Benjamin Williams Crowninshield

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

Crowninshield was born into one of the most distinguished families of New England, which was one of the so-called Brahmins of Boston. His father was a captain and businessman, under the Benjamin Crowninshield first also, even in the company Geo. Crowninshield & Sons began his professional career. In 1811 he decided to change to the policy for a year and was a deputy in the House of Representatives from Massachusetts; In 1812 he was a member of the Senate of Massachusetts, at that time still a member of the Federalist Party.

On December 19, 1814 President Madison appointed him as Secretary of the Navy in his cabinet. This office had nearly ten years earlier to hold his brother Jacob, but abandoned after nomination by President Thomas Jefferson and the confirmation by the Senate 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 incorporation of the newly created Board of Navy Commissioners in the administrative system, as is the construction of ships of the line. He was also involved in the strategy for the second Barbary War.

After James Monroe was followed in March 1817, U.S. President James Madison, Crowninshield retained his post at first; on October 1, 1818, he was subsequently abandoned but. Once again he was first politically active in Massachusetts and belonged to the local House of Representatives in 1821, he was elected the following year for his state in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was a supporter of John Quincy Adams and Henry Clay, for the National Republican Party, he finally sat in Congress after repeated re-election until March 3, 1831. In 1830 he lost the election and retired from Parliament. In 1833 he was again a deputy in the House of Representatives in his home state, before he retired from politics.

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