All the Presidents' SecNavs (rev1)

(this corrects a previous version)

With the recent nomination by President-elect Trump of businessman John Phelan for Secretary of the Navy, several media outlets have continued the discussion about qualifications for the positions as with other nominees.

And an unenrolled (Independent) voter, I like to be the umpire, calling balls and strikes whichever team is at bat. It’s with that in mind that I asked a simple question: what has been the background of Secretaries of the Navy historically.

This is a quick look on a spreadsheet and, as always, any errors are mine; corrections by readers are always welcomed.

Following is a spreadsheet of all 75 who have served as Secretary of the Navy. I did not include acting SecNavs. Below is the percentage of the SecNavs who had various categories in their biographies (figures are rounded).

The stats:

• 14% served in the Army

• 23% Served in the Navy

• 5% served in the Marine Corps

• 45% had no military experience

• 9% worked as a civilian in the Department of Defense

• 28% worked in the private sector (not military-related)

• 9% worked in the private sector (Navy-related)

• 4% were teachers

• 8% were authors

• 50% were lawyers

• 19% served as a Member of Congress

• 11% served as a US Senator

• 14% served as a Governor

• 31% served in state/local political office

• 15% served as a judge/jurist on the state or federal level

• 8% worked as a newspaper publisher

• 5% served as an Ambassador

• 18% served as an Assistant or Undersecretary of the Navy, Defense, or Army

• 3% worked as staff on Capitol Hill

A few interesting trends when you look at them as a whole:

• Prior to 1940, only two SecNavs served in the Navy; after 1940, most served as officers or enlisted in the Navy

• In the 19th and early 20th centuries, most SecNavs had served in state or local politics'

• Readers will see that with Edison under FDR the start of SecNavs who previously served in Assistant- or Under-Secretary positions; none of that happened prior to Edison (who was Thomas Edison’s son).

Based on the above, there appears to be only one precedent for a Secretary of the Navy who never served in the military and who had only private sector/non-DoD experience, Secretary Paul Morton who served 1904-05 under President Roosevelt.