Benjamin Williams Crowninshield

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Benjamin Williams Crowninshield

Benjamin Williams Crowninshield (born December 27, 1772 in Salem , Province of Massachusetts Bay , †  February 3, 1851 in Boston , Massachusetts ) was an American politician who served as Secretary of the Navy under Presidents James Madison and James Monroe .

Crowninshield came from one of the most distinguished families in New England , one of the so-called Brahmins of Boston . His father was a captain and businessman, under whom Benjamin Crowninshield initially also worked for the Geo company . Crowninshield & Sons began its professional career. In 1811 he decided to switch to politics and was a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives for one year ; In 1812 he was a member of the Massachusetts Senate , at that time still a member of the Federalist Party .

On December 19, 1814, President Madison appointed him Secretary of the Navy to his cabinet . His brother Jacob was supposed to hold this office ten years earlier , but after being nominated by President Thomas Jefferson and confirmed by the Senate , he waived due to health problems. Benjamin Crowninshield took office in January 1815, shortly before the end of the British-American War , and was faced with the task of organizing the transition to peacetime. This included the inclusion of the newly created Board of Navy Commissioners in the administrative system, as well as the construction of ships of the line . He was also involved in the strategy for the second barbarian war .

After James Monroe had followed James Madison as US President in March 1817, Crowninshield initially retained his post; on October 1, 1818, however, he resigned. After that he was first back in Massachusetts and was a member of the House of Representatives there from 1821. The following year he was elected to the US House of Representatives for his state . He was a supporter of John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay , for whose National Republican Party he sat in Congress until March 3, 1831 after multiple re-elections . In 1830 he lost the election and resigned from parliament. In 1833 he was once again a member of the House of Representatives in his home state before retiring from politics.

The destroyer USS Crowninshield was named after him in memory of the Minister of the Navy, who died in 1851 . His great-great-grandson Charles Francis Adams was also Secretary of the Navy from 1929 to 1933 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Crowninshield, Benjamin Williams
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH December 27, 1772
PLACE OF BIRTH Salem , Massachusetts
DATE OF DEATH February 3, 1851
Place of death Boston , Massachusetts