George von Lengerke Meyer

George of Lengerke Meyer ( * June 24, 1858 in Boston, Massachusetts, † March 9, 1918 ibid ) was an American politician ( Republican), who belonged to the U.S. Cabinet under two Presidents.

After Meyer had graduated at Harvard in 1879, he hit a career as a businessman. He was a director and majority shareholder of various banks, insurance companies and railway companies, before he had celebrated his 30th birthday. As a politician, he was one of the few successful Republicans in democratically dominated Boston. He first served on the City Council, and later from 1892 to 1896 then the House of Representatives from Massachusetts. For two years he was there, the Speaker of the House.

In 1900, U.S. President William McKinley offered him the post of Ambassador to Italy, which he held until 1905; then he was in Russia to 1907 Ambassador. He returned to the U.S. to become Postmaster General in the cabinet of Theodore Roosevelt. In his term of office lasting until 1909 for the first time stamp machines, and as a consequence stamp rolls were introduced.

After Roosevelt was succeeded by William Howard Taft, appointed this Meyer to Secretary of the Navy. This office he held until Taft's deselection in 1913. During this time, the Navy took its first tests with naval aviation before. Eugene Burton Ely was launched in 1910 for the first time with an airplane on a warship; in the following year saw the first landing on such a, thus the development of the aircraft carrier was launched.

After leaving office, Taft also George of Lengerke Meyer retired from politics. He died in 1918 in his hometown. The Navy honored him, she named a destroyer as USS Meyer.