Luke McNamee Luke McNamee ( April 4 , 1871 – December 30 , 1952 ) was a United States Navy Admiral , businessman , and the 10th and 12th Naval Governor of Guam . He served in the Navy for 42 years , during which time he held multiple commands . During the Spanish – American War , he earned the Navy Cross , and later the Legion of Honour . Earlier on his career , he served as governor , and expanded funding for fighting the infectious diseases running through the native population . He represented the U . S . Navy as a delegate to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919 . He later became Director of the Office of Naval Intelligence . He was promoted to full admiral after being placed in charge of the Battle Fleet . After this command , he served as President of the Naval War College before retiring in 1934 . After leaving the Navy , he became President and Chairman of the Mackay Radio and Telegraph Company , where he aggressively expanded telegraph and radio service overseas . Early life . McNamee was married to Dorothy Swinburne , daughter of Admiral William T . Swinburne , with whom he had no children . For much of his life , he lived in Wisconsin , though he later moved to Jamestown , Rhode Island . Naval career . McNamee had a 42 - year career in the United States Navy . He was appointed to the United States Naval Academy from Kansas , graduating in 1892 . He was commissioned as an ensign on July 1 , 1894 . He served two years aboard the training ship before being transferred to the , where he served from 1894 to 1898 . He became a lieutenant junior grade on March 3 , 1899 and a lieutenant on July 1 , 1900 . He served as executive officer of the during the Spanish – American War . In 1901 , he served aboard the battleship . From 1905 to 1908 , he was assigned to the Guam Naval Station , after which he served as the naval inspector to General Electric works in Schenectady , New York and Massachusetts and the navigator of the . After serving as the first commanding officer of the , he was promoted to Captain in 1917 . While on the " Sacramento " , he commanded all Navy forces in the Gulf of Mexico , though this only consisted seven gunboats . After his promotion , he served as chief of staff to the commander of the United States Pacific Fleet , and then to Admiral William Sims , commander of United States Naval forces in Europe . In 1919 , he was on the naval advisory board at the Paris Peace Conference . In 1921 , he served as commanding officer of the and the in 1923 . He served as Director of the Office of Naval Intelligence . From 1924 to 1926 , McNamee was appointed Naval attaché to the Court of St . James ' s in the United Kingdom . During his time in London , he was promoted to rear admiral . In 1926 , he commanded all the Destroyer s in the Battle Fleet , before becoming director of fleet training . for the next four years . After being promoted to vice admiral , he returned to the Battle Fleet to command its Battleship force , doing so from 1931 to 1932 . In 1933 , he achieved full admiral and commanded the entire Battle Force . On June 3 , 1933 , he became President of the Naval War College . He left the post on May 29 , 1934 after retiring from active duty . During his career , he was awarded the Navy Cross and the French Legion of Honour . Governorship . McNamee twice served as acting Governor of Guam : first from November 2 , 1905 to December 3 , 1906 , and again from October 3 , 1907 to December 28 , 1907 . As governor , he urged the United States Secretary of the Navy to invest in the control of leprosy and other infectious diseases on the island , arguing that this would be in the best interest of Navy finances , as it would protect paid personnel ' s productivity and the native Chamorro population , a group the Navy thought could provide cheap labor . Business career and later life . After leaving the Navy , McNamee became President of the Mackay Radio and Telegraph Company in 1934 . He aggressively expanded the company by modernizing its overseas operations . He extended service on government and private vessels using the company ' s equipment as well . In 1940 , he led negotiations with labor unions after they shut down company operations , and was able to reach an agreement . On May 19 , 1950 , he became chairman of the board of directors . He also oversaw the opening of the first direct telegraph line to Bermuda . In May 1951 , he resigned his position as director of both Mackay and International Telephone and Telegraph . After retiring , McNamee lived in New York City . In 1948 , he succeeded Herbert Livingston Satterlee as chairman of the executive committee of the Marine Museum of the City of New York . McNamee spent the last two years of his life as a patient of the Naval Station Newport Hospital at Newport , Rhode Island . He died there on December 30 , 1952 .