User:Canuckian89/United States Secretaries of the Navy

This is a list of United States Secretaries of the Navy in order of longevity. There are currently sixty-nine Secretaries on the list and twelve living Secretaries. The list is in descending order and is correct as of July 6, 2026. The oldest Secretary is Paul Nitze (1907 - 2004), who died at the age of 97 years, 277 days. The oldest living Secretary is Paul R. Ignatius. He is currently 105 years, 237 days old and has held the title of oldest living Secretary since October 19, 2004.

To account for the different number of leap days within the life of each Secretary, two measures of longevity are given. The first is the number of whole years the Secretary lived, and the number of days past their last birthday. The second lists the total number of days lived by the Secretary.

List

Rank	Secretary	Date of Birth	Date of Death	Longevity (Years, Days)	Longevity (Days)
1	Paul Nitze	January 16, 1907	October 19, 2004	97 years, 277 days	35,706 days
2	Paul R. Ignatius	November 11, 1920	Living	105 years, 237 days	38,588 days
3	Richard W. Thompson	June 9, 1809	February 9, 1900	90 years, 245 days	33,117 days
4	George Bancroft	October 3, 1800	January 17, 1891	90 years, 106 days	32,978 days
5	Fred Korth	September 9, 1909	September 14, 1998	89 years, 5 days	32,512 days
6	Charles F. Adams	August 2, 1866	June 10, 1954	87 years, 312 days	32,088 days
7	John W. Middendorf	September 22, 1924	Living	101 years, 287 days	37,177 days
8	Curtis D. Wilbur	May 10, 1867	September 8, 1954	87 years, 121 days	31,897 days
9	Josephus Daniels	May 18, 1862	January 15, 1948	85 years, 242 days	31,287 days
10	Benjamin F. Tracy	April 26, 1830	August 6, 1915	85 years, 102 days	31,147 days
11	William B. Franke	April 15, 1894	June 30, 1979	85 years, 76 days	31,121 days
12	Robert Smith	November 3, 1757	November 26, 1842	85 years, 23 days	31,068 days
13	John Warner	February 18, 1927	Living	99 years, 138 days	36,298 days
14	Hilary A. Herbert	March 12, 1834	March 6, 1919	84 years, 359 days	31,039 days
15	Mahlon Dickerson	April 17, 1770	October 5, 1853	83 years, 171 days	30,486 days
16	John L. Sullivan	June 16, 1899	August 8, 1982	83 years, 53 days	30,368 days
17	Victor H. Metcalf	October 10, 1853	February 20, 1936	82 years, 133 days	30,082 days
18	Edward Hidalgo	October 12, 1912	January 21, 1995	82 years, 101 days	30,051 days
19	William G. Claytor	March 14, 1912	May 14, 1994	82 years, 61 days	30,011 days
20	William E. Chandler	December 28, 1835	November 30, 1917	81 years, 337 days	29,922 days
21	James K. Paulding	August 22, 1778	April 6, 1860	81 years, 228 days	29,812 days
22	Truman H. Newberry	November 5, 1864	October 3, 1945	80 years, 332 days	29,551 days
23	John Branch	November 4, 1782	January 3, 1863	80 years, 60 days	29,279 days
24	Robert B. Anderson	June 4, 1910	August 14, 1989	79 years, 71 days	28,926 days
25	Charles Edison	August 3, 1890	July 31, 1969	78 years, 362 days	28,851 days
26	Benjamin W. Crowninshield	December 27, 1772	February 3, 1851	78 years, 38 days	28,526 days
27	Claude A. Swanson	March 31, 1862	July 7, 1939	77 years, 98 days	28,221 days
28	Nathan Goff	February 9, 1843	April 24, 1920	77 years, 75 days	28,198 days
29	John Chafee	October 22, 1922	October 24, 1999	77 years, 2 days	28,126 days
30	Thomas S. Gates	April 10, 1906	March 25, 1983	76 years, 349 days	28,108 days
31	John D. Long	October 27, 1838	August 28, 1915	76 years, 305 days	28,063 days
32	Isaac Toucey	November 15, 1792	July 30, 1869	76 years, 257 days	28,015 days
33	John Connally	February 27, 1917	June 15, 1993	76 years, 108 days	27,867 days
34	Smith Thompson	January 17, 1768	December 18, 1843	75 years, 335 days	27,728 days
35	Gideon Welles	July 1, 1802	February 11, 1878	75 years, 225 days	27,619 days
36	John P. Kennedy	October 25, 1795	August 18, 1870	74 years, 297 days	27,325 days
37	Gordon R. England	September 15, 1937	Living	88 years, 294 days	32,436 days
38	Dan A. Kimball	March 1, 1896	July 30, 1970	74 years, 151 days	27,178 days
39	Henry L. Garrett	June 24, 1939	Living	87 years, 12 days	31,789 days
40	George E. Badger	April 17, 1795	May 11, 1866	71 years, 24 days	25,956 days
41	William A. Graham	September 5, 1804	August 11, 1875	70 years, 340 days	25,907 days
42	William F. Knox	January 1, 1874	April 28, 1944	70 years, 118 days	25,684 days
43	John H. Dalton	December 13, 1941	Living	84 years, 205 days	30,886 days
44	Adolph E. Borie	November 25, 1809	February 5, 1880	70 years, 72 days	25,639 days
45	Charles J. Bonaparte	June 9, 1851	June 28, 1921	70 years, 19 days	25,586 days
46	John Lehman	September 14, 1942	Living	83 years, 295 days	30,611 days
47	George M. Robeson	March 16, 1829	September 27, 1897	68 years, 195 days	25,032 days
48	Richard Danzig	September 8, 1944	Living	81 years, 301 days	29,886 days
49	James H. Webb	February 9, 1946	Living	80 years, 147 days	29,367 days
50	Francis P. Matthews	March 15, 1887	October 18, 1952	65 years, 217 days	23,958 days
51	William L. Ball	June 10, 1948	Living	78 years, 26 days	28,515 days
52	William H. Moody	December 23, 1853	July 2, 1917	63 years, 191 days	23,201 days
53	Ray Mabus	October 11, 1948	Living	77 years, 268 days	28,392 days
54	William C. Whitney	July 5, 1841	February 2, 1904	62 years, 212 days	22,856 days
55	Levi Woodbury	December 22, 1789	September 4, 1851	61 years, 256 days	22,535 days
56	David Henshaw	April 2, 1791	November 11, 1852	61 years, 223 days	22,503 days
57	William H. Hunt	June 12, 1823	February 27, 1884	60 years, 260 days	22,175 days
58	John Y. Mason	April 18, 1799	October 3, 1859	60 years, 168 days	22,082 days
59	George Meyer	June 24, 1858	March 9, 1918	59 years, 258 days	21,807 days
60	Edwin Denby	February 18, 1870	February 8, 1929	58 years, 356 days	21,539 days
61	James Forrestal	February 15, 1892	May 22, 1949	57 years, 96 days	20,915 days
62	William B. Preston	November 25, 1805	November 16, 1862	56 years, 356 days	20,810 days
63	Sean O'Keefe	January 27, 1956	Living	70 years, 160 days	25,728 days
64	Samuel L. Southard	June 9, 1787	June 26, 1842	55 years, 17 days	20,105 days
65	Paul Morton	May 22, 1857	February 19, 1911	53 years, 273 days	19,630 days
66	Paul Hamilton	October 16, 1762	June 30, 1816	53 years, 258 days	19,615 days
67	Abel P. Upshur	June 17, 1790	February 28, 1844	53 years, 256 days	19,613 days
68	James C. Dobbin	January 17, 1814	August 4, 1857	43 years, 199 days	15,905 days
69	Thomas W. Gilmer	April 6, 1802	February 28, 1844	41 years, 328 days	15,303 days

Secretaries of the Navy	69
Living	12
Deceased	57