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 October 16, 2024. 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 103 years, 340 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

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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 103 years, 340 days 37,960 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 100 years, 24 days 36,549 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 97 years, 241 days 35,670 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 87 years, 31 days 31,808 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 85 years, 114 days 31,161 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 82 years, 308 days 30,258 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 82 years, 32 days 29,983 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 80 years, 38 days 29,258 days
49 James H. Webb February 9, 1946 Living 78 years, 250 days 28,739 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 76 years, 128 days 27,887 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 76 years, 5 days 27,764 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 68 years, 263 days 25,100 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