Jacob M. Dickinson

Jacob McGavock Dickinson

44th United States Secretary of War
In office March 12, 1909 – May 21, 1911
President	William Howard Taft
Preceded by	Luke Edward Wright
Succeeded by	Henry L. Stimson
Personal details
Born	(1851-01-30)January 30, 1851 Columbus, Mississippi, U.S.
Died	December 13, 1928(1928-12-13) (aged 77) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Martha Overton
Alma mater	University of Nashville Columbia University
Profession	Politician
Military service
Allegiance	United States Confederate States of America
Service/branch	Confederate States Army
Rank	Private
Battles/wars	American Civil War

Jacob McGavock Dickinson (January 30, 1851 – December 13, 1928) was United States Secretary of War under President William Howard Taft from 1909 to 1911. He was succeeded by Henry L. Stimson.

Biography 1
- Early life 1.1
- Career 1.2
References 2

Biography

Early life

Dickinson was born in Columbus, Mississippi and enlisted at fourteen as a private in the Confederate Army cavalry. He moved with his family to Nashville, Tennessee, graduated from the University of Nashville in 1871, and received his master’s degree in 1872. He studied law briefly at Columbia Law School and continued his studies abroad in Leipzig and Paris. He was later admitted to the Tennessee bar in 1874, and married Martha Overton in 1876.

Dickinson's former residence (right) in Washington, D.C.

Career

From 1889 to 1893, Dickinson served as president of the Tennessee Bar Association. He served as American Society of International Law, served on its executive council from 1907 to 1910, and was its vice president in 1910.

From March 12, 1909 to May 21, 1911, Dickinson served as United States Secretary of War. During his tenure, he proposed legislation to permit the admission of foreign students to West Point, and recommended an annuity retirement system for civil service employees. He also suggested that Congress consider stopping the pay of soldiers rendered unfit for duty because of venereal disease or alcoholism as a means of combatting those problems.

After his tenure as Secretary of War, Dickinson served as a special assistant attorney general and helped to prosecute U.S. Steel in 1913. He also acted in several important labor cases in 1922. He later was receiver of the Rock Island Lines from 1915 to 1917 and was president of the Izaak Walton League from 1927 until his death in Nashville in 1928.

References

Biography of Jacob M. Dickinson in Secretaries of War and Secretaries of the Army, United States Army Center of Military History.

Political offices
Preceded by Luke E. Wright	U.S. Secretary of War Served under: William Howard Taft March 12, 1909 – May 21, 1911	Succeeded by Henry L. Stimson
Business positions
Preceded by Henry U. Mudge	President of Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad 1915 – 1917	Succeeded by James E. Gorman

U.S. Secretaries of War and the Army

U.S. Department
of War
(1789–1949)

Secretaries of War	B. Lincoln Knox Pickering McHenry Dexter Dearborn Eustis Armstrong Monroe W. Crawford Calhoun Barbour P. Porter Eaton Cass Poinsett Bell Spencer J. Porter Wilkins Marcy G. Crawford Conrad J. Davis Floyd Holt S. Cameron Stanton Schofield Rawlins Belknap A. Taft J. Cameron McCrary Ramsey R. Lincoln Endicott Proctor Elkins Lamont Alger Root W. Taft Wright Dickinson Stimson Garrison Baker Weeks D. Davis Good Hurley Dern Woodring Stimson Patterson Royall

Assistant Secretaries of War	Scott Watson Tucker Wolcott Dana Eckert Grant Doe Meiklejohn Sanger Oliver Breckinridge Ingraham Crowell Williams Wainwright D. Davis MacNider Hurley Payne Woodring L. Johnson Patterson McCloy Petersen

U.S. Department
of the Army
(1949–present)

Secretaries of the Army	Royall Gray Pace Stevens Brucker Stahr Vance Ailes Resor Froehlke Callaway Hoffmann C. Alexander Marsh Stone West Caldera White Harvey Geren McHugh

Under Secretaries of the Army	Draper Gray Voorhees A. Alexander Bendetsen E. Johnson Slezak Finucane Milton Ailes Ignatius Resor McGiffert Beal BeLieu Staudt Augustine LaBerge Ambrose Stone Shannon Reeder Walker Rostker Dahlberg Brownlee Geren Ford Westphal Carson

Cabinet of President William Howard Taft (1909–1913)

Vice President	James S. Sherman (1909–1912) None (1912–1913)

Secretary of State	Philander C. Knox (1909–1913)

Secretary of the Treasury	Franklin MacVeagh (1909–1913)

Secretary of War	Jacob M. Dickinson (1909–1911) Henry L. Stimson (1911–1913)

Attorney General	George W. Wickersham (1909–1913)

Postmaster General	Frank H. Hitchcock (1909–1913)

Secretary of the Navy	George von L. Meyer (1909–1913)

Secretary of the Interior	Richard A. Ballinger (1909–1911) Walter L. Fisher (1911–1913)

Secretary of Agriculture	James Wilson (1909–1913)

Secretary of Commerce and Labor	Charles Nagel (1909–1913)

Authority control	VIAF: 66027824

Categories

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Jacob M. Dickinson