Complex sentence: Benjamin F. Tracy, the Secretary of the Navy from 1889 though 1893 during the administration of US President Benjamin Harrison, had been promoting a "New Navy" to replace the aged vessels of the Civil War era.
Split into simpler sentences: Benjamin F. Tracy served as the Secretary of the Navy from 1889 though 1893 during the administration of US President Benjamin Harrison. Tracy had been promoting a "New Navy" to replace the aged vessels of the Civil War era.