The Secretary of War was a member of the President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. 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, non-Cabinet positions under the Secretary of Defense.
Previous Secretaries of War
| Name | Began Service | Ended Service | President(s) served under
|
| Henry Knox | September 12, 1789 | December 31 1794 | George Washington
|
| Timothy Pickering | January 2, 1795 | December 10, 1795 | Washington
|
| James McHenry | January 27, 1796 | May 13, 1800 | Washington, John Adams
|
| Samuel Dexter | May 13, 1800 | January 31, 1801 | John Adams
|
| Henry Dearborn | March 5, 1801 | March 4, 1809 | Thomas Jefferson
|
| William Eustis | March 7, 1809 | January 13, 1813 | James Madison
|
| John Armstrong, Jr. | January 13, 1813 | September 27, 1814 | Madison
|
| James Monroe | September 27, 1814 | March 2, 1815 | Madison
|
| William Harris Crawford | August 1, 1815 | October 22, 1816 | Madison
|
| John C. Calhoun | October 8, 1817 | March 4, 1825 | James Monroe
|
| James Barbour | March 7, 1825 | May 23, 1828 | John Quincy Adams
|
| Peter Buell Porter | May 23, 1828 | March 4, 1829 | John Quincy Adams
|
| John Henry Eaton | March 9, 1829 | June 18, 1831 | Andrew Jackson
|
| Lewis Cass | August 1, 1831 | October 5, 1836 | Jackson
|
| Joel Roberts Poinsett | March 7, 1837 | March 4, 1841 | Martin Van Buren
|
| John Bell | March 5, 1841 | September 13, 1841 | William Henry Harrison, John Tyler
|
| John C. Spencer | October 12, 1841 | March 4, 1843 | Tyler
|
| James Madison Porter | March 8, 1843 | February 14, 1844 | Tyler
|
| William Wilkins | February 15, 1844 | March 4, 1845 | Tyler
|
| William L. Marcy | March 6, 1845 | March 4, 1849 | James K. Polk
|
| George Walker Crawford | March 8, 1849 | July 22, 1850 | Zachary Taylor
|
| Charles Magill Conrad | August 15, 1850 | March 4, 1853 | Millard Fillmore
|
| Jefferson Davis | March 7, 1853 | March 4, 1857 | Franklin Pierce
|
| John Buchanan Floyd | March 6, 1857 | December 29, 1860 | James Buchanan
|
| Joseph Holt | January 18, 1861 | March 4, 1861 | Buchanan
|
| Simon Cameron | March 5, 1861 | January 14, 1862 | Abraham Lincoln
|
| Edwin M. Stanton | January 20, 1862 | May 28, 1868 | Lincoln, Andrew Johnson
|
| John M. Schofield | June 1, 1868 | March 13, 1869 | Johnson
|
| John Aaron Rawlins | March 13, 1869 | September 6, 1869 | Ulysses Simpson Grant
|
William Tecumseh Sherman
(interim) | September 9, 1869 | October 24, 1869 | Grant
|
| William W. Belknap | October 25, 1869 | March 2, 1876 | Grant
|
| Alphonso Taft | March 8, 1876 | May 22, 1876 | Grant
|
| J. Donald Cameron | May 22, 1876 | March 4, 1877 | Grant
|
| George W. McCrary | March 12, 1877 | December 10, 1879 | Rutherford B. Hayes
|
| Alexander Ramsey | December 10, 1879 | March 4, 1881 | Hayes
|
| Robert Todd Lincoln | March 5, 1881 | March 4, 1885 | James A. Garfield, Chester A. Arthur
|
| William C. Endicott | March 5, 1885 | March 4, 1889 | Grover Cleveland
|
| Redfield Proctor | March 5, 1889 | November 5, 1891 | Benjamin Harrison
|
| Stephen B. Elkins | December 17, 1891 | March 4, 1893 | Harrison
|
| Daniel Scott Lamont | March 5, 1893 | March 4, 1897 | Cleveland (2nd term)
|
| Russell A. Alger | March 5, 1897 | August 1, 1899 | William McKinley
|
| Elihu Root | August 1, 1899 | January 31, 1904 | McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt
|
| William Howard Taft | February 1, 1904 | June 30, 1908 | Theodore Roosevelt
|
| Luke Edward Wright | July 1, 1908 | March 4, 1909 | Theodore Roosevelt
|
| Jacob M. Dickinson | March 12, 1909 | May 21, 1911 | William Howard Taft
|
| Henry L. Stimson | May 22, 1911 | March 4, 1913 | Taft
|
| Lindley M. Garrison | March 5, 1913 | February 10, 1916 | Woodrow Wilson
|
| Newton D. Baker | March 9, 1916 | March 4, 1921 | Wilson
|
| John W. Weeks | March 5, 1921 | October 13, 1925 | Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge
|
| Dwight F. Davis | October 14, 1925 | March 4, 1929 | Coolidge
|
| James W. Good | March 6, 1929 | November 18, 1929 | Herbert Hoover
|
| Patrick J. Hurley | December 9, 1929 | March 4, 1933 | Hoover
|
| George H. Dern | March 4, 1933 | August 27, 1936 | Franklin D. Roosevelt
|
| Harry H. Woodring | September 25, 1936 | June 20, 1940 | FDR
|
| Henry L. Stimson | July 10, 1940 | September 21, 1945 | FDR, Harry S. Truman
|
| Robert P. Patterson | September 27, 1945 | July 18, 1947 | Truman
|
| Kenneth C. Royall | July 19, 1947 | September 18, 1947 | Truman
|
External links
Historic United States Executive Cabinet positions | Lists of ministers
"United States Secretary of War"