The Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy was established in 1861, to provide a senior deputy to the Secretary. The assistant secretary was responsible for the Navy's civilian personnel, as well as for administration of
shore facilities (such as naval bases and shipyards).
Gustavus Fox was the first to hold the post, serving throughout the Civil War. The office was disestablished in 1869, during Reconstruction, but was reestablished by Congress on July 11, 1890.
James R. Soley was the first to be appointed to the newly reestablished position. The assistant secretary was the Navy's number-two civilian until 1940, when Congress established the position of Under Secretary of the Navy, who was given oversight of the assistant secretary's activities.
James V. Forrestal, later
Secretary of Defense, was the first to serve as Under Secretary; he held the post until 1944, when he became
Secretary of the Navy. During the 20th century, the responsibilities of the assistant secretary were divided among several officials. During the 1920s, for example, to reflect the increasing importance of
naval aviation, Congress established the position of
Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air. The office of Assistant Secretary of the Navy was disestablished a second time in 1954.
Officeholders • U.S. president
Theodore Roosevelt served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy from 1897 to 1898, during the William McKinley administration. His short tenure was due to resigning to organize and lead into combat the
1st United States Volunteer Cavalry during the
Spanish–American War. He took the initiative to order Admiral
George Dewey to sail to
Manila where he sank the
Spanish Pacific Fleet at the very outset of the war. • U.S. president
Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy from 1913 until 1920, and helped to implement Navy policies during
World War I. • According to author Edward J. Renehan, Jr., no fewer than five members of the extended
Roosevelt family served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy: Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt,
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. who served from 1921 through 1924 under Harding and Coolidge,
Theodore Douglas Robinson (a son of
Corinne Roosevelt Robinson) who served from 1924 through 1929 under Coolidge, and finally
Henry Latrobe Roosevelt, a descendant of
Robert Fulton's old friend "Steamboat Nicholas" Roosevelt, who served from 1933 through 1936 under FDR. •
Ralph Austin Bard was Assistant Secretary (1941–1944) and then Under Secretary (1944–1945) during
World War II. ==Assistant Secretaries of the Navy, 1861–1954==