United States Secretary of War

The Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War," was appointed to serve the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation between 1781 and 1789. Benjamin Lincoln and later Henry Knox held the position. When Washington was inaugurated as the first president under the Constitution, he appointed Knox to continue serving. 
The Secretary of War led the War Department. At first, he was responsible for all military affairs. In 1798, the Secretary of the Navy was added to the cabinet, and the scope of this office was reduced to a general concern with the Army. In 1947, the departments were recombined under the Secretary of Defense. The Secretary of War was replaced by the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of the Air Force, which, along with the Secretary of the Navy, were now non-Cabinet positions under the Secretary of Defense.
==Secretaries of War==
# 	Picture	Name 	State of Residence	Began Service 	Ended Service 	President(s) served under
1 	 	Henry Knox 	Massachusetts 	September 12, 1789	December 31, 1794 	George Washington
2 	 	Timothy Pickering 	Massachusetts 	January 2, 1795 	December 10, 1795 	George Washington
3 	 	James McHenry 	Maryland 	January 27, 1796 	May 13, 1800 	George WashingtonJohn Adams
4 	 	Samuel Dexter 	Massachusetts 	May 13, 1800 	January 31, 1801 	John Adams
5 	 	Henry Dearborn 	Massachusetts 	March 5, 1801 	March 4, 1809 	Thomas Jefferson
6 	 	William Eustis 	Massachusetts 	March 7, 1809 	January 13, 1813 	James Madison
7 	 	John Armstrong, Jr. 	Pennsylvania 	January 13, 1813 	September 27, 1814	James Madison
8 	 	James Monroe 	Virginia 	September 27, 1814	March 2, 1815 	James Madison
9 	 	William Harris Crawford 	Georgia 	August 1, 1815 	October 22, 1816 	James Madison
10	 	John Caldwell Calhoun 	South Carolina 	October 8, 1817 	March 4, 1825 	James Monroe
11	 	James Barbour 	Virginia 	March 7, 1825 	May 23, 1828 	John Quincy Adams
12	 	Peter Buell Porter 	New York 	May 23, 1828 	March 4, 1829 	John Quincy Adams
13	 	John Henry Eaton 	Tennessee 	March 9, 1829 	June 18, 1831 	Andrew Jackson
14	 	Lewis Cass 	Michigan 	August 1, 1831 	October 5, 1836 	Andrew Jackson
15	 	Joel Roberts Poinsett 	South Carolina 	March 7, 1837 	March 4, 1841 	Martin Van Buren
16	 	John Bell 	Tennessee 	March 5, 1841 	September 13, 1841	William Henry HarrisonJohn Tyler
17	 	John Canfield Spencer 	New York 	October 12, 1841 	March 4, 1843 	John Tyler
18	 	James Madison Porter 	Pennsylvania 	March 8, 1843 	February 14, 1844 	John Tyler
19	 	William Wilkins 	Pennsylvania 	February 15, 1844 	March 4, 1845 	John Tyler
20	 	William Learned Marcy 	New York 	March 6, 1845 	March 4, 1849 	James K. Polk
21	 	George Walker Crawford 	Georgia 	March 8, 1849 	July 22, 1850 	Zachary Taylor
22	 	Charles Magill Conrad 	Louisiana 	August 15, 1850 	March 4, 1853 	Millard Fillmore
23	 	Jefferson Davis 	Mississippi 	March 7, 1853 	March 4, 1857 	Franklin Pierce
24	 	John Buchanan Floyd 	Virginia 	March 6, 1857 	December 29, 1860 	James Buchanan
25	 	Joseph Holt 	Kentucky 	January 18, 1861 	March 4, 1861 	James Buchanan
26	 	Simon Cameron 	Pennsylvania 	March 5, 1861 	January 14, 1862 	Abraham Lincoln
27	 	Edwin McMasters Stanton 	Ohio 	January 20, 1862 	May 28, 1868 	LincolnAndrew Johnson
28	 	John McAllister Schofield 	Missouri 	June 1, 1868 	March 13, 1869 	Andrew Johnson
29	 	John Aaron Rawlins 	Illinois 	March 13, 1869 	September 6, 1869 	Ulysses S. Grant
30	 	William Worth Belknap 	Iowa 	October 25, 1869 	March 2, 1876 	Ulysses S. Grant
31	 	Alphonso Taft 	Ohio 	March 8, 1876 	May 22, 1876 	Ulysses S. Grant
32	 	James Donald Cameron 	Pennsylvania 	May 22, 1876 	March 4, 1877 	Ulysses S. Grant
33	 	George Washington McCrary 	Iowa 	March 12, 1877 	December 10, 1879 	Rutherford B. Hayes
34	 	Alexander Ramsey 	Minnesota 	December 10, 1879 	March 4, 1881 	Rutherford B. Hayes
35	 	Robert Todd Lincoln 	Illinois 	March 5, 1881 	March 4, 1885 	James A. GarfieldChester A. Arthur
36	 	William Crowninshield Endicott	Massachusetts 	March 5, 1885 	March 4, 1889 	Grover Cleveland
37	 	Redfield Proctor 	Vermont 	March 5, 1889 	November 5, 1891 	Benjamin Harrison
38	 	Stephen Benton Elkins 	West Virginia 	December 17, 1891 	March 4, 1893 	Benjamin Harrison
39	 	Daniel Scott Lamont 	New York 	March 5, 1893 	March 4, 1897 	Grover Cleveland (2nd term)
40	 	Russell Alexander Alger 	Michigan 	March 5, 1897 	August 1, 1899 	William McKinley
41	 	Elihu Root 	New York 	August 1, 1899 	January 31, 1904 	William McKinleyTheodore Roosevelt
42	 	William Howard Taft 	Ohio 	February 1, 1904 	June 30, 1908 	Theodore Roosevelt
43	 	Luke Edward Wright 	Tennessee 	July 1, 1908 	March 4, 1909 	Theodore Roosevelt
44	 	Jacob McGavock Dickinson 	Illinois 	March 12, 1909 	May 21, 1911 	William Howard Taft
45	 	Henry Lewis Stimson 	New York 	May 22, 1911 	March 4, 1913 	William Howard Taft
46	 	Lindley Miller Garrison 	New Jersey 	March 5, 1913 	February 10, 1916 	Woodrow Wilson
47	 	Newton Diehl Baker 	Ohio 	March 9, 1916 	March 4, 1921 	Woodrow Wilson
48	 	John Wingate Weeks 	Massachusetts 	March 5, 1921 	October 13, 1925 	Warren G. HardingCalvin Coolidge
49	 	Dwight Filley Davis 	Missouri 	October 14, 1925 	March 4, 1929 	Calvin Coolidge
50	 	James William Good 	Iowa 	March 6, 1929 	November 18, 1929 	Herbert Hoover
51	 	Patrick Jay Hurley 	Oklahoma 	December 9, 1929 	March 4, 1933 	Herbert Hoover
52	 	George Henry Dern 	Utah 	March 4, 1933 	August 27, 1936 	Franklin D. Roosevelt
53	 	Harry Hines Woodring 	Kansas 	September 25, 1936	June 20, 1940 	Franklin D. Roosevelt
54	 	Henry Lewis Stimson 	New York 	July 10, 1940 	September 21, 1945	F. D. RooseveltHarry S. Truman
55	 	Robert Porter Patterson 	New York 	September 27, 1945	July 18, 1947 	Harry S. Truman
56	 	Kenneth Claiborne Royall 	North Carolina 	July 19, 1947 	September 18, 1947	Harry S. Truman
== External links ==
* Secretaries of War and Secretaries of the Army: Portraits and Biographical Sketches
Secretary of War
War
United States, War
Category:1947 disestablishments
fr:Secrétaire à la Guerre des États-Unis
ja:アメリカ合衆国陸軍長官
pl:Sekretarz Wojny Stanów Zjednoczonych
ro:United States Secretary of War
zh:美国战争部长