, 1915; was a member of the Rockefeller War Relief Committee, 1916–1917; 

entered military service and participated in the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne operations with the 138th Infantry Regiment, 35th Division; became director of the War 

Finance Corporation; was Assistant Secretary of War, 1923–1924; served as Secretary 

of War, 14 October 1925–5 March 1929; superintended the Army’s first experiments 

with a mechanized force; was governor general of the Philippines, 1929–1932; following 

the death of his first wife, married Pauline Morton Sabin, 1936; was director general of 

the Army Specialist Corps, 1942; died in Washington, D.C., on 28 November 1945.
DWIGHT FILLEY DAVIS

Coolidge Administration

By Douglas Chandor

Oil on canvas, 351/2” x 271/2”, 1929
118

The Artist

Douglas Chandor (1897–1953) established homes in New York City and Weatherford, 

Texas, after moving to the United States from his native England in 1926, and quickly 

developed a successful portrait business with a number of prominent Americans as his 

subjects. He painted President Hoover, Vice President Curtis, and the entire Hoover 

cabinet, including Secretary Good in 1929. Among his later subjects were President 

and Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, House Speaker Sam Rayburn, Bernard Baruch, and 

Andrew Mellon. In 1946, Chandor painted Winston Churchill and Mrs. Churchill at 

a moment when the wartime leader, no longer Prime Minister, was launching his sixvolume, Nobel Prize-winning memoir.

JAMES WILLIAM GOOD was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on 24 September 

1866; graduated from Coe College, Iowa, 1892; studied law at the University of 

Michigan Law School and received his degree in 1893; was admitted to the bar in the 

same year; practiced briefly in Indiana, then returned to Cedar Rapids to form a partnership with Charles J. Deccon; was city attorney of Cedar Rapids, 1906–1908; was a 

member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1909 to 1921, was chairman of the 

Appropriations Committee, 1919–1921, and had a substantial part in the establishment 

of the national budget system; resigned in 1921 to return to the practice of the law in 

Evanston, Illinois, as a partner in the firm of Good, Childs, Bobb, & Wescott; served 

as western campaign manager for Calvin Coolidge in 1924 and Herbert Hoover in 

1928; served as Secretary of War, 6 March–18 November 1929; died while in office in 

Washington, D.C., on 18 November 1929.
JAMES WILLIAM GOOD

Hoover Administration

By Douglas Chandor

Oil on canvas, 351/4” x 271/4”, 1929
120

The Artist

Frank Townsend Hutchens (1869–1937) was born in Canandaigua, New York, and 

studied art at the Art Students League in New York City and at the Académie 

Colorossi and Académie Julien in Paris, France. He exhibited at the Royal Academy 

in London, the Paris Salon, and the Amsterdam International Exhibition, as well as 

at the National Academy of Design in New York and numerous galleries in major cities around the United States. Hutchens divided his time between homes in Norwalk, 

Connecticut, and Taos, New Mexico, and it was the latter connection that brought 

him to Secretary Hurley’s attention as a portraitist.

PATRICK JAY HURLEY was born in the Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, 

on 8 January 1883; graduated from Indian University, 1905; received a law degree 

from the National University of Law, Washington, D.C., in 1908, and from George 

Washington University, Washington, D.C., in 1913; was admitted to the bar and commenced practice at Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1908; was admitted to the bar of the Supreme 

Court, 1912; was national attorney for the Choctaw Nation, 1912–1917; served in the 

Indian Territorial Volunteer Militia, 1902–1907, and the Oklahoma National Guard, 

1914–1917; served with the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) in the Aisne-Marne, 

Meuse-Argonne, and St. Mihiel operations, rising to lieutenant colonel, and negotiated 

the access agreement between the AEF and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, 1919; 

married Ruth Wilson, 1919; served as Assistant Secretary of War, March–December 

1929; served as Secretary of War, 9 December 1929–3 March 1933; supervised Army 

activities to alleviate the effects of the depression, 1930–1931; urged an increase in 

pay and recommended the enactment of comprehensive promotion legislation for 

the Army; issued the executive order to Chief of Staff General MacArthur to evict 

the Bonus Army from Washington, 1932; was called to active duty as a brigadier general and served on a special mission to Australia and as the first U.S. minister to New 

Zealand, 1942; was a personal representative of the President of the United States to 

the Soviet Union, 1942, and to the nations of the Near East and Middle East, 1943; 

was a presidential emissary and then ambassador to China, 1943–1944; was promoted 

to major general, 1944; returned to private interests in New Mexico; died in Santa Fe, 

New Mexico, on 30 July 1963.
PATRICK JAY HURLEY

Hoover Administration

By Frank Townsend Hutchens

Oil on canvas, 351/4” x 291/2”, 1932
122

The Artist

Albert Salzbrenner (1865–1939) was born in Dresden, Germany, and studied painting 

at the Royal Academy there under Leon Pohle and Ludwig von Hoffman. He followed 

this with two years of study in Paris under Carolus Duran, and one each in Munich 

and Vienna, the latter under Heinrich von Angeli. After two years in Rome studying 

the old masters, he had his first exhibition in Paris in 1888. Salzbrenner painted a few 

portraits during a visit to the United States, and, finding his interest captured, he soon 

returned to settle eventually at Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Among his other 

works are portraits of Joseph Smith of the Mormon Church, Governor William Spry of 

Utah, and Secretary Dern’s parents.

GEORGE HENRY DERN was born near Scribner, Dodge County, Nebraska, on 

8 September 1872; attended the public schools and graduated from Fremont Normal 

College, Fremont, Nebraska, in 1888; attended the University of Nebraska, 1893–1894; 

moved with his family to Salt Lake City, Utah, 1894; entered the mining field, rising through successive levels in the Mercur Gold Mining and Milling Company to 

become general manager after a merger of several firms into the Consolidated Mercur 

Gold Mines Company, 1894–1901; was instrumental in the development of several 

important mining processes, including the Holt-Dern roaster oven; was a Utah state 

senator, 1914–1923, and sponsored much forward-looking legislation; was governor 

of Utah, 1925–1932, and instituted a notable tax revision program; was chairman 

of the National Governors’ Conference, 1930; served as Secretary of War, 4 March 

1933–27 August 1936; supervised the Army’s participation in the New Deal’s Civilian 

Conservation Corps program and inaugurated important Army engineer public works 

water projects; urged construction of a new building to house the War Department; 

appointed the Baker Board on Army aviation and approved its recommendation for 

procurement of 2,320 planes in three years; recommended that Congress authorize a 

policy of training at least 30,000 reserve officers annually for two-week periods; died 

while in office in Washington, D.C., on 27 August 1936.
GEORGE HENRY DERN

F. Roosevelt Administration

By Albert Salzbrenner

Oil on canvas, 391/4” x 291/4”, 1934
124

The Artist

Tino Costa (1892–1947) had a varied career as a portraitist, painting subjects as diverse 

as King Christian of Denmark and child movie star Shirley Temple. He painted two 

U.S. Presidents, Herbert C. Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and General Douglas 

MacArthur. Costa was living in California at the time of his death, some seven years 

after he painted Secretary Woodring.

HARRY HINES WOODRING was born in Elk City, Kansas, on 31 May 1890; 

was educated in city and county schools; at sixteen began work as a janitor in the First 

National Bank of Neodesha, Kansas; moved up to become vice president and owner of 

the bank; enlisted as a private and was later commissioned as a second lieutenant in 

the Tank Corps in World War I; was elected department commander of the American 

Legion in Kansas, 1928; sold his banking business to enter politics, 1929; was elected 

governor of Kansas, 1931, and served to 1933; married Helen Coolidge, 1933; served 

as Assistant Secretary of War, 6 April 1933–25 September 1936, with supervision over 

procurement matters; served as Secretary of War, 25 September 1936–20 June 1940; 

projected the recommendations of his predecessor for increasing the strength of the 

Regular Army, National Guard, and Reserve Corps; directed a revision of mobilization 

plans to bring personnel and procurement into balance; stressed the need to perfect 

the initial (peacetime) protective force; returned to private life; ran unsuccessfully for 

governor of Kansas, 1946, and for the Democratic nomination for that post, 1956; died 

at Topeka, Kansas, on 9 September 1967.
HARRY HINES WOODRING

F. Roosevelt Administration

By Tino Costa

Oil on canvas, 291/2” x 241/2”, 1940
126

The Artist

Fred W. Wright (born 1880) studied at the Art Students League in New York and the 

Académie Julien in Paris before embarking upon a career as a portrait painter in New 

York. His work is represented in a number of collections around the country. Robert 

Brackman (1898–1980) was born in Odessa, Russia, came to the United States in 1908, 

studied at the National Academy of Design, and in the 1930s joined the faculties of 

the Art Students League and the Brooklyn Institute of Art. His work is represented in 

numerous collections. Brackman’s original portrait of Secretary Stimson is in the Skull 

and Bones Club at Yale University; Mr. Stimson privately commissioned the Wright 

copy for the Army gallery.

HENRY LEWIS STIMSON was a delegate at large to the New York State constitutional convention, 1915; entered upon active Reserve service as a major in the 

Judge Advocate General’s department, 1917; became a lieutenant colonel in the 

305th Field Artillery, August 1917; served with American forces in France, December 

1917–August 1918; became colonel of the 31st Field Artillery, August 1918; returned 

to his legal career; was commissioned colonel in the Organized Reserve Corps in 1921 

and brigadier general in 1922; was a presidential emissary to Nicaragua, 1927; was governor general of the Philippines, 1927–1929; served as Secretary of State, 28 March 

1929–4 March 1933; was chairman of the American delegation to the London Naval 

Conference, 1930; returned to private life; served again as Secretary of War, 10 July 

1940–21 September 1945; presided over the expansion of the War Department and the 

Army to meet the World War II emergency; was a leader in seeking the enactment of 

legislation for compulsory conscription, 1940; was closely involved in the decisions to 

evacuate Japanese Americans and aliens from coastal regions, 1941–1942, and to use 

the atomic bomb, 1945; retired to his Long Island estate, where he died on 20 October 

1950. (For details of his earlier life, see page 108.)
HENRY LEWIS STIMSON

F. Roosevelt Administration

By Fred W. Wright after Robert Brackman

Oil on canvas, 391/2” x 331/2”, 1945
128

The Artist

Joseph Cummings Chase (1878–1965) was born at Kents Hill, Maine, and studied art 

at the Pratt Institute in New York and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts before 

going on to study under Jean Paul Laurens at the Académie Julien in Paris. He painted 

military figures from both World Wars—soldiers cited for bravery as well as senior commanders—and various prominent personalities, such as Albert Einstein, Will Rogers, 

Theodore Roosevelt, and Al Smith. Many of his portraits appeared as illustrations in 

his two books, My Friends Look Better Than Ever (1950) and Face Value (1962).

ROBERT PORTER PATTERSON was born in Glens Falls, New York, on 12 

February 1891; graduated from Union College, Schenectady, New York, 1912; received 

a law degree from Harvard University, 1915; entered practice in New York City in Elihu 

Root’s firm; served as a private with New York’s Seventh Regiment on the Mexican 

Border, 1916; entered upon active duty as a second lieutenant at the Reserve Officers’ 

Training Camp, Plattsburg, New York, 1917; was promoted to captain and then major 

with the 306th Infantry of the American Expeditionary Forces in France, receiving 

the Distinguished Service Cross for heroism in action, 1918; returned to his law career 

and established a successful new firm in New York; married Margaret Winchester, 

1920; was appointed judge for the southern district court of New York, 1930; was promoted to the second circuit court of appeals, 1939; was appointed Assistant Secretary 

of War, July 1940, and advanced to Under Secretary, December 1940; had statutory 

responsibility for production and procurement and was the Army representative on 

the War Production Board, the War Manpower Commission, and the Committee for 

Congested Production; was appointed Secretary of War and served from 27 September 

1945 to 18 July 1947; pressed for unification of the armed services and a single Chief of 

Staff; returned to the practice of law in the firm of Patterson, Belknap, and Webb; was 

president of the Bar Association of the City of New York, president of the Council on 

Foreign Relations, and president of Freedom House; died in a plane crash at Elizabeth, 

New Jersey, on 22 January 1952.
ROBERT PORTER PATTERSON

Truman Administration

By Joseph Cummings Chase

Oil on canvas, 351/2” x 271/2”, ca. 1947

Secretaries of the Army
132

KENNETH CLAIBORNE ROYALL was born in Goldsboro, North Carolina, 

on 24 July 1894; graduated from the University of North Carolina, 1914; was admitted to the North Carolina bar, 1916; attended Harvard University Law School and 

received his degree, 1917; married Margaret Best, 1917; served in France as a second 

lieutenant in the 317th Army Field Artillery, 1918–1919; was commissioned a captain 

in the North Carolina National Guard and organized a Field Artillery battery, 1921; 

resumed the practice of law in Raleigh and Goldsboro, North Carolina; served in the 

state senate, 1927; was president of the North Carolina Bar Association, 1929–1930; 

was a presidential elector, 1940; was commissioned a colonel, 1942, and appointed 

chief of the legal section, fiscal division, Headquarters, Services of Supply (later Army 

Service Forces); received presidential appointment to defend before the Supreme Court 

the German saboteurs who entered the United States clandestinely; was promoted to 

brigadier general and appointed deputy fiscal director of Army Service Forces; was special assistant to the Secretary of War, April–November 1945; served as Under Secretary 

of War, 9 November 1945–18 July 1947; served as the last Secretary of War, 19 July–17 

September 1947; supervised the separation of the Department of the Air Force from the 

Department of the Army; became first Secretary of the Army when National Defense 

Act of 1947 took effect, 17 September 1947–27 April 1949; was the last Army secretary 

to hold the cabinet status, which was henceforth assigned to the Secretary of Defense; 

died in Durham, North Carolina, on 25 May 1971.

The Artist

Alfred Jonniaux (1882–1974) was born in Brussels, Belgium, and studied at the 

Athenée d’Ixelles and the Académie des Beaux Arts there. He established studios in 

London and Paris and painted the portraits of various representatives of European 

royalty, also specializing in character studies and landscapes. Jonniaux fled the Nazi 

occupation of Western Europe and became a naturalized American citizen in 1946. He 

established studios in San Francisco and Washington and painted portraits of many 

prominent figures, including Kenneth Royall, the last Secretary of War and the first 

Secretary of the Army.
KENNETH CLAIBORNE ROYALL

Truman Administration

By Alfred Jonniaux

Oil on canvas, 491/2” x 391/2”, 1949
134

GORDON GRAY was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on 30 May 1909; graduated 

from the University of North Carolina, 1930; received a degree from the Yale Law 

School, 1933; was admitted to the New York bar and entered into practice there, 

1933–1935; was admitted to the North Carolina bar and practiced there, 1935–1937; 

was president of the Piedmont Publishing Company, publishers of the Winston-Salem 

Journal and the Twin City Sentinel and operator of radio station WSJS, 1937–1947; married Jane Boyden Craige, 1938 (deceased 1953); served in the state senate, 1939–1942; 

entered military service as a private, 1942, was commissioned in Infantry, 1943, served 

overseas with Headquarters, Twelfth Army Group, 1944–1945, and emerged as a captain; was again a state senator, 1945–1947; served as Assistant Secretary of the Army, 

24 September 1947–27 April 1949, and as Under Secretary of the Army, 25 May–19 

June 1949; served as Secretary of the Army, 20 June 1949–12 April 1950; supervised 

the phaseout of Selective Service inductees and terminated the Army’s military government operation in Germany, 1949–1950; was a special assistant to the President 

on foreign economic policy, 1950; served as president of the University of North 

Carolina, 1950–1955; was Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security 

Affairs, 1955–1957; married Nancy McGuire Beebe, 1956; was director of the Office 

of Defense Mobilization, 1957–1958; was special assistant to the President for National 

Security Affairs, 1958–1961; was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1961; was 

a member of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, 1961–1977; died in 

Washington, D.C., on 26 November 1982.

The Artist

Adrian Lamb (1901–1988) studied at the Art Students League in New York and 

the Académie Julien in Paris. He had a studio in New York City, where he painted 

prominent Americans of the past and present. Gardner Cox (1906–1988) studied at 

the Art Students League and at Harvard University and the Boston Museum of Fine 

Arts. He lived in Cambridge and had a studio in Boston, where he painted prominent 

Americans. Secretary Gray owned the original Cox portrait; he privately commissioned the Lamb copy and placed it in the Army gallery.
GORDON GRAY

Truman Administration

By Adrian Lamb after Gardner Cox

Oil on canvas, 391/2” x 291/2”, 1953
136

FRANK PACE, JR., was born in Little Rock, Arkansas, on 5 July 1912; attended 

local schools and then the Hill School, Pottstown, Pennsylvania; graduated from 

Princeton University, 1933; received a new degree from Harvard University, 1936; was 

admitted to the Arkansas bar and practiced law there, 1936–1942; was assistant district 

attorney of the Twelfth Judicial District, 1936–1938; was general attorney, Arkansas 

Revenue Department, 1938–1940; married Margaret Janney, 1940; entered the Army 

as a second lieutenant, 1942; served in the Air Transport Command, Army Air Corps, 

and emerged as a major, 1945; was a special assistant to the Attorney General, U.S. 

Taxation Division, 1946; was executive assistant to the Postmaster General, 1946–1948; 

was assistant director, 1948, then director, 1949–1950, of the Bureau of the Budget; 

served as Secretary of the Army, 12 April 1950–20 January 1953; executed the structural and functional changes mandated by the Army Organization Act of 1950 and 

headed the Army during the Korean War, 1950–1953; implemented policies to broaden 

the Army’s utilization of Negro manpower; elevated research and development to the 

Deputy Chief of Staff level; was chairman of the Defense Ministers Conference, North 

Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), 1950; was chairman of the American Council 

of NATO, 1957–1960; was vice chairman, President’s Commission on National Goals, 

1959–1960; was a member of the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, 

1961–1973; died in Greenwich, Connecticut, on 8 January 1988.

The Artist

Germain Green Glidden (1913–1999), portraitist, muralist, and cartoonist, was a fine 

arts major at Harvard University, attended the Art Students League in New York City, 

and studied life drawing, painting, and the old masters under Alexander Abels and 

sculpture under Mahonri Young. Included among his several hundred portraits are 

those of Secretary of the Army Pace and Secretary of the Air Force Donald Quarles. 

Glidden maintained a studio in Norwalk, Connecticut, and was founder, president, and 

chairman of the National Art Museum of Sport in Madison Square Garden Center in 

New York City.
FRANK PACE, JR.

Truman Administration

By Germain Green Glidden

Oil on composition board, 411/2” x 351/2”, 1952
138

ROBERT TEN BROECK STEVENS was born in Fanwood, New Jersey, on 31 

July 1899; was graduated from Phillips Andover, 1917; interrupted his education to 

serve as a second lieutenant of Field Artillery in World War I, 1918; graduated from 

Yale University, 1921; joined the textile firm of J. P. Stevens Company, 1921; married 

Dorothy Goodwin Whitney, 1923; was president of J. P. Stevens Company, 1929–1942; 

was an administrative representative in the industrial section of the National Recovery 

Administration, 1933; was Class B director of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 

1934–1955, and Class C director and chairman, 1948–1953; attended a special civilian 

course at the Command and General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth, 1941; entered 

upon active duty with the Army as a lieutenant colonel, 1942, was promoted to colonel, and served to 1945 in the Office of the Quartermaster General’s procurement 

division, with a period of temporary duty in the European Theater; returned to J. P. 

Stevens Company as chairman of the board, 1945–1953; was chairman of the Business 

Advisory Council, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1951–1952; served as Secretary of 

the Army, 4 February 1953–21 July 1955; supervised the post–Korean War retrenchment; proposed advance security clearances for key industrial facilities to enable 

them to operate immediately in an emergency; defended the Army against reckless 

charges advanced by Senator Joseph R. McCarthy of Wisconsin in Congressional 

(Army-McCarthy) hearings held to investigate Communist influence in government, 

1953–1954; died in Edison, New Jersey, on 31 January 1983.

The Artist

Thomas Edgar Stephens (1886–1966) was born in England and studied art at Cardiff 

University in Wales, the Heatherly School in London, and the Académie Julien in 

Paris. He was already a trained artist when he moved to the United States in 1929 

to settle in New York and become an American citizen. Between 1946 and 1960, he 

painted twenty-four portraits of Dwight D. Eisenhower for various institutions and 

individuals, and it was Stephens who painted the entire Eisenhower cabinet and later 

induced the former president to take up painting as a hobby. He also painted the last 

life portrait of Winston Churchill as prime minister.
ROBERT TEN BROECK STEVENS

Eisenhower Administration

By Thomas Edgar Stephens

Oil on canvas, 411/2” x 331/2”, circa 1955
140

WILBER MARION BRUCKER was born in Saginaw, Michigan, on 23 June 

1894; graduated from the University of Michigan, 1916; enlisted in the Michigan 

National Guard and served with its 33d Infantry Regiment on the Mexican Border, 

1916–1917; attended the First Officers’ Training Camp, Fort Sheridan, Illinois, and 

was commissioned a second lieutenant of Infantry; served in France with the 166th 

Infantry, 42d Division, in the Château Thierry, St. Mihiel, and Meuse-Argonne operations, 1917–1918; was assistant prosecuting attorney of Saginaw County, Michigan, 

1919–1923, and prosecuting attorney, 1923–1927; married Clara Hantel, 1923; was 

assistant attorney general of Michigan, 1927–1928, and attorney general, 1928–1930; 

was governor of Michigan, 1930–1932; was a captain in the Officer Reserve Corps, 

1922–1937; was a member of the law firm of Clark, Klein, Brucker, and Waples, 1937–

1954; served as general counsel of the Department of Defense, 1954–1955; served as 

Secretary of the Army, 21 July 1955–19 January 1961; administered the Army during 

a period of major technological advance, especially in the missile-satellite field, and at 

a time when the Army’s place in the national defense structure was overshadowed by 

a “massive retaliation” philosophy; under his direction the Army instituted a five-element (pentagonal) organization concept for the division, established a Strategic Army 

Corps for emergency reaction, and launched the Free World’s first satellite; was a member of the Board of Directors of Freedoms Foundation; died at Grosse Pointe Farms, 

Michigan, on 28 December 1968.

The Artist

Charles J. Fox is the pseudonym of Leo Fox, a New York City entrepreneur, who for 

many years commissioned portraits of leading figures in government, business, society, 

and the professions. The portraits, signed C. J. Fox, were executed by New York artist 

Irving Resnikoff (1896–1988) during a forty-year association with Fox. The Army gallery contains three C. J. Fox portraits—those of Secretaries Brucker, Stahr, and Ailes.
WILBER MARION BRUCKER

Eisenhower Administration

By Irving Resnikoff, signed C. J. Fox

Oil on canvas, 441/2” x 311/2”, circa 1961
142

ELVIS JACOB STAHR, JR., was born in Hickman, Kentucky, on 9 March 1916; 

was graduated from the University of Kentucky, 1936, and was Cadet Colonel of its 

ROTC regiment; studied law on a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford University, England, 

1936–1939, and received three degrees; became an associate in the New York law 

firm of Mudge, Stern, Williams, & Tucker, 1939; was called to active duty as a second 

lieutenant, Infantry, October 1941, and served as weapons instructor at the Infantry 

School, Fort Benning, Georgia, 1942–1943; was an officer student at Yale University, 

1943, and received a diploma in Chinese language; served in North Africa, 1943, and 

in the Chinese Combat Command, China-Burma-India Theater, 1944–1945; was 

awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster (U.S.) and three Republic of 

China decorations; left service as a lieutenant colonel, December 1945; returned to 

his law firm and married Dorothy Berkfield, 1946; was professor of law and dean of 

the College of Law at the University of Kentucky, 1948–1956; was Special Assistant 

to the Secretary of the Army for Reserve Forces, 1951–1953; was vice chancellor of 

the University of Pittsburgh, 1957–1958; was president of West Virginia University, 

1958–1961; served as Secretary of the Army, 25 January 1961–30 June 1962; under 

his direction a major Army reorganization plan was launched, the combat division 

structure reorganized, special warfare forces expanded, the community relations (civic 

action) role enlarged, and the Army strengthened during the Berlin crisis; was a member of the U.S. delegation to four international conferences; served on four Presidential 

Commissions; was president of the Association of the United States Army, 1965–1968, 

and chairman, 1969–1974; was national chairman of the USO, 1973–1976; died in 

Greenwich, Connecticut, on 11 November 1998.

The Artist

New York businessman Leo Fox commissioned Irving Resnikoff (1896–1988) to paint 

this portrait of Secretary Stahr, as well as those of Secretaries Brucker and Ailes. 

All were signed C. J. Fox. Other portraits painted by Resnikoff for Fox included such 

prominent government figures as President John F. Kennedy, Vice President Alben 

W. Barkley, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director J. Edgar Hoover, and Selective 

Service Director Lewis B. Hershey. 
ELVIS JACOB STAHR, JR.

Kennedy Administration

By Irving Resnikoff, signed C. J. Fox

Oil on canvas, 441/2” x 341/2”, circa 1962
144

CYRUS ROBERTS VANCE was born in Clarksburg, West Virginia, on 27 March 

1917; attended the Kent School in Connecticut; graduated from Yale University in 1939 

and received his law degree there in 1942; enlisted in the U.S. Navy V–7 program as a midshipman, 1942, and graduated as an ensign in the Naval Reserve; became an instructor in 

naval ordnance at Prairie State Midshipman’s School, New York City, 1942–1943; served 

on destroyers in the Atlantic and Pacific regions, 1943–1946, completing duty as a lieutenant; became assistant to the president of the Mead Corporation, 1946–1947; married Grace 

Elsie Sloan, 1947; entered the practice of law with the New York firm of Simpson, Thacher 

& Bartlett, 1947, and became a partner in 1956; was special counsel to the Preparedness 

Investigating Subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee, 1957–1960, and 

consulting counsel to the Special Committee on Space and Astronautics, 1958; was general 

counsel of the Department of Defense, 1961–1962; served as Secretary of the Army, 5 July 

1962–21 January 1964; under his direction the major reorganization of 1962 was implemented, the Army went on alert during the Cuban crisis, the Reserve Components were 

realigned, and the Army provided troops in support of civil authorities during the integration of universities in Mississippi and Alabama; served as Deputy Secretary of Defense, 

1964–1967; was special representative of the President of the United States to Cyprus, 1967, 

and to Korea, 1968; was chief U.S. negotiator at the Paris Peace Conference on Vietnam, 

1968–1969; was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1969; served as Secretary of 

State, 1977–1980; became chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in 1989 and 

cochairman of the Financial Services Volunteer Corps, a Department of State/Agency for 

International Development project, in 1990; served as personal envoy to the SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations on various missions to Yugoslavia, Nagorno-Karabakh, 

South Africa, and Greece, 1991–1993; was cochair of the UN–European Community 

International Conference on former Yugoslavia, 1992–1993; was awarded the Legion 

d’Honneur by the French Republic, 1993; died in New York City on 12 January 2002.

The Artist

George Augusta (1922– ) was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and became interested 

in painting while serving with the United States Army’s signal intelligence service 

in Italy in World War II. He took advantage of his situation to study art in Florence, 

Italy, then returned to Boston to study privately with Ernest Lee Major from 1946 until 

the latter’s death in 1950. In addition to his portrait of Secretary Vance, Augusta also 

painted Secretaries Resor and Callaway for the gallery.
CYRUS ROBERTS VANCE

Kennedy and L. Johnson Administrations

By George Augusta

Oil on canvas, 411/2” x 331/2”, 1970
146

STEPHEN AILES was born in Romney, West Virginia, on 25 May 1912; attended Episcopal High School, Alexandria, Virginia, 1929; graduated from Princeton 

University, 1933; received his law degree from West Virginia University, 1936; was 

admitted to the West Virginia bar, 1936; was assistant professor of law, West Virginia 

University, 1937–1940; married Helen Wales, 1939; practiced law at Martinsburg, 

1940–1942; was a member of the legal staff of the Office of Price Administration, 

1942–1946, and its general counsel, 1945–1946; served as counsel to the American 

Economic Mission to Greece, 1947, which preceded the Truman Doctrine aid to 

Greece and Turkey; returned to private law practice with the Washington firm of 

Steptoe & Johnson, 1948–1949; was legal consultant to the director of the Office of 

Price Stabilization, 1951; served as Under Secretary of the Army, 9 February 1961–28 

January 1964; served as Secretary of the Army, 28 January 1964–1 July 1965; under his 

direction the Army dealt with riots in the Panama Canal Zone in which the Secretary 

helped negotiate a settlement, provided disaster assistance following earthquakes in 

Skopje, Yugoslavia, and Anchorage, Alaska, made an agreement with the Federal 

Republic of Germany to develop jointly a new main battle tank, assumed responsibility 

for the nation’s Civil Defense function, provided troops to protect American personnel 

and bring an end to a civil war in the Dominican Republic, and dispatched the first 

combat units to Vietnam; died in Bethesda, Maryland, on 30 June 2001.

The Artist

In addition to portraits of three Army Secretaries, New York entrepreneur Leo Fox 

contracted for and Irving Resnikoff (1896–1988) painted the portraits of Chief Justice 

Harlan F. Stone of the Supreme Court, Chairmen Clarence Cannon and George H. 

Mahon of the House Appropriations Committee, and J. George Stewart, Architect of 

the Capitol. The C. J. Fox signature also appears on the portraits of a number of figures 

in the business world, including J. Paul Austin of the Coca Cola Company, Harold S. 

Geneen of International Telephone and Telegraph Company, A. P. Giannini of the 

Bank of America, and V. J. Skutt of Mutual of Omaha.
STEPHEN AILES

L. Johnson Administration

By Irving Resnikoff, signed C. J. Fox

Oil on canvas, 441/2” x 341/2”, circa 1965
148

STANLEY ROGERS RESOR was born in New York City on 5 December 1917; 

attended the Groton School, Groton, Connecticut; graduated from Yale University, 

1939; entered Yale Law School; married Jane Lawler Pillsbury, 1942; was commissioned a second lieutenant of Field Artillery from the Yale ROTC course, 1942; entered 

upon active duty and served with the 10th Armored Division in the United States, 

1942–1944, and overseas, 1944–1945, in combat in the European Theater; received the 

Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart; was separated from the service as a 

lieutenant colonel and returned to Yale Law School to complete his studies and receive 

his law degree, 1946; was admitted to the New York bar, 1946; entered into practice as 

an associate and then partner in the New York firm of Deveboise, Plimpton, Lyons, 

and Gates, 1946–1965, specializing in corporate law; served as Under Secretary of the 

Army, 5 April–1 July 1965; served as Secretary of the Army, 2 July 1965–30 June 1971; 

during his tenure major forces were committed to Vietnam at presidential direction, 

the Army’s first airmobile division was fielded, the American line of communications 

in Europe was shifted from France to Germany and the Benelux countries, Army 

forces were committed in support of civil authorities in serious civil disturbances, 

Vietnamization of the war in Southeast Asia was accelerated and withdrawal of Army 

forces instituted, and the Army initiated actions to achieve an all-volunteer force; was 

United States representative with the rank of ambassador to the Mutual and Balanced 

Force Reduction negotiations in Vienna, Austria, 1973–1978; was awarded the George 

C. Marshall Medal from the Association of the United States Army, 1974; was 

appointed Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, August 1978.

The Artist

George Augusta (1922– ) is a native Bostonian who studied art in Boston and in Italy 

and maintains a studio in West Newburg, Massachusetts. He has painted the portraits 

of a number of individuals prominent in business, the professions, and government, 

and is represented in the Army’s gallery with his portraits of Secretaries Vance, Resor, 

and Callaway.
STANLEY ROGERS RESOR

L. Johnson and Nixon Administrations

By George Augusta

Oil on canvas, 391/2” x 313/4”, 1971
150

ROBERT FREDERICK FROEHLKE was born in Neenah, Wisconsin, on 15 

October 1922; attended high school at Marshfield, Wisconsin; enlisted in the U.S. 

Army in 1943, served in the Infantry in the European Theater, and left the service 

as a captain, 1946; attended the University of Wisconsin Law School and received 

his degree in 1949; married Nancy Barnes; practiced law in Madison, Wisconsin, in 

the firm of MacDonald and MacDonald, 1949–1950; became a member of the faculty 

of the University of Wisconsin Law School, 1950–1951; joined the legal department 

and moved up through the corporate structure of the Sentry Insurance Company 

of Stevens Point, Wisconsin, 1951–1969; served as Assistant Secretary of Defense 

for Administration, 30 January 1969–30 June 1971; was assigned responsibility for 

all Department of Defense intelligence resources and was chairman of the Defense 

Investigative Review Council; served as Secretary of the Army, 1 July 1971–4 May 

1973; under his direction the remaining Army troops were redeployed from Vietnam, 

recruiting was converted to an all-volunteer basis, the administration of the Ryukyu 

Islands was terminated, the Civil Defense administrative role was relinquished, and 

Army biological warfare facilities were closed in conformance with international agreements; was a member of the Commission on Social Security “Notch” Issues, 1994.

The Artist

Everett Raymond Kinstler (1926– ) studied at the Art Students League in New York 

and spent the first dozen years of his career as an illustrator before turning to portraiture in 1955. His portraits of public officials, both civil and military, hang in several 

government departments in the nation’s capital, and he painted the official portrait of 

President Gerald R. Ford. A member of a number of art societies and a recipient of several awards, he is the author of Painting Portraits (1971) and illustrator of several other 

books. He maintains a studio in New York City.
ROBERT FREDERICK FROEHLKE

Nixon Administration

By Everett Raymond Kinstler

Oil on canvas, 391/2” x 331/2”, 1973
152

HOWARD HOLLIS CALLAWAY was born in LaGrange, Georgia, on 2 April 

1927; attended the local schools and Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia; 

attended Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, 1944–1945; graduated from the 

United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, 1949; married Elizabeth 

Walton, 1949; was commissioned a second lieutenant and served in Infantry, 1949–

1952; was a platoon leader in the 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Division, in Korea, 1949–

1950; was an instructor at the Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia, 1951–1952; was 

president of Callaway Gardens, a tourist resort in Georgia, 1953–1970, and the Ida 

Cason Callaway Foundation, 1956–1970; served in the U.S. House of Representatives, 

1965–1967; was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Georgia, 1966; was chairman of the council of trustees of Freedoms Foundation, Valley Forge; served on the 

Republican National Committee; was president of Interfinancial, Incorporated, 1972; 

served as Secretary of the Army, 15 May 1973–3 July 1975; under his direction the 

phaseout of the draft was completed, the command and staff structure was reorganized, 

the Army served as executive agent for U.S. participation in the United Nations Truce 

Supervision Organization in the Middle East, and the Army celebrated its bicentennial; served as a member of the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, 1991–1993.

The Artist

George Augusta (1922– ) became interested in art during World War II service in Italy 

and went on to study there and in his native Boston. In addition to three Secretaries of 

the Army—Vance, Resor, and Callaway—his subjects have included former Secretary 

of Defense Clark Clifford and former Secretary of Agriculture Clifford Hardin.
HOWARD HOLLIS CALLAWAY

Nixon and Ford Administrations

By George Augusta

Oil on canvas, 391/2” x 313/4”, 1975
154

MARTIN RICHARD HOFFMANN was born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, 

on 20 April 1932; graduated from Princeton University, 1954; enlisted in the U.S. 

Army, 1954; was commissioned from Field Artillery Officer Candidate School, 1955; 

served with the 187th Regimental Combat Team and the 101st Airborne Division, 

1955–1956; continued military service in the Army Reserve; married Margaret Ann 

McCabe; graduated from the University of Virginia Law School, 1961; served as law 

clerk for Judge Albert V. Bryan, U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit, Alexandria, 

Virginia, 1961–1962; was assistant U.S. attorney, Washington, D.C., 1962–1965; was 

minority counsel, House Judiciary Committee, 1965–1966; served as legal counsel 

to Senator Charles H. Percy of Illinois, 1967–1969; was assistant general counsel and 

assistant secretary of University Computing Company, 1969–1971; was general counsel, Atomic Energy Commission, 1971–1973; was special assistant to the Secretary of 

Defense, 1973–1974; was general counsel of the Department of Defense, 1974–1975; 

served as Secretary of the Army, 5 August 1975–13 February 1977; under his direction 

the Army addressed the pervasive problems of post–Vietnam War readjustment, established a Privacy Review Board to act upon requests for access to records prompted by 

the Freedom of Information Act and converted its operations to a new fiscal year basis; 

served as a trustee of the Association of the United States Army and on the Secretary 

of Defense’s Commission on Base Realignment and Closure.

The Artist

Daniel Eugene Greene (1934– ) was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, studied at the Art 

Academy there, then moved to New York City to study with Robert Brackman at the 

Art Students League and with Robert Philipp at the National Academy. A National 

Academician, he has won numerous awards during the last two decades, and his works 

are in the collections of public and private institutions and individuals around the 

country. His subjects include Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, Governors Herbert Lehman and 

George Romney, Senators George Aiken and Spessard Holland, former Israeli Prime 

Minister David Ben Gurion, and Astronaut Walter Schirra.
MARTIN RICHARD HOFFMANN

Ford Administration

By Daniel Eugene Greene

Oil on canvas, 43” x 35”, 1977
156

CLIFFORD LEOPOLD ALEXANDER, JR., was born in New York City 

on 21 September 1933; attended the Ethical Culture and Fieldston Schools there; 

graduated from Harvard University, 1955; graduated from Yale University Law School, 

1958; enlisted in the New York National Guard, 1958; served briefly with the 369th 

Field Artillery Battalion at Fort Dix, New Jersey; married Adele Logan, 1959; was 

admitted to the bar; served as an assistant district attorney for New York County, 

1959–1961; became executive director of the Manhattanville Hamilton Grange 

Neighborhood Conservation Project, then program and executive director of Harlem 

Youth Opportunities; practiced law in New York City; was called to Washington to 

serve as a foreign affairs officer on the National Security Council staff, 1963; was successively deputy special assistant to the President, associate special counsel, and deputy 

special counsel on the White House staff, 1964–1967; was chairman of the U.S. Equal 

Employment Opportunity Commission, 1967–1969; was a special representative of the 

President and headed the U.S. delegation to ceremonies marking the independence of 

the Kingdom of Swaziland, 1968; practiced law with the Washington firm of Arnold 

and Porter, 1969–1975; was a television news commentator in Washington, 1972–1976; 

was a professor of law at Howard University, 1973–1974; ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for mayor of the District of Columbia, 1974; became a partner in the law firm of 

Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson, and Alexander, 1975; served as Secretary of the 

Army, 14 February 1977–20 January 1981; concentrated upon making the all-volunteer 

Army work, stressed programs to enhance professionalism, and emphasized the award 

of contracts to minority businesses.

The Artist

Harrison Edward Benton, Jr. (1939– ) has been an artist for as long as he can remember. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Maryland Institute of Art, 

Baltimore, Maryland. His entire career has been oriented toward art. He is a recognized 

professional illustrator/portrait artist and a member of the Society of Illustrators (New 

York) and the American Society of Portrait Artists. Dr. Benton retired from federal 

service in 1994 with over 32 years of service. For over twelve years he was employed as 

general manager with the Directorate of Programs and Evaluation, where he served as 

chief of the Programs & Evaluation Graphics Branch at the Pentagon. He is also a pastor, with a Doctor of Ministry Degree from Howard University, Washington, D.C.
CLIFFORD LEOPOLD ALEXANDER, JR.

Carter Administration

By Harrison Edward Benton, Jr.

Oil on canvas, 53” x 41”, 1984
158

JOHN OTHO MARSH, JR., was born in Winchester, Virginia, on 7 August 1926; 

attended the public schools at Harrisonburg, Virginia; entered the U.S. Army in 1944, 

was commissioned through the Officer Candidate Course at the Infantry School, 1945, 

and served with the occupation forces in Germany, 1945–1947; was a member of the 

United States Army Reserve, 1947–1951; married Glenn Ann Patterson, 1950; graduated from Washington and Lee University, 1951; was admitted to the Virginia bar, 1952, 

and entered the practice of law in Strasburg, Virginia; was town judge of Strasburg 

and town attorney of New Market, Virginia, 1954–1962; served four terms in the U.S. 

House of Representatives from Virginia’s Seventh District, 1963–1971; resumed the 

practice of law in Washington, D.C.; entered service in the Army National Guard in 

Virginia in 1951, graduating from the Army’s Airborne Infantry School with a senior 

parachutist rating in 1964 and retiring from Guard service as a lieutenant colonel in 

1976; was a member of the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, 1966–

1970; was Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs, 1973–1974; was a 

counselor to President Gerald R. Ford, 1974–1977; resumed the practice of law with the 

firm of Mays, Valentine, Davenport, and Moore; is a member of the Board of Visitors 

of the Virginia Military Institute; served as Secretary of the Army, 30 January 1981–14 

August 1989, holding the office longer than any previous Secretary; during his tenure 

the Army observed the Bicentennial of the founding of the country, implemented the 

provisions of the Goldwater-Nichols Act making the services more oriented to joint 

operations, and reorganized the Army Staff to eliminate duplication of functions; 

served as chairman, Reserve Forces Policy Board, 1989–1994 and as chairman, DOD 

Quality of Life Panel, 1994–1995.

The Artist

Sylvia Rogers Barnes received numerous awards from the Society of Western Artists, 

has been a staff painter with Faces West Art Gallery and Studio, and is one of 

California’s important portrait painters. For four years she taught art at the Mount 

Diablo Unified School District and became a freelance artist in the Monterey-Carmel 

area in 1980.
JOHN OTHO MARSH, JR.

Reagan–G. H. W. Bush Administrations

By Sylvia Rogers Barnes

Oil on canvas, 42” x 35”, 1990
160

MICHAEL PATRICK WILLIAM STONE, the only foreign-born Secretary 

of the Army, was born in London, England, on 2 June 1925; resided in the United 

States since 1929; served with the British Royal Navy, 1943–1945, received pilot training in the United States, and served in the Mediterranean and Far East as a member of 

the Royal Naval Air Squadron 1831, which completed its World War II service by participating in the surrender of the Japanese forces at Rabaul, New Guinea, in September 

1945; graduated from Yale University in 1948; studied law at New York University Law 

School; married Ann Donogh, 1952; was a founding partner of Sterling International, 

a paper marketing and manufacturing company in San Francisco in the early 1950s; 

was vice president of that company and president of several of its subsidiaries including 

Sterling Vineyards, 1960–1982; was the Director of the U.S. Mission for the Agency 

for International Development (AID) in Cairo, Egypt, 1982–1985; was involved in 

implementing the Kissinger Commission recommendations in the Caribbean Basin 

Initiative countries, 1985–1986; was Assistant Secretary of the Army for Financial 

Management, 1986–1988, and cochaired the Army’s Commission to Implement the 

Defense Reorganization Act of 1986 (Goldwater-Nichols), resulting in the most sweeping changes to the Army in years; served concurrently as the Acting Under Secretary 

of the Army from 28 February to 23 May 1988; was Under Secretary of the Army and 

Army Acquisition Executive, 1988–1989; simultaneously performed the duties of the 

Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition from 13 May 1989 until 10 August 1989; 

served as the fifteenth Secretary of the Army, 14 August 1989–19 January 1993; under 

his direction the Army participated in Operations Just Cause (Panama) and Desert 

Shield and Desert Storm (Southwest Asia); during his tenure the Cold War victory 

was finally achieved and the Army reshaped itself for the post–Cold War era; died in 

San Francisco, California, on 18 May 1995.

The Artist

John Boyd Martin (1936– ) graduated from the University of Kansas School of Fine 

Arts and began his career as an advertising art director and illustrator, winning more 

than 150 awards for his work before turning to portraiture. Commissioned by major 

universities, professional sports franchises, business institutions, and private collections, his portraits include golfers Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus; the former CEO 

of General Dynamics, David Lewis; the former Director of the Federal Aviation 

Administration, Allan McArtor; and the President of Trinity University, Dr. Ronald 

Calgaard.
MICHAEL PATRICK WILLIAM STONE

Bush Administration

By John Boyd Martin

Oil on canvas, 42” x 35”, 1992
162

togo dennis west, jr., was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on 

21 June 1942; was valedictorian at Atkins High School there; graduated from Howard 

University with degrees in electrical engineering and law in 1965 and 1968, respectively; married Gail Berry, 1966; served as law clerk for Judge Harold R. Tyler, Jr., 

U.S. Southern District of New York, 1968–1969; received a commission in the U.S. 

Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps, 1969; was a judge advocate in the Office of 

the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower and Reserve Affairs), 1969–1973; 

practiced law as an associate in the firm of Covington and Burling in Washington, 

D.C., 1973–1975; was associate deputy attorney general of the Department of Justice, 

1975–1976; returned to his law practice, 1976–1977; was general counsel of the 

Department of the Navy, 1977–1979; was special assistant to the Secretary and Deputy 

Secretary of Defense, 1979–1980; appointed general counsel of the Department of 

Defense, 1980–1981; resumed the practice of law as managing partner in the New York 

firm of Patterson, Belknap, Webb and Tyler, 1981–1990; submitted to Congress and 

the Secretary of State an independent inquiry concerning the murders of American 

churchwomen in El Salvador, 1982; was senior vice president in charge of government 

relations for the Northrop Corporation, 1990–1993; was sworn in as the sixteenth 

Secretary of the Army, 22 November 1993; was appointed Acting Secretary of Veterans 

Affairs on 2 January 1998 and officially retained the title Secretary of the Army until 

his confirmation by the Senate as the Secretary of Veterans Affairs on 5 May 1998.

The Artist

Everett Raymond Kinstler (1926– ) began his art career drawing comic strips while still 

in his teens. A protege of James Montgomery Flagg, he studied under Frank Vincent 

DeMond and Sidney Dickinson at New York City’s Art Students League. In 1955 

he turned to portraiture. An academician of the National Academy of Design, Mr. 

Kinstler is a member of a number of art societies and the recipient of several awards. 

He maintains a studio in New York City. He also painted the portrait of Secretary 

Froehlke.
Togo dennis west, jr.

Clinton Administration

By Everett Raymond Kinstler

Oil on canvas, 42” x 35”, 1998
164

Louis Edward Caldera , the eldest son of Mexican immigrants, was born 

in El Paso, Texas, on 1 April 1956 and raised in Whittier, California; appointed to 

the U.S. Military Academy, 1974; graduated from the academy and commissioned a 

second lieutenant in the Military Police Corps, 1978; left Army active duty as a captain, 1983, and the U.S. Army Reserve, 1991; graduated with a J.D. from Harvard Law 

School and a master’s in business administration from Harvard Business School, 1987; 

practiced law in Los Angeles at the firm of O’Melveny & Myers, 1987–1990; married 

Eva Orlebeke, 1991; appointed a Deputy County Counsel for Los Angeles County, 

1991–1992; elected to three terms in the California Legislature, State Assembly, from 

Los Angeles and chaired various committees, including the Banking and the Revenue 

and Taxation Committees, November 1992–September 1997; appointed by President 

William J. Clinton, with Senate confirmation, to serve as Managing Director and 

Chief Operating Officer, the Corporation for National and Community Service, 1997; 

served as Secretary of the Army, 2 July 1998–20 January 2001; during his tenure the 

Army began its historic transformation from a Cold War–legacy force to a rapidly 

deployable Information Age Army, while supporting U.S. leadership worldwide as the 

nation’s premier engagement force, including peacekeeping missions in the Balkans; 

reorganized the Army’s marketing and advertising programs and introduced the 

award-winning “Army of One” ad campaign, successfully reversing recruiting shortfalls; stressed investment in upgrading enlisted soldiers’ skills and distance education 

opportunities by creating the Army University Access Online internet portal; in July 

2001 named Vice Chancellor for University Advancement of the 23-campus California 

State University system, the nation’s largest four-year university system.

The Artist

John Boyd Martin (1936– ) has a gift for creating a strong, vibrant, accurate likeness, 

while capturing and maintaining the warmth and essence of his subjects. His distinctive style is achieved through the use of a broad brush and a palette of rich, diversified 

color. He also painted Secretary Stone. Other government commissions have included 

portraits of former Secretary of Agriculture Daniel R. Glickman and former Secretary 

of Defense Les Aspin. Martin maintains a studio near Kansas City.
LOUIS EDWARD CALDERA

Clinton Administration

By John Boyd Martin

Oil on canvas, 42” x 35”, 2001
166

THOMAS EUGENE WHITE was born in Detroit, Michigan, 14 December 1943; 

appointed to the U.S. Military Academy, 1963; graduated with a bachelor of science in 

engineering and commissioned a second lieutenant, Armor, 1967; served in Vietnam 

as a platoon leader with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR), 1968, 1969, and 

as an air cavalry aviation officer with over 1,000 combat flight hours, 1972; graduated 

with a master of science degree from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, 1974; graduated from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, 1979; commanded 

1st Squadron, 11th ACR, 1981–1983; graduated from the U.S. Army War College, 

1984; commanded the 11th ACR, 1986–1988; served as the Executive Assistant to the 

Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Colin Powell, 1989–1990; retired from the 

Army as a brigadier general, 1990; joined Enron Power Corporation as the Executive 

Vice President for Operations, 1990, and as Chairman/CEO, 1991; joined Enron 

Operations Corporation as the Chairman/CEO, 1993–1998; joined Enron Energy 

Services as Vice Chairman, 1998–2001; served as Secretary of the Army, 31 May 

2001–9 May 2003; as Secretary, focused on three goals: Transformation, Resourcing the 

Army, and the War on Terrorism in the aftermath of 11 September 2001; supported the 

CSA’s existing Army transformation plan, added his own emphasis on personnel transformation beginning with HQDA (Army Secretariat and Army Staff), and initiated 

improvements in officer education, recruiting, unit manning and rotation, and family 

readiness groups; focused on better business practices, to include the establishment of 

the Installation Management Agency, U.S. Army Network Technology Command, 

U.S. Army Contracting Agency, and the Residential Communities Initiative to 

improve Army housing through private capital; in the war on terrorism, saw the Army 

through successful operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere. He became a partner in DKRW Development in 2004.

The Artist

John Boyd Martin (1936– ) has established himself as one of the most accomplished 

portrait artists in the country. His paintings now hang in over 70 cities across the 

United States. His work has a down-to-earth feel that captures the essence of his subject in a very unique and dramatic manner. His recent commissions include Generals 

Richard B. Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Eric K. Shinseki, former 

U.S. Army Chief of Staff. He also painted Secretaries Stone and Caldera.
Thomas Eugene white

Bush Administration

By John Boyd Martin

Oil on canvas, 42” x 35”, 2005
168

Francis Joseph Harvey was born in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, 8 July 1943; 

earned his bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering and material science from the 

University of Notre Dame and his doctorate in metallurgy and material sciences from 

the University of Pennsylvania; served one year as a White House fellow and assistant 

in the immediate office of the Secretary of Defense, Harold Brown, in the late 1970s; 

joined Westinghouse Electric Corporation as a senior engineer, 1969; held several senior 

leadership positions, including General Manager of the Electrical Systems Division, 

General Manager of the Marine Division, Vice President of Science and Technology, 

President of the Government and Environmental Services Company, and President of 

the Defense and Electronics Systems Group; retired as the Chief Operating Officer of 

the Industries and Technology Group, 1997; served on a total of ten different corporate 

and noncorporate boards, including three portfolio companies of the Carlyle Group 

when he was the vice chairman of the board for two of these companies, 1997–2004; 

appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the Senate as the nineteenth 

Secretary of the Army, November 2004–March 2007; during his tenure was responsible 

for the Department of the Army’s annual budget and supplemental, which in fiscal year 

2007 was over $200 billion; led a work force of over 1 million active duty, Army National 

Guard, and Army Reserve soldiers; 240,000 Department of the Army civilian employees; 

and approximately 200,000 contract service personnel; had as his number-one priority 

the well-being of soldiers and their families; traveled extensively to visit soldiers in Iraq, 

Afghanistan, and at over 150 Army installations, camps, and forward operating bases in 

the United States, Europe, and Asia; applied his private-sector expertise and experience 

to transform the business side of the Army, focusing on the application of the well-known 

continuous process improvement approach, Lean Six Sigma, to every organization in the 

Army to reduce costs and to apply those savings to the operational Army, as well as to 

update Army leadership development programs; placed major emphasis on increasing the 

Army’s war-fighting capabilities through the implementation of several initiatives, including increasing the size of the Army, continuously improving soldiers’ and units’ force protection equipment, and building the Army of the future through force modernization and 

transformation with the focus on the Future Combat Systems Program and the Army 

modular force; is currently on five corporate boards and five advisory boards.

The Artist

Everett Raymond Kinstler (1926– ) studied at the Art Students League in New York 

City, where he later taught from 1969 to 1974. He eventually made the transition to portraitist and soon established himself as one of the nation’s foremost portrait artists. His 

commissions include Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Harry Blackmun 

and business and government leaders such as John D. Rockefeller III and New York 

Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. His paintings of Gerald R. Ford and Ronald Reagan 

are the official White House portraits. He also painted the portraits of Secretaries 

Froehlke and West. Kinstler recently completed portraits of Kansas Senator Robert 

Dole; Neil Rudenstine, former president of Harvard University; and Donald Trump. 
FRANCIS JOSEPH HARVEY

Bush Administration

By Everett Raymond Kinstler

Oil on canvas, 42 1/4” x 36 1/2”, 2008
170

Preston Murdoch (Pete ) Geren was born in Fort Worth, Tarrant 

County, Texas, 29 January 1952; graduated from Arlington Heights High School, Fort 

Worth, Texas, 1970; attended and played football for Georgia Institute of Technology in 

Atlanta, 1970–1973; received his bachelor of arts degree from the University of Texas in 

Austin, 1974, and his J.D. from the University of Texas Law School in Austin, 1978; was 

admitted to the Texas bar, 1978; was a lawyer in private practice and a businessman; 

was an executive assistant to U.S. Senator Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr., of Texas, 1983–1986; 

was an unsuccessful candidate for election to the 100th Congress, 1986; was elected to 

the 101st Congress, by special election, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation 

of U.S. Congressman James C. Wright, Jr., of Texas, 1989; was reelected to the three 

succeeding Congresses, 12 September 1989–3 January 1997; did not seek reelection 

to the 105th Congress; served as a member of the Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas, Airport 

Board, 1999–2001; joined the Department of Defense to serve as Special Assistant to 

the Secretary of Defense with responsibilities in the areas of interagency initiatives, 

legislative affairs, and special projects, September 2001; served as Acting Secretary of 

the Air Force, 29 July–November 2005; was Under Secretary of the Army, 21 February 

2006–9 March 2007; named as Acting Secretary of the Army on 9 March 2007, holding 

that position until 16 July 2007, when he became the twentieth Secretary of the Army 

following his nomination by President George W. Bush; served as Secretary until 16 

September 2009; during his tenure his primary focus was on soldiers and their families, 

establishing the Army Family Covenant and the Army Community Covenant, creating 

thirty-six warrior transition units for the care of injured soldiers, changing burial policy 

at Arlington National Cemetery to provide burials with full honors for enlisted soldiers 

killed by enemy action, chartering the Gansler Commission and reforming contingency 

contracting, including the establishment of the Army Contracting Command, and 

partnering with the National Institute of Mental Health on suicide prevention research.

The Artist

John Boyd Martin (1936– ) graduated from the University of Kansas School of Fine 

Arts and began his career as an illustrator and advertising art director, winning 

more than 150 awards for his work before turning to his passion, portraiture, in 1986. 

Commissioned by major universities, professional sports franchises, businesses, and 

government institutions, his portraits include golfers Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus; 

David Lewis, former Chief Executive Officer of General Dynamics; Generals Richard 

B. Meyers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Eric K. Shinseki, former U.S. 

Army Chief of Staff; and former Secretary of Defense Les Aspin. He also painted 

Secretaries Stone, Caldera, and White.
PRESTON MURDOCH (PETE) GEREN

Bush-Obama Administrations

By John Boyd Martin

Oil on canvas, 46” x 34”, 2010
172

John Michael McHugh was born in Watertown, New York, 29 September 

1948; graduated from Utica College with a degree in political science, 1970; received 

a master of public administration from the Nelson A. Rockefeller Graduate School 

of Public Affairs at the State University of New York at Albany, 1977; served as an 

assistant to Watertown’s city manager, 1971–1977; served as an aide to New York State 

Senator H. Douglas Barclay, 1977–1984; was elected as Barclay’s successor; served 

four terms in the legislature’s upper house before his election to the U.S. House of 

Representatives, where he represented northern and central New York, 1992; served 

as the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee with responsibility for overseeing the policies and programs of the Department of Defense and 

each of the armed forces; served as the first Chairman of the Morale, Welfare, and 

Recreation Panel and then Chairman and later ranking member of the Committee's 

Subcommittee on Military Personnel; served as a senior member of the House 

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and for six years as the Chairman 

of the Subcommittee on the Postal Service, significantly reforming the postal 

agency; was a member of the House International Relations Committee, 1997–2004; 

subsequently served on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, 

2005–2009; was also a fourteen-year member of the United States Military Academy 

Board of Visitors; at the time of his nomination as Secretary of the Army, was cochair 

of the House Army Caucus, a bipartisan organization that works to educate fellow 

House members and their staffs about Army issues and programs; served nine terms in 

Congress until his nomination by President Barack H. Obama and confirmation by the 

United States Senate as the twenty-first Secretary of the Army on 21 September 2009. 

The Photographer

Monica A. King (1965– ) is from Burlington, North Carolina. She began her photography career in 1988 as a black-and-white printer for a photography studio in Boston, 

Massachusetts. In 1989 she started to work for the U.S. Army Visual Information 

Center at the Pentagon as a photographic lab technician. In 1999 she became a photographer covering special events and ceremonies with foreign dignitaries and other 

government officials. After 11 September 2001, she photographed the crash site and 

personal effects of the victims and personnel of the terrorist attack on the Pentagon. 

She also photographed the personal effects of military personnel and civilians from the 

wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2004 she became the Army’s portrait photographer. 

Her subjects have included an Army Chief of Staff, three Secretaries of the Army, two 

Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and a Secretary of Defense. She has been working for the U.S. Army Visual Information Directorate for twenty years.
JOHN MICHAEL MCHUGH

Obama Administration

By Monica A. King

Photographic Portrait, 2009

AppendixES

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

Change is the rule rather than the exception in 

the political process, and the constant rotation of 

officials at the upper levels of government causes frequent gaps in executive progression. Interruptions may 

result from a change of administration or through the 

dismissal, reassignment, resignation, illness, or death 

of an incumbent. Although continuity is normally 

maintained by second-level management, intervals 

are usually bridged by temporary executive appointees. 

The Army department has had its share of secretaries 

ad interim over the years.

Acting secretaries have come from the civilian and 

military ranks of the department and from other agencies of government, and tours have ranged from a few 

days to as long as one year. When Secretary Pickering 

was commissioned Secretary of State by President 

Washington on 10 December 1795, he retained the 

Army portfolio as well and served until Secretary 

McHenry took office on 27 January 1796. Under similar circumstances, Secretary Dexter retained the Army 

stewardship after being appointed Secretary of the 

Treasury by President John Adams on 31 January 

1801, until Secretary Dearborn succeeded him at the 

War Department on 5 March 1801. The roles were 

reversed when President Madison asked Secretary 

of the Treasury Alexander J. Dallas to relieve ailing Secretary Monroe of the Army responsibility so 

that Monroe could devote full time to his primary 

duties as Secretary of State. Dallas filled in at the War 

Department from 2 March to 1 August 1815.

On 22 October 1816, effective with Secretary 

William H. Crawford’s transfer from the War 

Department to the Treasury Department, George 

Graham, Chief Clerk of the War Department, was designated Acting Secretary by President Madison under 

special congressional authority and held the position 

for almost a year, until Secretary Calhoun’s arrival on 

8 October 1817. Again, in a six-week hiatus between 

the departure of Secretary Eaton on 18 June 1831 and 

the assumption of office by Secretary Cass on 1 August 

1831, Secretary of the Navy Levi Woodbury served 

concurrently as Secretary of War.

Following Cass’ five-year superintendence, 

Attorney General Benjamin F. Butler was designated by 

President Jackson to preside over the War Department 

as well, a commission that extended from Secretary 

Cass’ departure on 5 October 1836 until Secretary 

Poinsett’s appointment on 7 March 1837 in the opening week of President Van Buren’s administration.

Another interval occurred in the succeeding Tyler 

administration between the tours of Secretaries Bell 

and Spencer. Once again, it was the War Department’s 

Chief Clerk who supervised operations; Albert Miller 

Lea watched over the department from 13 September 

to 12 October 1841.

On several occasions in the nineteenth century 

and twice in the twentieth, the executive branch of 

government strayed briefly from the path of civilian 

control over the military when the President designated the Army’s senior uniformed official to act temporarily as Secretary of War. President Fillmore, for 

example, during his first days in office, designated Lt. 

Gen. Winfield Scott, the Commanding General of 

the Army, to act as Secretary of War during the interregnum between the departure of Secretary George 

W. Crawford on 23 July 1850 and the succession by 

Secretary Charles M. Conrad on 15 August 1850.

Three interruptions in the secretarial progression occurred during the 1860s: one was covered 

by another cabinet officer, the other two by military officers. In the first, President Buchanan asked 

Postmaster General Joseph Holt to also oversee the 

War Department after Secretary Floyd departed on 29 

December 1860. Holt filled the post on an acting basis 

until 18 January 1861, when the President appointed 

him Secretary of War; confirmed by the Congress, 

Holt continued in office until President Lincoln’s 

inauguration in March.

When relations between President Lincoln’s 

Secretary of War, Edwin M. Stanton, and Lincoln’s 

APPENDIX A

SECRETARIES OF WAR AD INTERIM

AND

ACTING SECRETARIES OF THE ARMY
178

successor, President Andrew Johnson, soured, the 

Chief Executive suspended Stanton on 12 August 1867 

and appointed General Ulysses S. Grant, Commanding 

General of the Army, as Secretary of War ad interim. 

Although ill-disposed to be at the center of a controversy between his departmental superior and his 

commander in chief, Grant acted as secretary until 

13 January 1868, when the Senate reinstated Stanton. 

Grant managed to hold himself apart from the political turmoil that led to unsuccessful impeachment proceedings against President Johnson and Stanton’s early 

resignation.

As Johnson’s successor, President Grant also 

turned to the Commanding General of the Army to 

fill the secretarial post temporarily when Secretary 

Rawlin’s health failed. General William T. Sherman 

ran the department from 6 September to 25 October 

1869, when Secretary Belknap entered office.

The final secretarial interregnum of the nineteenth century came late in 1891, during President 

Benjamin Harrison’s administration. Upon Secretary 

Proctor’s departure from office on 5 November 1891, 

Assistant Secretary of War Lewis A. Grant became 

Acting Secretary for a period of six weeks, until 

Secretary Elkins entered office on 17 December 1891.

The creation of the posts of Assistant Secretary 

of War in 1861 and Under Secretary of War in 1940—

both titles carried forward with the department’s 1947 

name change from War to Army—provided a pool 

of resident officials intimately informed concerning 

departmental affairs and ready to serve in an acting capacity should the need arise. There were two 

exceptions in the twentieth century. Maj. Gen. Hugh 

L. Scott officiated as Secretary of War at President 

Wilson’s request following the simultaneous departures of Secretary Garrison and Assistant Secretary 

Breckinridge on 10 February 1916 and until Secretary 

Baker’s arrival on 9 March 1916. President Clinton 

appointed General Gordon R. Sullivan, Army Chief 

of Staff, as the Acting Secretary of the Army on 27 

August 1993, after John W. Shannon was placed on 

administrative leave. Sullivan acted as Secretary until 

21 November 1993, when Togo D. West was sworn in 

as Secretary of the Army.

On 18 November 1929, for example, Assistant 

Secretary of War Patrick J. Hurley became Acting 

Secretary upon the death of incumbent Secretary 

Good. Nominated to succeed Mr. Good, Hurley 

became Secretary of War in his own right on 9 

December 1929. Under similar circumstances, Assistant 

Secretary Harry H. Woodring assumed the secretaryship on an acting basis when Secretary Dern died in 

office on 27 August 1936, moving officially into the 

executive role a month later, on 25 September 1936. 

Woodring resigned on 20 June 1940, and Assistant 

Secretary Louis A. Johnson ran the department in an 

acting capacity until Secretary Stimson entered office 

on 10 July 1940.

There have been several interruptions in secretarial continuity since the 1947 change in departmental designation and the loss of cabinet status that 

resulted from the 1949 amendments to the National 

Security Act. Gordon Gray, who was an Assistant 

Secretary of the Army under Secretary Royall and 

advanced to Under Secretary after Royall’s departure, was Acting Secretary from April to June 1949 

before moving up the final step to become Secretary 

of the Army. From 20 January to 4 February 1953, 

Under Secretary Earl D. Johnson acted as Secretary 

of the Army, bridging the departure of Secretary Pace 

and the arrival of Secretary Stevens. Only a few days 

separated the incumbencies of Secretaries Brucker and 

Stahr, Stahr and Vance, and Ailes and Resor; other 

transitions were made by immediate succession. The 

next substantial interval came between the departure 

of Secretary Callaway in July 1975 and the arrival 

of Secretary Hoffmann in August 1975, a period in 

which Under Secretary Norman R. Augustine was 

Acting Secretary of the Army. Under Secretary John 

W. Shannon was Acting Secretary of the Army, following the change of administrations in January 1993, 

until he was placed on administrative leave in August 

1993. Shannon was replaced as Acting Secretary by 

General Gordon R. Sullivan, Army Chief of Staff, 

until Secretary West took office. Following Secretary 

West’s departure in January 1998, Under Secretary 

Robert M. Walker acted as Secretary of the Army 

until July 1998, when Secretary Caldera was sworn in. 

With the change of administrations in January 2001, 

Under Secretary Gregory R. Dahlberg was Acting 

Secretary of the Army until he left government service 

in March 2001. He was replaced as Acting Secretary 

by Joseph R. Westphal, the Assistant Secretary of the 

Army (Civil Works); Westphal continued as Acting 

Secretary until May 2001, when Secretary White took 

the oath of office. Following Secretary White’s resignation in May 2003, Under Secretary R. L. Brownlee 

acted as Secretary of the Army until November 2004, 

when Secretary Harvey was sworn in. Upon Secretary 

Harvey leaving office in March 2007, Under Secretary 

of the Army Preston M. (Pete) Geren was named 

Acting Secretary of the Army until July 2007, when he 

was confirmed as the twentieth Secretary of the Army.

The War Department commissioned the portraits of seven interim secretaries. The gallery contains paintings of Alexander J. Dallas by Philip F. 

Wharton; Benjamin F. Butler by Robert Walter Weir; 

Reverdy Johnson (who served a five-day interval) 

by Henry Ulke; Winfield Scott by Weir; Ulysses S. 

Grant by Freeman Thorp; William T. Sherman by 

George P. A. Healy; and Hugh L. Scott by Edmund 

C. Tarbell.
179

Secretaries Ad Interim Dates

Timothy Pickering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 December 1795 –26 January 1796

Samuel Dexter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 January 1801 – 4 March 1801 

Alexander J. Dallas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 March 1815 – 1 August 1815 

George Graham . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 October 1816 – 8 October 1817 

Levi Woodbury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 June 1831 – 1 August 1831

Benjamin F. Butler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 October 1836 – 7 March 1837

Albert Miller Lea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 September 1841 – 12 October 1841 

Winfield Scott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 July 1850 – 15 August 1850

Joseph Holt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 December 1860 – 18 January 1861

Ulysses S. Grant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 August 1867 – 13 January 1868

William T. Sherman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 September 1869 – 25 October 1869

Lewis A. Grant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 November 1891 – 17 December 1891

Hugh L. Scott . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 February 1916 – 9 March 1916

Patrick J. Hurley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 November 1929 – 9 December 1929

Harry H. Woodring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 August 1936 – 25 September 1936

Louis A. Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 June 1940 – 10 July 1940

Gordon Gray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 April 1949 – 19 June 1949

Earl D. Johnson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 January 1953 – 4 February 1953

Norman R. Augustine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 July 1975 – 5 August 1975

Percy A. Pierre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 January 1981 – 29 January 1981

John W. Shannon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 January 1993 –26 August 1993

Gordon R. Sullivan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 August 1993 – 21 November 1993

Robert M. Walker. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 January 1998 – 1 July 1998

Gregory R. Dahlberg. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 January 2001 – 4 March 2001

Joseph W. Westphal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 March 2001 –30 May 2001

Romie L. Brownlee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 May 2003 – 18 November 2004

Preston M. Geren. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 March 2007 – 16 July 2007

APPENDIX B

CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES,

SECRETARIES OF WAR, AND SECRETARIES OF THE ARMY

PresidenT Secretary of War

George Washington

30 April 1789–3 March 1797

John Adams

4 March 1797–3 March 1801

Thomas Jefferson

4 March 1801–3 March 1809

James Madison

4 March 1809–3 March 1817

James Monroe

4 March 1817–3 March 1825

John Quincy Adams

4 March 1825–3 March 1829

Henry Knox. . . . . . . . . 12 September 1789 – 31 December 1794

Timothy Pickering. . . . 2 January 1795 – 10 December 1795

James McHenry. . . . . . . 27 January 1796 –

James McHenry. . . . . . . – 13 May 1800

Samuel Dexter. . . . . . . . 13 May 1800– 31 January 1801

Henry Dearborn. . . . . . 5 March 1801 –

Henry Dearborn. . . . . . – 7 March 1809

William Eustis . . . . . . . 7 March 1809– 13 January 1813

John Armstrong. . . . . . 13 January 1813 – 27 September 1814

James Monroe. . . . . . . . 27 September 1814 – 2 March 1815

William H. Crawford. . 1 August 1815 – 22 October 1816

John C. Calhoun. . . . . . 8 October 1817 –

John C. Calhoun. . . . . . – 7 March 1825

James Barbour . . . . . . . 7 March 1825 – 23 May 1828

Peter B. Porter. . . . . . . . 26 May 1828 –

1

The question of whether the President’s term of office expired at midnight of 3 March or noon of 4 March 

was not spelled out in the United States Constitution and became the subject of a variety of interpretations in 

the early years of the republic. In 1821 Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, apparently at President Monroe’s 

request, asked Chief Justice John Marshall for an expression on the subject. The Chief Justice, noting that he had 

“conversed with my brethren on the subject,” stated that “As the constitution only provides that the President 

shall take the oath it ‘prescribes before he enter on the execution of his office,’ and as the law is silent on the 

subject, the time seems to be in some measure at the discretion of that high officer. There is an obvious propriety in taking the oath as soon as it can conveniently be taken, & thereby shortening the interval in which the 

executive power is suspended. But some interval is inevitable. The time of the actual President will expire, and 

that of the President elect commence, at twelve in the night of the 3d of March. It has been usual to take the 

oath at mid day on the 4th.” On the basis of this statement, somewhat in the nature of an advisory opinion of 

the Supreme Court, the date of 3 March is used in this chart as the limit of the incumbent’s term of office, and 4 

March as the start of the successor’s term. The question was finally resolved in law in 1933 with the ratification 

of the Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution, which changed the inaugural date to 20 January and set noon 

as the hour for the Presidential transition.
182

Andrew Jackson

4 March 1829–3 March 1837

Martin Van Buren

4 March 1837–3 March 1841

William Henry Harrison

4 March 1841–4 April 1841

John Tyler

6 April 1841–3 March 1845

James K. Polk

4 March 1845–3 March 1849

Zachary Taylor

5 March 1849–9 July 1850

Millard Fillmore

10 July 1850–3 March 1853

Franklin Pierce

4 March 1853–3 March 1857

James Buchanan

4 March 1857–3 March 1861

Abraham Lincoln

4 March 1861–15 April 1865

Andrew Johnson

15 April 1865–3 March 1869

Ulysses S. Grant

4 March 1869–3 March 1877

Rutherford B. Hayes

4 March 1877– 3 March 1881

James A. Garfield

4 March 1881–19 September 1881

Chester A. Arthur

20 September 1881–3 March 1885

Grover Cleveland

4 March 1885–3 March 1889

Peter B. Porter. . . . . . . . – 9 March 1829

John H. Eaton. . . . . . . . 9 March 1829 – 18 June 1831

Lewis Cass. . . . . . . . . . . 1 August 1831 – 5 October 1836

Joel R. Poinsett. . . . . . . 7 March 1837 –

Joel R. Poinsett. . . . . . . – 5 March 1841

John Bell. . . . . . . . . . . . 5 March 1841 –

John Bell. . . . . . . . . . . . – 13 September 1841

John C. Spencer. . . . . . 12 October 1841 – 3 March 1843

James M. Porter . . . . . . 8 March 1843 – 30 January 1844

William Wilkins. . . . . . 15 February 1844– 4 March 1845

William L. Marcy. . . . . 6 March 1845 – 5 March 1849

George W. Crawford. . . 8 March 1849 –

George W. Crawford. . . – 23 July 1850

Charles M. Conrad . . . 15 August 1850 –

Charles M. Conrad . . . – 7 March 1853

Jefferson Davis . . . . . . . 7 March 1853 –

Jefferson Davis. . . . . . . . – 6 March 1857

John B. Floyd . . . . . . . . 6 March 1857 – 29 December 1860

Joseph Holt . . . . . . . . . . 18 January 1861 –

Joseph Holt . . . . . . . . . . – 5 March 1861

Simon Cameron . . . . . . 5 March 1861 – 14 January 1862

Edwin M. Stanton. . . . . 20 January 1862 –

Edwin M. Stanton. . . . . – 28 May 1868

John M. Schofield . . . . . 1 June 1868 –

John M. Schofield . . . . . – 13 March 1869

John A. Rawlins . . . . . . 13 March 1869 – 6 September 1869

William W. Belknap. . . 25 October 1869 – 2 March 1876

Alphonso Taft . . . . . . . 8 March 1876 – 22 May 1876

James D. Cameron. . . . 22 May 1876 – 3 March 1877

George W. McCrary. . . 12 March 1877 – 10 December 1879

Alexander Ramsey. . . . 10 December 1879 –

Alexander Ramsey. . . . – 5 March 1881

Robert T. Lincoln . . . . . 5 March 1881 –

Robert T. Lincoln . . . . . –

Robert T. Lincoln . . . . . – 5 March 1885

William C. Endicott. . . 5 March 1885 –

PresidenT Secretary of War
183

William C. Endicott. . . – 5 March 1889

Redfield Proctor . . . . . . 5 March 1889 – 5 November 1891

Stephen B. Elkins. . . . . 17 December 1891 –

Stephen B. Elkins. . . . . – 5 March 1893

Daniel S. Lamont . . . . . 5 March 1893 –

Daniel S. Lamont. . . . . – 5 March 1897

Russell A. Alger . . . . . . 5 March 1897 – 1 August 1899

Elihu Root . . . . . . . . . . 1 August 1899 –

Elihu Root . . . . . . . . . . – 31 January 1904

William H. Taft. . . . . . . 1 February 1904– 30 June 1908

Luke E. Wright . . . . . . . 1 July 1908–

Luke E. Wright . . . . . . . – 11 March 1909

Jacob M. Dickinson. . . . 12 March 1909– 21 May 1911

Henry L. Stimson. . . . . 22 May 1911 – 4 March 1913

Lindley M. Garrison. . . 5 March 1913 – 10 February 1916

Newton D. Baker . . . . . 9 March 1916 – 4 March 1921

John W. Weeks . . . . . . . 5 March 1921 –

John W. Weeks . . . . . . . – 13 October 1925

Dwight F. Davis . . . . . . 14 October 1925 –

Dwight F. Davis . . . . . . – 5 March 1929

James W. Good. . . . . . . 6 March 1929 – 18 November 1929

Patrick J. Hurley. . . . . . 9 December 1929 – 3 March 1933

George H. Dern . . . . . . 4 March 1933 – 27 August 1936

Harry H. Woodring. . . . 25 September 1936 – 20 June 1940

Henry L. Stimson. . . . . 10 July 1940–

Henry L. Stimson. . . . . – 21 September 1945

Robert P. Patterson. . . . 27 September 1945 – 18 July 1947

Kenneth C. Royall. . . . 19 July 1947 – 17 September 1947

Benjamin Harrison

4 March 1889–3 March 1893

Grover Cleveland

4 March 1893–3 March 1897

William McKinley

4 March 1897–14 September 1901

Theodore Roosevelt

14 September 1901–3 March 1909

William H. Taft

4 March 1909–3 March 1913

Woodrow Wilson

4 March 1913–3 March 1921

Warren G. Harding

4 March 1921–2 August 1923

Calvin Coolidge

3 August 1923–3 March 1929

Herbert C. Hoover

4 March 1929–3 March 1933

Franklin D. Roosevelt

4 March 1933–12 April 1945

Harry S. Truman

12 April 1945–20 January 1953

PresidenT Secretary of War

Secretary of The army

Harry S. Truman 

12 April 1945–20 January 1953

Dwight D. Eisenhower

20 January 1953–20 January 1961

John F. Kennedy

20 January 1961–22 November 1963

Kenneth C. Royall. . . . 17 September 1947 – 27 April 1949

Gordon Gray. . . . . . . . . 20 June 1949 – 12 April 1950

Frank Pace, Jr.. . . . . . . . 12 April 1950 – 20 January 1953

Robert T. Stevens. . . . . 4 February 1953 – 21 July 1955

Wilber M. Brucker. . . . 21 July 1955 – 19 January 1961

Elvis J. Stahr, Jr.. . . . . . . 25 January 1961 – 30 June 1962

Cyrus R. Vance . . . . . . 5 July 1962 –
184

Lyndon B. Johnson

22 November 1963–20 January 1969

Richard M. Nixon

20 January 1969–9 August 1974

Gerald R. Ford

9 August 1974–20 January 1977

James E. Carter

20 January 1977–20 January 1981

Ronald W. Reagan

20 January 1981–20 January 1989

George H. W. Bush

20 January 1989–20 January 1992

William J. Clinton

20 January 1992 –20 January 2001

George W. Bush

20 January 2001–20 January 2009

Barack H. Obama

20 January 2009–

Cyrus R. Vance . . . . . . . . . . –21 January 1964

Stephen Ailes. . . . . . . . . . . . 28 January 1964 – 1 July 1965

Stanley R. Resor . . . . . . . . . . 2 July 1965 –

Stanley R. Resor . . . . . . . . . . –30 June 1971

Robert F. Froehlke. . . . . . . . . 1 July 1971 – 4 May 1973

Howard H. Callaway. . . . . . . 15 May 1973 –

Howard H. Callaway . . . . . . – 3 July 1975

Martin R. Hoffmann. . . . . . 5 August 1975 –

Martin R. Hoffmann. . . . . . –13 February 1977

Clifford L. Alexander, Jr.. . . 14 February 1977 –20 January 1981

John O. Marsh, Jr.. . . . . . . . . 30 January 1981 –

John O. Marsh, Jr.. . . . . . . . . –14 August 1989

Michael P. W. Stone . . . . . . . 14 August 1989 –19 January 1993

Togo D. West, Jr.. . . . . . . . . . 22 November 1993 – 4 May 1998

Louis Caldera. . . . . . . . . . . . 2 July 1998 –20 January 2001

Thomas E. White. . . . . . . . . 31 May 2001 – 9 May 2003

Francis J. Harvey. . . . . . . . . . 18 November 2004 – 9 March 2007

Preston M. (Pete) Geren. . . . 16 July 2007 –

Preston M. (Pete) Geren. . . . –16 September 2009

John M. McHugh. . . . . . . . . 21 September 2009 –

PresidenT Secretary of the army
185

The literature of an institution and its leaders over 

an extended period of time is bound to be uneven. 

The Army’s history during more than two hundred 

years of American statehood has moved with national 

currents, and the administrations of its civilian heads 

have taken historical form from the fluctuation in the 

events of their times and the nature of the individuals’ 

participation in those events. Add to this the disparities in individual abilities and terms of office, as well 

as the fact that some officials had wider and more 

influential public service than others, and it is readily 

apparent that there will be marked differences in the 

degree of biographical attention accorded to Army secretaries over the period from 1776, when the Board of 

War was established, up to the present.

It is also understandable that earlier figures who 

served a young and growing nation in a smaller and 

more focused government should come under closer 

scrutiny from the perspective of time. Additionally, 

GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

American State Papers: Military Affairs. 7 vols. Washington: 

Gales and Seaton, 1832–1861.

Annual Reports of the Secretary of War, 1822–1949. 

Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.

Annual Reports of the Secretary of the Army, 1950–1968. 

In Annual Report of the Department of Defense. 

Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.

Ball, Harry P. Of Responsible Command: A History of the 

U.S. Army War College. Carlisle: Alumni Association, 

U.S. Army War College, 1984.

Berdahl, Clarence. War Powers of the Executive of the United 

States. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1921.

Bernardo, C. Joseph, and Bacon, Eugene H. American 

Military Policy: Its Development Since 1775. Harrisburg: 

Stackpole, 1955.

Borklund, Carl. Men of the Pentagon: From Forrestal to 

McNamara. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1966.

—–—. The Department of Defense. New York: Frederick A. 

Praeger, 1968.

Clark, Keith C., and Legere, Laurence J. The President and 

the Management of National Security. New York: Frederick 

A. Praeger, 1969.

Coffman, Edward M. The Old Army: A Portrait of the 

American Army in Peacetime. New York: Cambridge 

University Press, 1988.

—–—. The Regulars: The American Army, 1898–1941. 

Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard Univsity Press, 2004.

Currie, James T., and Richard B. Crossland. Twice the 

Citizen: A History of the United States Army Reserve, 

1908–1995. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing 

Office, 1997.

Department of the Army Historical Summary. Washington, 

D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1970–1996.

Doubler, Michael D. I Am the Guard: A History of the 

Army National Guard, 1636–2000. Washington, D.C.: 

Government Printing Office, 2001.

Eberstadt, Ferdinand. Unification of War and Navy 

Departments and Postwar Organization for National 

Security. A Report to Hon. James Forrestal. Washington, 

D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1945.

Ekirch, Arthur A., Jr. The Civilian and the Military. New 

York: Oxford University Press, 1956.

Feaver, Peter D., and Richard H. Kohn, eds. Soldiers and 

Civilians: The Civil-Military Gap and American National 

Security. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2001.

Ganoe, William Addleman. The History of the United States 

Army. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1924.

Hammond, Paul Y. Organizing for Defense: The American 

Military Establishment in the Twentieth Century. Princeton: 

Princeton University Press, 1961.

Heitman, Francis B. Historical Register and Dictionary of 

the United States Army. Washington, D.C.: Government 

Printing Office, 1903.

no Secretary of War is still living, and public figures 

are more easily and freely assessed after they have left 

the scene than while they are still living. In light of 

the office’s loss of cabinet status and the subordination 

of the service departments within the Department 

of Defense, it remains to be seen whether the Army 

secretarial office and the incumbents of modern times 

will garner the attention accorded their predecessors in 

the more sovereign and independent War Department 

days.

It was deemed most useful to the reader to divide 

the select bibliography into two sections: a general 

source list pertaining to military history and a specific 

one dealing with the individual secretaries (including 

the officials who served ad interim) and the artists who 

painted them. The bibliography that follows immediately includes works on the national defense, the history of the Army, the departmental headquarters, and 

the broad details of organization and operation.
186

Hewes, James E., Jr. From Root to McNamara: Army 

Organization and Administration, 1900–1963. Washington, 

D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1975.

Huntington, Samuel R. The Soldier and the State: The 

Theory and Politics of Civil-Military Relations. Cambridge: 

Harvard University Press, 1957.

Ingersoll, Lurton D. A History of the War Department 

of the United States with Biographical Sketches of the 

Secretaries. Washington, D.C.: Francis B. Mohun, 1880.

Jacobs, James Ripley. The Beginning of the U.S. Army, 1783–

1812. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1947.

Kauffman, William W., ed. Military Policy and National 

Security. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1956.

Kerwin, Jerome G., ed. Civil-Military Relationship in American 

Life. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1948.

Kohn, Richard H. Eagle and Sword: The Federalists and the 

Creation of the Military Establishment in America, 1783–

1802. New York: Free Press, 1975.

—–—., ed. The United States Military Under the Constitution 

of the United States, 1789–1989. New York: New York 

University Press, 1991.

Kreidberg, Marvin A., and Henry, Merton G. History of 

Military Mobilization in the United States Army, 1775–1945. 

Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1984.

May, Ernest R., ed. The Ultimate Decision: The President as 

Commander in Chief. New York: George Braziller, 1960.

Meneely, Alexander H. The War Department, 1861: A Study 

in Mobilization and Administration. New York: Columbia 

University Press, 1928.

Millis, Walter. Arms and Men: A Study in American Military 

History. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1956.

—–—, with Mansfield, Harvey C., and Stein, Harold. Arms 

and the State: Civil-Military Elements in National Policy. 

New York: Twentieth Century Fund, 1958.

Nelson, Otto L. National Security and the General Staff. 

Washington, D.C.: Infantry Journal Press, 1946.

Palmer, John McAuley. America in Arms: The Experience of 

the United States with Military Organization. New Haven: 

Yale University Press, 1941.

Pearlman, Michael D. Warmaking and American Democracy: 

The Struggle Over Military Strategy, 1700 to the Present. 

Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1999.

Powers, Patrick W. A Guide to National Defense: The 

Organization and Operations of the U.S. Military 

Establishment. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1964.

Ries, John C. The Management of Defense: Organization 

and Control of the U.S. Armed Forces. Baltimore: Johns 

Hopkins University Press, 1964.

Rodenbough, Theophilus F., and Haskin, William L., eds. 

The Army of the United States: Historical Sketches of Staff 

and Line. New York: Merrill, 1896.

Sanders, Jennings B. The Evolution of the Executive 

Department, 1774–1789. Chapel Hill: University of North 

Carolina Press, 1935.

Sherry, Mark D. The Army Command Post and Defense 

Reshaping, 1987–1997 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Army 

Center of Military History, 2008). 

Skelton, William B. An American Profession of Arms: The 

Army Officer Corps, 1784–1861. Lawrence: University 

Press of Kansas: 1992.

Smith, Louis. American Democracy and Military Power: A 

Study of Civil Control of the Military Power in the United 

States. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951.

Spaulding, Oliver Lyman. The United States Army in War and 

Peace. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1937.

Stewart, Richard W. American Military History, Volume 

I: The United States Army and the Forging of a Nation, 

1775–1917. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing 

Office, 2004.

—–—, American Military History, Volume II: The United 

States Army in a Global Era 1917–2003. Washington, 

D.C.: Government Printing Office, 2005.

Thian, Raphael P. Legislative History of the General Staff 

of the Army of the United States. Washington, D.C.: 

Government Printing Office, 1901.

Upton, Emory. The Military Policy of the United States From 

1775. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 

1904.

Ward, Harry M. The Department of War, 1781–1795. 

Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1962.

Weigley, Russell F. History of the United States 

Army. New York: Macmillan Co., 1967. Enlarged 

edition, Bloomington: University of Indiana Press, 1984.

—–—. The American Way of War. New York: Macmillan Co., 

1973.

—–—. Towards an American Army: Military Thought From 

Washington to Marshall. New York: Columbia University 

Press, 1962.

White, Howard. Executive Influence in Determining Military 

Policy in the United States. Urbana: University of Illinois 

Press, 1924.

Wright, Robert K., Jr. The Continental Army. Washington, 

D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1983.

Yoshpe, Harry B., and Falk, Stanley L. Organization for 

National Security. Washington, D.C.: Industrial College 

of the Armed Forces, 1963.
187

BIBLIOGRAPHY

OF

SECRETARIES AND ARTISTS

Most of the Secretaries of War and Secretaries 

of the Army have received brief biographical mention in standard reference works. Principal among 

these, insofar as the earlier officials are concerned, 

is the twenty-volume Dictionary of American 

Biography, with supplements, and the thirty-two 

volume National Cyclopaedia of American Biography. 

Eight secretaries are treated in the four-volume The 

National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans 

(1834–1839). The various editions of Who’s Who 

in America and Who Was Who in America contain 

references to individuals—especially later officials—

who may have had little or no biographical treatment in other sources. Current Biography is also 

useful for its coverage of contemporary officials. 

Treatment according to editorial perceptions of the 

relative importance of individuals is provided in 

various editions of the Encyclopedia Americana and 

Encyclopedia Britannica, while officials of military 

background are also covered in Francis B. Heitman’s 

Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States 

Army (1789–1903), George W. Cullum’s Biographical 

Register of the Officers and Graduates of the United 

States Military Academy, a work spanning the years 

1802–1950 and periodically updated, and Who Was 

Who in American History—The Military.

Autobiographies and the secondary literature on 

the Army’s top civilian leaders provide the real substance of their lives and service. If the major published 

autobiographies and biographies are supplemented 

by L. D. Ingersoll’s History of the War Department 

with its biographical sketches of the first thirty-three 

secretaries (including those who served ad interim), 

and by doctoral dissertations, most of the gaps in the 

secretarial bibliography are filled, however imperfectly. Doctoral dissertations are normally available 

in xerographic or microfilm reproduction from UMI 

(University Microfilms) of Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The bibliographical listing that follows includes 

works on the Secretaries of War and the Secretaries of 

the Army, the predecessors of the Secretary of War and 

the officials who served ad interim through the years, 

and the artists who painted the secretarial portraits. 

These are arranged alphabetically by the individual 

subject with applicable sources entered alphabetically 

under each individual’s name. Since Ingersoll’s History 

of the War Department includes biographical information on the first thirty-three secretaries, this source is 

not listed under all the individual names, but should 

be consulted for information on secretaries who served 

before 1880. Although full-length treatment is available on only a few artists, some are covered in such 

art reference works as George C. Groce’s and David 

Wallace’s The New York Historical Society’s Dictionary 

of Artists in America and Mantle Fielding’s Dictionary 

of American Painters. Several of the more prominent 

artists appear in the standard biographical reference 

works cited earlier.

Alger, Russell Alexander

Bell, Rodney E. “A Life of Russell Alexander Alger, 1836–

1907.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Michigan, 

1975.

Russell Alexander Alger, Late Senator in the Congress of the 

United States from Michigan. Lansing: n.p., 1907.

Armstrong, John

Armstrong, John. Notices on the War of 1812. 2 vols. New 

York: Wiley and Putnam, 1840.

Skeen, C. Edward. “John Armstrong and the Role of the 

Secretary of War in the War of 1812.” Ph.D. dissertation, 

Ohio State University, 1966.

—–—. John Armstrong, 1758–1843: A Biography. Syracuse: 

Syracuse University Press, 1981.

Baker, Newton Diehl

Beaver, Daniel R. Newton D. Baker and the American War 

Effort, 1917–1919. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 

1966.
188

Kelley, Brooks M. “A Machine Is Born: Simon Cameron and 

Pennsylvania, 1862–1873.” Ph.D. dissertation, University 

of Chicago, 1962.

Cass, Lewis

Hewlett, Richard G. “Lewis Cass in National Politics, 

1842–1862.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Chicago, 

1952.

Hickman, George H. The Life of General Lewis Cass. 

Baltimore: N. Hickman, 1848.

Klunder, Willard C. Lewis Cass and the Politics of Moderation. 

Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1996.

McLaughlin, Andrew C. Lewis Cass. Boston: Houghton 

Mifflin Co., 1972.

Smith, William L. Fifty Years of Pub1ic Life: The Life and 

Times of Lewis Cass. New York: Derby and Jackson, 1856.

Woodford, Frank B. Lewis Cass: The Last Jeffersonian. New 

Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1950.

Chandor, Douglas

Vaughn, Malcolm. Chandor’s Portraits. New York: Brentano, 

1942.

Chase, Joseph Cummings

Chase, Joseph Cummings. My Friends Look Better Than Ever. 

New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1950.

Crawford, William Harris

Butler, Benjamin F. [Americanus]. Sketches of the Life and 

Character of William H. Crawford. Albany: Packard and 

Van Benthuysen, 1824.

Cutler, Everette W. William Harris Crawford. Charlotte: 

University of North Carolina Press, 1965.

Green, Philip J. “The Public Life of William Harris 

Crawford, 1807–1825.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of 

Chicago, 1935.

Knowlton, Daniel C., ed. The Journal of William H. Crawford. 

Northhampton: Deptartment of History, Smith College, 

1925.

Mooney, Chase C. William H. Crawford, 1772–1834. 

Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1974.

Shipp, John E. D. Giant Days, or, The Life and Times of 

William H. Crawford. Americus, Ga.: Southern Printers, 

1909.

Dallas, Alexander James

Dallas, George M. Life and Writings of Alexander James 

Dallas. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1871.

Walters, Raymond, Jr. Alexander James Dallas: Lawyer, 

Politician, Financier, 1759–1817. 1943. Reprint. New York: 

Da Capo Press, 1969.

Davis, Jefferson

Addey, Markinfield. Life of Jefferson Davis. Philadelphia: 

Keystone Publishing Co., 1890.

Alfriend, Frank H. The Life of Jefferson Davis. Philadelphia: 

National Publishing Co., 1868.

Allen, Felicity. Jefferson Davis: Unconquerable Heart. 

Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1999.

Chance, Joseph E. Jefferson Davis’s Mexican War Regiment. 

Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1991.

Cooper, William J., Jr. Jefferson Davis, American: A Biography. 

New York: Knopf, 2000.

Cramer, C. H. Newton D. Baker: A Biography. Cleveland: 

World Publishing Co., 1961.

Palmer, Frederick. Newton D. Baker: America at War. 2 vols. 

New York: Dodd, Mead, & Co., 1931.

Barbour, James

Long, William S. James Barbour. n.p., 1913.

Lowery, Charles D. James Barbour: A Jeffersonian Republican. 

University: University of Alabama Press, 1984.

Belknap, William Worth

Holthof, Duane E. “The Impeachment and Trial of Secretary 

of War William Worth Belknap.” Ph.D. dissertation, 

Western Michigan University, 1985.

Impeachment of William W. Belknap, Late Secretary of War. 

Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1876.

Bell, John

The Life, Speeches, and Public Service of John Bell. New York: 

Rudd and Carleton, 1860.

Parks, Joseph H. John Bell of Tennessee. Baton Rouge: 

Louisiana State University Press, 1950.

Brucker, Wilber Marion

Brucker, Clara H. To Have Your Cake and Eat It. New York: 

Vantage Press, 1968.

Butler, Benjamin Franklin

Mallan, William D. “General Benjamin Franklin 

Butler.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Minnesota, 

1942.

Calhoun, John Caldwell

Bartlett, Irving H. John C. Calhoun: A Biography. New York: 

W. W. Norton, 1993.

Calhoun, John Caldwell. Life of John C. Calhoun, Presenting 

a Condensed History of Political Events From 1811 to 1843. 

New York: Harper & Bros., 1843.

Coit, Margaret L. John C. Calhoun, American Portrait. 1950. 

Reprint. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 

1990.

Current, Richard N. John C. Calhoun. New York: 

Washington Square Press, 1963.

Hunt, Gaillard. John C. Calhoun. Philadelphia: G. W. Jacobs 

Co., 1908.

Jenkins, John S. The Life of John C. Calhoun. Rochester: 

Alden & Beardsley, 1856.

Meigs, William Montgomery. The Life of John Caldwell 

Calhoun. 1925. Reprint. New York: Da Capo, 1970.

Niven, John. John C. Calhoun and the Price of Union: A 

Biography. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 

1988.

The Papers of John C. Calhoun. 20 vols. to date. Columbia: 

University of South Carolina Press, 1959–1991.

Thomas, John L., ed. John C. Calhoun: A Profile. New York: 

Hill & Wang, 1968.

Wiltse, Charles M. John C. Calhoun, 1782–1828. 3 vols. 

Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co., 1944–1951.

Cameron, Simon

Bradley, Erwin S. Simon Cameron, Lincoln’s Secretary of 

War: A Political Biography. Philadelphia: University of 

Pennsylvania Press, 1966.
189

Cutting, Elizabeth B. Jefferson Davis, Political Soldier. New 

York: Dodd, Mead, and Co., 1930.

Davis, William C. Jefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour. 

New York: Harper-Collins Publishers, 1991.

Dodd, William E. Jefferson Davis. New York: Russell and 

Russell, 1966.

Eaton, Clement. Jefferson Davis. New York: Macmillan Co., 

1977.

Gordon, Armstead C. Jefferson Davis. New York: Charles 

Scribner’s Sons, 1918.

Langhein, Eric. Jefferson Davis, Patriot. New York: Vantage 

Press, 1962.

McElroy, Robert M. Jefferson Davis: The Unreal and the Real. 

New York: Harper & Bros., 1937.

Muldowny, John. “The Administration of Jefferson Davis 

as Secretary of War.” Ph.D. dissertation, Yale University, 

1959.

The Papers of Jefferson Davis. 9 vols. to date. Baton Rouge: 

Louisiana State University, 1971–.

Roland, Dunbar. Jefferson Davis, Constitutionalist: His 

Letters, Papers, and Speeches. 10 vols. Jackson: Mississippi 

Department of Archives and History, 1923.

Strode, Hudson. Jefferson Davis: American Patriot. 4 vols. 

New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1955.

Winston, Robert W. High Stakes and Hair Trigger: The Life of 

Jefferson Davis. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1930.

Dearborn, Henry

Brown, Lloyd A., and Peckham, Howard H. Revolutionary 

War Journal of Henry Dearborn. 1939. Reprint. New York: 

Da Capo Press, 1971.

Erney, Richard A. “The Public Life of Henry Dearborn.” 

Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, 1957.

Dickinson, Jacob McGavock

The Jacob McGavock Dickinson Papers. Nashville: Tennessee 

State Library and Archives, 1959.

Elkins, Stephen Benton

Lambert, Oscar D. Stephen Benton Elkins. Pittsburgh: 

University of Pittsburgh Press, 1955.

Endicott, William Crowninshield

Choate, Joseph H. Memoir of William Crowninshield Endicott. 

Cambridge: J. Wilson and Son, 1904.

Lawrence, William. William Crowninshield Endicott. Boston: 

Merrymount Press, 1936.

Eaton, John Henry

Marszalek, John F. The Petticoat Affair: Manners, Mutiny, 

and Sex in Andrew Jackson’s White House. New York: Free 

Press, 1997.

Eustis, William

Barnaby, James. A Sermon Delivered at Salisbury, Mass., on 

the Death of His Excellency William Eustis, February 13, 

1825. Newburyport: W. and J. Gilman, 1825.

Eustis, Joseph T. “William Tracy Eustis.” New England 

Historical and Genealogical Register. July 1907.

Fuchs, Emil

Fuchs, Emil. With Pencil, Brush, and Chisel: The Life of an 

Artist. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1925.

Morgan, Myrtis. The Work of Emil Fuchs. New York: Read 

Printing Co., circa 1923.

The Work of Emil Fuchs, Illustrating Some of His Representative 

Paintings, Sculpture, Medals, and Studies. New York: 

Bartlett Orr Press, 1921.

Gates, Horatio

Nelson, Paul David. General Horatio Gates: A Biography. 

Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1976.

Patterson, Samuel W. Horatio Gates: Defender of American 

Liberties. New York: Columbia University Press, 1941.

Grant, Ulysses Simpson

Catton, Bruce. U. S. Grant and the American Military 

Tradition. Waltham: Little, Brown and Co., 1954.

Grant, Ulysses S. The Papers of Ulysses S. Grant. 22 vols. to 

date. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1967.

—–—. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant. 2 vols. 1885–

1886. Numerous later editions include E. B. Long, ed. 

Cleveland: World Publishing Co., 1952.

Hesseltine, William B. Ulysses S. Grant: Politician. New York: 

Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., 1935.

McFeely, William S. Grant: A Biography. New York: Norton, 

1981.

Perret, Geoffrey. Ulysses S. Grant: Soldier and President. New 

York: Random House, 1997.

Simpson, Brooks D. Let Us Have Peace: Ulysses S. Grant 

and the Politics of War and Reconstruction, 1861–1868. 

Chapel Hill: University Press of North Carolina, 1991.

Smith, Jean Edward. Grant. New York: Simon and Schuster, 

2001.

Healy, George Peter Alexander

Healy, G. P. A. Reminiscences of a Portrait Painter. 1894. 

Reprint. New York: Kennedy Graphics, 1970.

Healy, Mary. Life of George P. A. Healy, by His Daughter, 

Mary. Chicago: n.p., 1913.

de Mare, Marie. G. P. A. Healy, American Artist: An Intimate 

Chronicle of the Nineteenth Century. New York: McKay, 1954.

Holt, Joseph

Bateman, Roger. “The Contribution of Joseph Holt to the 

Political Life of the United States.” Ph.D. dissertation, 

Fordham University, 1958.

Huntington, Daniel

Cantor, Jay E. Drawn From Life: Studies and Sketches by 

Frederick Church, Winslow Homer, and Daniel Huntington. 

New York: American Federation of the Arts, circa 1972.

Memorial Exhibition of Works by the Late Daniel Huntington 

at the Century Association. New York: Irving Press, 1908.

Hurley, Patrick Jay

Buhite, Russell D. Patrick J. Hurley and American Foreign 

Policy. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1973.

La Moore, Parker. “Pat” Hurley, the Story of an American. 

New York: Brewer, Warren, and Putnam, 1932.

Lohbeck, Don. Patrick J. Hurley. Chicago: Henry Regnery 

Co., 1956.

Hutchens, Frank Townsend

An Exhibition of Recent Paintings by Frank Townsend Hutchens. 

Indianapolis: The John Herron Art Institute, 1912.
190

Jarvis, John Wesley

Dickson, Harold E. John Wesley Jarvis, American Painter. New 

York: New York Historical Society, 1949.

Kinstler, Everett Raymond

Kinstler, Everett Raymond. Painting Portraits. New York: 

Watson Gupthill, 1971.

Knox, Henry

Brooks, Noah. Henry Knox: A Soldier of the Revolution. 1900. 

Reprint. Da Capo Press, 1974.

Callahan, North. Henry Knox, General Washington’s General. 

New York: Rinehart, 1958.

Carter, Michael A. “Fighting the Flames of a Merciless War: 

Secretary of War Henry Knox and the Indian Wars in 

the Old Northwest, 1790–1793.” Journal of the Indian 

Wars 1 (1999): 93–122.

Denzil, Justin F. Champion of Liberty, Henry Knox. New York: 

Julian Messner, 1969.

Drake, Francis S. Life and Correspondence of Henry Knox. 

Boston: S. G. Drake, 1873.

Lamont, Daniel Scott

Fitzsimmons, Anne Marie. “The Political Career of Daniel 

S. Lamont, 1870–1897.” Ph.D. dissertation, Catholic 

University of America, 1965.

Le Clear, Thomas

Viele, Chase. Four Artists of Mid-Nineteenth Century Buffalo. 

[Includes Thomas Le Clear.] Cooperstown, circa 1933.

Lincoln, Benjamin

Bowen, Francis. Life of Benjamin Lincoln. In The Library of 

American Biography. Edited by Jared Sparks. vol. III, 1837.

Cavanagh, John Carroll. “The Military Career of Major 

General Benjamin Lincoln in the War of the American 

Revolution, 1775–1781.” Ph.D. dissertation, Duke 

University, 1969.

Mattern, David B. “A Moderate Revolutionary: The Life of 

Major General Benjamin Lincoln.” Ph.D. dissertation, 

Columbia University, 1991.

Lincoln, Robert Todd

Goff, John S. Robert Todd Lincoln: A Man in His Own Right. 

Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1969.

McHenry, James

Brown, Frederick J. A Sketch of the Life of Dr. James McHenry. 

Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 1877.

Mattson-Bose, Martin H. “James McHenry, Secretary 

of War, 1789–1800.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of 

Minnesota, 1965.

Steiner, Bernard. The Life and Correspondence of 

James McHenry. Cleveland: The Burrows Brothers Co., 

1907.

Marcy, William Learned

Spencer, Ivor D. The Victor and the Spoils: A Life of 

William L. Marcy. Providence: Brown University Press, 1959.

Melchers, Julius Gari

Gari Melchers: A Memorial Exhibition of His Works. 

Richmond: Museum of Fine Arts, 1938.

Gari Melchers: Selections From the Mary Washington 

Collection. Fredericksburg, Va.: Mary Washington 

College, 1973.

Gari Melchers, Painter. New York: W. E. Ridge, 1928.

Quenzel, Carol Hunter. Belmont: Gari Melchers Memorial 

Art Center. Fredericksburg, Va.: Mary Washington 

College, 1960.

Monroe, James

Ammon, Harry. James Monroe: The Quest for National 

Security. 1971. Reprint. Charlottesville: University of 

Virginia Press, 1990.

Cresson, William P. James Monroe. 1971. Reprint. Norwalk, 

Conn.: Easton Press, 1986.

Cunningham, Noble E. The Presidency of James Monroe. 

Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1996.

Gershon, Noel B. James Monroe: Hero of American 

Diplomacy. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1969.

Gilman, Daniel C. James Monroe. 1898. Reprint. New York: 

Chelsea House, 1983.

Hamilton, Stanislaus M., ed. The Writings of James Monroe. 

7 vols. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1898–1903, and 

AMS Press, 1969.

Monroe, James. The Autobiography of James Monroe. Edited by 

Stuart Brown. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1959.

Morgan, George. The Life of James Monroe. New York: AMS 

Press, 1969.

Patterson, Robert P.

Eiler, Keith E. Mobilizing America: Robert P. Patterson and 

the War Effort, 1940–1945. Ithaca: Cornell University 

Press, 1997.

Pickering, Timothy

Clarfield, Gerard H. Timothy Pickering and American 

Diplomacy, 1795–1800. Columbia: University of Missouri 

Press, 1969.

—–—. Timothy Pickering and the American Republic. 

Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1980.

Pickering, Octavius, and Upham, Charles W. The Life of 

Timothy Pickering. 14 vols. Boston: Little, Brown, and 

Co., 1867–1873.

Poinsett, Joel Roberts

Parton, Dorothy M. “The Diplomatic Career of Joel Roberts 

Poinsett (1779–1851).” Ph.D. dissertation, Catholic 

University, 1934.

Putnam, Herbert Everett. Joel Roberts Poinsett: A Political 

Biography. Washington: Mimeoform Press, 1935.

Rippy, J. Fred. Joel R. Poinsett, Versatile American. 1935. 

Reprint. New York:Greenwood Press, 1968.

Stille, Charles J. The Life and Service of Joel R. Poinsett. 

Philadelphia: Reprinted from the Pennsylvania Magazine 

of History and Biography, 1888.

Porter, Peter Buel

Cozzens, Frederick S. Colonel Peter A. Porter, A Memorial 

Delivered Before the Century in December 1864. [Includes 

a sketch of the life of Col. Porter’s father, Peter B. Porter.] 

New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1865.

Grande, Joseph A. “The Political Career of Peter Buell 

Porter, 1797–1829.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of Notre 

Dame, 1971.
191

Proctor, Redfield

Bowie, Chester W. “Redfield Proctor: A Biography.” Ph.D. 

dissertation, University of Wisconsin, 1980.

Partridge, Frank C. Redfield Proctor: His Public Life 

and Services. Montpelier: Vermont Historical Society, 

1915.

Ramsey, Alexander

Ryland, William J. Alexander Ramsey: Frontier Politician. 

Philadelphia: Harris and Partridge Co., 1941.

Swanholm, Marx. Alexander Ramsey and the Politics of 

Survival. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society, 1977. 

Rawlins, John Aaron

Wilson, James H. The Life of John A. Rawlins, Major General 

of Volunteers and Secretary of War. New York: Neale 

Publishing Co., 1916.

Root, Elihu

Jessup, Philip C. Elihu Root. 2 vols. 1938. Reprint. Hamden, 

Conn.: Archon Books, 1964.

Leopold, Richard W. Elihu Root and the Conservative 

Tradition. Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1954.

Schevill, William Valentine

Special Exhibition of Portraits by William V. Schevill. 

Cincinnati: Cincinnati Museum Press, 1914.

Schofield, John McAllister

Schofield, John M. Forty-six Years in the Army. New York: 

The Century Co., 1897.

Scott, Hugh Lenox

Harper, James William. “Hugh Lenox Scott: SoldierDiplomat, 1876–1917.” Ph.D. dissertation, University of 

Virginia, 1968.

Scott, Hugh Lenox. Some Memories of a Soldier. New York: 

The Century Co., 1928.

Scott, Winfield

Barnes, James. The Giant of Three Wars: A Life of General 

Winfield Scott. New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1903.

Eisenhower, John S. D. Agent of Destiny: The Life and Times 

of General Winfield Scott. New York: Free Press, 1997.

Elliott, Charles Winslow. Winfield Scott, The Soldier and the 

Man. New York: Macmillan Co., 1937.

Johnson, Timothy D. Winfield Scott: The Quest for Military 

Glory. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1998.

Scott, Winfield. Memoirs of Lieut-General Scott, 

LLD., Written by Himself. 2 vols. New York: Sheldon, 

1864.

Sherman, William Tecumseh

Fellman, Michael. Citizen Sherman: A Life of William 

Tecumseh Sherman. New York: Random House, 1995.

Hirshson, Stanley P. The White Tecumseh: A Biography of 

General William T. Sherman. New York: J. Wiley, 1997.

Kennett, Lee B. Sherman: A Soldier’s Life. New York: 

HarperCollins, 2001.

Lewis, Lloyd. Sherman—Fighting Prophet. New York: 

Harcourt-Brace, 1958.

Liddell Hart, B. H. Sherman: Soldier, Realist, American. New 

York: Praeger, 1958.

Marszalek, John F. Sherman: A Soldier’s Passion for Order. 

New York: Free Press, 1993.

Sherman, William T. Personal Memoirs of General W. T. 

Sherman. 2 vols. 1875. Reprint. Bloomington: Indiana 

University Press, 1957.

Stanton, Edwin McMasters

Flower, Frank A. Edwin McMasters Stanton, the Autocrat 

of Rebellion, Emancipation, and Reconstruction. 1905. 

Reprint. New York: AMS Press, 1973.

Gorham, George C. Life and Public Service of Edwin 

M. Stanton. 2 vols. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 

1899.

Pratt, Fletcher. Stanton: Lincoln’s Secretary of War. 

1953. Reprint. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 

1970.

Thomas, Benjamin P., and Hyman, Harold M. Stanton: The 

Life and Times of Lincoln’s Secretary of War. New York: 

Knopf, 1962.

Stimson, Henry Lewis

Current, Richard N. Secretary Stimson: A Study in 

Statecraft. 1954. Reprint. Hamden, Conn.: Archon 

Books, 1970.

Hodgson, Godfrey. The Colonel: The Life and Wars of 

Henry Stimson. 1990. Reprint. Boston: Northeastern 

University Press, 1992.

Morison, Elting E. Turmoil and Tradition: A Study of the 

Life and Times of Henry L. Stimson. Boston: Houghton 

Mifflin Co., 1960.

Redmond, Kent C. “The Education of a Statesman: Henry 

L. Stimson, 1911–1928.” Ph.D. dissertation, University 

of Southern California, 1954.

Schmitz, David F. Henry L. Stimson: The First Wise Man. 

Wilmington, Del.: Scholarly Resources Books, 2001.

Stimson, Henry L., and Bundy, McGeorge. On Active 

Service in Peace and War. 1917. Reprint. New York: 

Octagon Books, 1971.

Taft, Alphonso

Leonard, Lewis A. Life of Alphonso Taft. New York: Hawke 

Publishing Co., 1920.

Taft, William Howard

Anderson, Judith Icke. William Howard Taft: An Intimate 

History. New York: Norton, 1981.

Cotton, Edward H. William Howard Taft: A Character 

Study. Boston: The Beacon Press, 1932.

Davis, Oscar King. William Howard Taft, the Man of the 

Hour. Philadelphia: P. W. Ziegler Co., 1908.

Duffy, Herbert S. William Howard Taft. New York: Minton, 

Balch, and Co., 1930.

Dunn, Robert Lee. William Howard Taft, American. Boston: 

The Chapple Publishing Co., 1908.

Mason, Alpheus T. William Howard Taft: Chief Justice. New 

York: Simon and Schuster, 1965.

Pringle, Henry F. The Life and Times of William Howard 

Taft. 2 vols. 1939. Reprint. Hamden, Conn.: Archon 

Books, 1964.

Vance, Cyrus Roberts

McClellan, David S. Cyrus Vance. Totwa, N.J.: Rowman & 

Allanheld, 1985.
192

Weeks, John Wingate

Spence, Benjamin A. “The National Career of John 

Wingate Weeks (1904–1925).” Ph.D. dissertation, 

University of Wisconsin, 1971.

Washburn, Charles G. The Life of John W. Weeks. Houghton 

Mifflin Co., 1928.

Weir, Robert Walter

Robert Weir: Artist and Teacher of West Point. West Point: 

Cadet Fine Arts Forum, 1976.

Weir, Irene. Robert W. Weir, Artist. New York: Doubleday, 

1947.

Woodring, Harry Hines

McFarland, Keith D. Harry H. Woodring: A Political 

Biography. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. 1975.

—–—. “Secretary of War Harry H. Woodring and the 

Problems of Readiness, Rearmament and Neutrality, 

1936–1940.” Ph.D. dissertation, Ohio State University, 

1969.

PIN : 100425–000