Luke Edward Wright

Luke Edward Wright

Luke Edward Wright (born August 29, 1846 in Giles County , Tennessee , †  November 12, 1922 in Memphis ) was an American politician , Governor General of the Philippines and Secretary of War.

As a 15-year-old, he volunteered during the Civil War in the 154th Tennessee Regiment of the Confederate Army . During the war he was promoted to second lieutenant . After the war, he studied law at the University of Mississippi and his father's law firm in Memphis. He then worked as a lawyer himself. Shortly thereafter, he was Attorney General of Tennessee for eight years from 1870 to 1878 .

In 1900 Wright became a member of the Philippine Commission and a year later, Vice Governor of the Philippines . On February 1, 1904, he succeeded William Howard Taft as governor of the Philippines. On November 3, 1905, he became the first Governor General of the Philippines. He held this office until his replacement by Henry Clay Ide on March 30, 1906. He was then from May 26, 1906 to August 13, 1907 Ambassador of the United States to Japan .

On July 1, 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt appointed him to succeed Taft as the 44th  Secretary of War of the United States. However, he only held this office until March 1, 1909. During his tenure in the Cabinet , Wright stepped up measures to fire incapable officers and officials and promote aviation technology. After Taft became President of the United States on March 4, 1909, Wright retired to Memphis a week later into private life.

Web links

• Biography on the homepage of the US Army
• Luke Edward Wright in the Miller Center of Public Affairs of the University of Virginia (English)

• Luke Edward Wright in the database of Find a Grave (English)