William Eaton Chandler

William Eaton Chandler (28 December, 1835 – 30 November, 1917) served as the thirtieth Secretary of the Navy from 1882 through 1885.

Life & Career

Chandler was born in Concord, New Hampshire, 28 December, 1835. He attended the common schools and the academies in Thetford, Vermont, and Pembroke, New Hampshire, before graduating from Harvard Law School in 1854. Chandler was admitted to the bar in 1855 and practiced in Concord. He was appointed as the reporter of the decisions of the supreme court of New Hampshire in 1859 and was elected to the State House of Representatives from 1862 through 1864, served as speaker during 1863 and 1864.

Chandler's first brush with the U.S. Navy came during the last months of the Civil War, when President Abraham Lincoln appointed him solicitor and Judge Advocate General of the Navy Department in 1865. His time in this position was brief—a few months later he was appointed First Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, where he remained until his resignation in 1867.

Returning to New Hampshire, Chandler became a newspaper publisher and editor during the 1870s and 1880s. During that time he was a member of the State constitutional convention in 1876 and a member of the State House of Representatives in 1881. He was appointed by President Chester A. Arthur as Secretary of the Navy in 1882. He has been called "a surprisingly effective advocate of increased naval spending and a new construction program."

After the end of Arthur's presidency, Chandler was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Austin F. Pike. He served as Senator from 1887 through 1901, except for a few months out of office during 1889. While in office, Chandler served as chairman of the Committee on Immigration in the Fifty-first and Fifty-second Congresses, on the Committee on Census in the Fifty-fourth Congress, and the Committee on Privileges and Elections in the Fifty-fifth and Fifty-sixth Congresses.

Chandler's last Navy-related duty began in 1901 as part of the aftermath of the Spanish-American War. He was appointed by President William McKinley as president of the Spanish Claims Treaty Commission. Retiring from that role in 1908, he resumed the practice of law in Concord, New Hampshire, and Washington, D.C. Chandler died in Concord on November 30, 1917.

See Also

• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Wikipedia

Bibliography

• Rentfrow, James C. (2014). Home Squadron: The U.S. Navy on the North Atlantic Station. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press.
• Richardson, Leon B. (1940). William E. Chandler, Republican. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company.
• Thompson, Carol L. (November 1952). "William E. Chandler: A Radical Republican". Current History 23: pp. 304-311.

Papers

• Papers in possession of the United States Library of Congress

Naval Appointments
Preceded by William H. Hunt	Secretary of the Navy 16 Apr, 1882 – 4 Mar, 1885	Succeeded by William C. Whitney