branch death_date children birth_date term_end alma_mater death_place title profession battles term_start order spouse image name resting_place relations predecessor birth_place president party parents successor religion article_title birth_name
united states navy united states army 19 april 1979 david clark morton anne morton 19 september 1914 february 29 , 1971 2 , 1976 april 30 , 1975 january yale university columbia medical school easton , maryland , u.s. united the interior states secretary of commerce united states secretary of politician world war ii may 3 , 1963 1 , 1975 january 29 , 1971 january 22nd from maryland 's 1st district 39th member of the u.s. house of representatives anne jones morton rogersclarkballardmorton.jpg rogers c. b. morton ole wye cemetery in wye mills , maryland thruston ballard morton rog morton frederick b. dent walter j. hickel thomas f. johnson louisville , kentucky , u.s. gerald ford richard nixon gerald ford republican david morton clark morton -lrb- physician -rrb- mary harris ballard elliot l. richardson stanley k. hathaway william oswald mills episcopalian rogers morton
 rogers clark ballard morton
rogers morton

rogers clark ballard morton -lrb- september 19 , 1914 -- april 19 , 1979 -rrb- was an american politician who served as the u.s. secretary of the interior and secretary of commerce during the administrations of presidents richard m. nixon and gerald r. ford , jr. , respectively .
he also served as a member of the u.s. house of representatives from maryland .
though he was born in louisville , kentucky , morton moved to a farm on the eastern shore of maryland in the early 1950s .
in 1962 , he was elected to the house of representatives , in which capacity he established an environmental record .
morton would joke that his two middle initials stood for `` chesapeake bay . ''
in 1968 , morton played a major role in richard nixon 's campaign for president , and was chosen by nixon in 1969 to serve as chairman of the republican national committee .
in the elections of 1970 , morton was considered a strong candidate to challenge joseph tydings for his u.s. senate seat from maryland , but he chose instead to remain as chairman of the rnc .
in 1971 , president nixon tapped morton to serve as secretary of the interior , during which time he oversaw the construction of the trans-alaska pipeline system and the 1973 oil crisis .
morton was the only person from the east coast to serve as head of the interior department in the 20th century .
following nixon 's resignation due to the watergate scandal , morton continued in his post in the gerald ford administration until 1975 , when he was nominated to serve as secretary of commerce .
from april to august 1976 , morton served as ford 's campaign manager in his bid for election .
morton retired from politics following ford 's election defeat .
three years later , he died of cancer at his home in easton on the eastern shore of maryland .
