Claude Augustus Swanson

Swanson, Claude Augustus, 1862-1939, American politician, b. Pittsylvania co., Va. He practiced law in Chatham, Va., and after serving (1893-1905) in the U.S. House of Representatives he was (1906-10) governor of Virginia. In the U.S. Senate (1910-33), Swanson became recognized as one of the foremost authorities on naval and foreign affairs in the United States; he was a delegate to the London Naval Conference in 1931 and the Geneva Disarmament Conference in 1932. As U.S. Secretary of the Navy (1933-39), Swanson directed a vast naval expansion program.