Dwight F. Davis

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2010)

Dwight Filley Davis
49th United States Secretary of War
In office October 14, 1925 – March 4, 1929
President	Calvin Coolidge
Preceded by	John W. Weeks
Succeeded by	James W. Good
Personal details
Born	July 5, 1879(1879-07-05) St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Died	November 28, 1945(1945-11-28) (aged 66) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political party	Republican
Alma mater	Harvard University Washington University Law School
Profession	Politician, Tennis player

Dwight Filley Davis (July 5, 1879 – November 28, 1945) was an American tennis player and politician. He is best remembered as the founder of the Davis Cup international tennis competition.

Biography

Davis was born in St. Louis, Missouri on July 5, 1879.

Davis was the runner-up for the men's singles title at the US Championships in 1898. He then teamed-up with Holcombe Ward won the men's doubles title at the championships for three years in a row from 1899-1901. Davis and Ward were also men's doubles runners-up at Wimbledon in 1901. Davis also won the American intercollegiate singles championship of 1899 as a student at Harvard University.

In 1900, Davis developed the structure for, and donated a silver bowl to go to the winner of, a new international tennis competition designed by him and three others known as the International Lawn Tennis Challenge, which was later renamed the Davis Cup in his honor. He was a member of the US team that won the first two competitions in 1900 and 1902, and was also the captain of the 1900 team.

He participated in the 1904 Summer Olympics. He was eliminated in the second round of the singles tournament. In the doubles tournament he and his partner Ralph McKittrick lost in the quarter-finals.

Swearing in of Davis as Secretary of War in 1925

Davis was educated at Washington University Law School, though he was never a practicing attorney. He was, however, politically active in his home town of St. Louis and served as the city's public parks commissioner from 1911 to 1915. During his tenure, he expanded athletic facilities and created the first municipal tennis courts in the United States. He served President Calvin Coolidge as Assistant Secretary of War (1923–25) and as Secretary of War (1925–29). He then served as Governor General of the Philippines (1929–32) under Herbert Hoover. His first wife, Helen Brooks, whom he married in 1905, died in 1932.^[1] He married Pauline Sabin in 1936. He wintered in Florida from 1933 until his death, living at Meridian Plantation, near Tallahassee.^[2] Davis died in Washington, D.C. on November 28, 1945.^[3]

Legacy

His daughter Alice Brooks Davis was married to the British Ambassador to the United States Sir Roger Makins.

Davis has been honored with a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

References

External links

	Biography portal
	United States Army portal
	World War I portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dwight F. Davis

• International Tennis Hall of Fame profile

v d e United States Secretaries of War and Secretaries of the Army Secretaries at War B. Lincoln • Knox Secretaries of War 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 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 Assistant Secretaries of War Scott • Dana • Eckert • Grant • Doe • Meiklejohn • Sanger • Oliver • Breckinridge • Ingraham • Crowell • Williams • Wainwright • D. Davis • MacNider • Hurley • Payne • Woodring • L. Johnson • Patterson • McCloy • Petersen 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 •

v d e American Governors-General of the Philippines Merritt · Otis · MacArthur · Chaffee · Taft · Wright · Ide · Smith · Forbes · Gilbert · Harrison · Yeater · Wood · Gilmore · Stimson · Gilmore · Davis · Butte · Roosevelt · Murphy Smallcaps indicate military governors · Italics indicate acting governors

v d e Cabinet of President Calvin Coolidge (1923–1929) Vice President None (1923–1925) • Charles G. Dawes (1925–1929) Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes (1923–1925) • Frank B. Kellogg (1925–1929) Secretary of War John W. Weeks (1923–1925) • Dwight F. Davis (1925–1929) Secretary of the Treasury Andrew W. Mellon (1923–1929) Attorney General Harry M. Daugherty (1923–1924) • Harlan F. Stone (1924–1925) • John G. Sargent (1925–1929) Postmaster General Harry Stewart New (1923–1929) Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby (1923–1924) • Curtis D. Wilbur (1924–1929) Secretary of the Interior Hubert Work (1923–1928) • Roy Owen West (1928–1929) Secretary of the Agriculture Henry Cantwell Wallace (1923–1924) • Howard Mason Gore (1924–1925) • William Marion Jardine (1925–1929) Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover (1923–1928) • William F. Whiting (1928–1929) Secretary of Labor James J. Davis (1923–1929)