Josephus Daniels

Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Josephus Daniels

(born May 18, 1862, Washington, N.C., U.S. — died Jan. 15, 1948, Raleigh, N.C.) U.S. editor, administrator, and diplomat. He published a newspaper in Raleigh, N.C. (1885 – 1933), and became influential in the Democratic Party. In the 1912 presidential election he worked for the nomination of Woodrow Wilson; he later served as U.S. secretary of the navy (1913 – 21). As ambassador to Mexico (1933 – 44), Daniels improved relations between Mexico and the U.S. and became Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt's most trusted adviser on Mexican issues.

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Daniels, Josephus (1862-1948) born in Washington, North Carolina. A journalist and publisher committed to democratic principles and social reform, who, as naval secretary in President Woodrow Wilson's administration (1913-21), instituted important reforms in the U.S. Navy including the requirement of sea service for promotion, compulsory education for poorly educated seamen, and improvements in the quality of the U.S. Naval Academy. Franklin D. Roosevelt was Daniels's Assistant Secretary and, when Roosevelt became president, he appointed Daniels as his ambassador to Mexico. Daniels wrote a five-volume autobiography chronicling his experiences as a journalist and statesman.

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Biography: Josephus Daniels

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The American journalist and statesman Josephus Daniels (1862-1948) was secretary of the Navy in Woodrow Wilson's Cabinet and served as Franklin D. Roosevelt's ambassador to Mexico.

Josephus Daniels was born in Washington, N.C., on May 18, 1862. After his father was killed in the Civil War, his mother moved to Wilson, where he was raised and sent to school. In his early teens he developed an interest in journalism and upon graduating from high school became a partner in, and then the owner-editor of, the local weekly newspaper. He studied law at the University of North Carolina and eventually moved to Raleigh, where he edited two papers.

A dedicated and active Democrat, Daniels worked in Washington, D.C., in 1893 as chief clerk in the Department of the Interior. Upon returning to Raleigh, he bought the News and Observer and soon established himself as an influential man in the state. In national politics Daniels supported William Jennings Bryan, and during Bryan's three unsuccessful bids for the presidency Daniels stumped throughout the country on his behalf.

In 1911 Daniels supported Woodrow Wilson and was appointed the new president's secretary of the Navy. As his assistant secretary, Daniels chose an aristocratic young New York politician named Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Daniels had little previous experience with the Navy, but he did have some set beliefs about how American institutions should be run. He ran afoul of the officer corps by trying to abolish some of their traditional privileges and institute more humane and democratic treatment of enlisted men. A devout Methodist and a teetotaler, he is perhaps most famous in the Navy for having banned alcoholic beverages from ships. He served as secretary of the Navy until 1921, when the defeat of the Democrats sent him back to North Carolina to his lifelong love, journalism.

Roosevelt and Daniels had had some differences in the Navy Department (Roosevelt tended to sympathize much more with the Navy brass), but they had ended their association in Washington with deep mutual respect. Thus, when Roosevelt became president in 1933, he rewarded Daniels with the ambassadorship to Mexico. This aroused considerable consternation in Mexico, for Daniels had supervised the occupation of Veracruz during the Mexican Revolution in 1914.

Daniels however, turned out to be an ambassador with charm, good sense, and, above all, a deep concern for the Mexican people. In 1938, when the Mexican government nationalized the foreign-owned oil industry, Daniels argued for U.S. government restraint against Secretary of State Cordell Hull and the spokesmen for the oil interests, who demanded drastic retaliatory action. Daniels believed that the nationalization was an act of nationalism, not of communism, and that the long-run economic benefits to the United States, in terms of a higher Mexican standard of living and increased purchases from the United States, would far outweigh the short-run losses.

In 1941 Daniels retired to Raleigh and from there, even at an advanced age, continued to keep in touch with Mexican affairs and Mexican friends. He died in Raleigh on Jan. 15, 1948.

Josephus Daniels

41st United States Secretary of the Navy
In office March 5, 1913 – March 4, 1921
Preceded by	George von L. Meyer
Succeeded by	Edwin Denby

Born	May 18, 1862(1862-05-18) Washington, North Carolina, U.S.
Died	January 15, 1948 (aged 85) Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Addie Worth Bagley Daniels
Alma mater	Duke University University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Profession	Politician, Publisher

Early life and career

The father of Josephus Daniels was a shipbuilder for the Confederacy and was killed before the boy was 3.^[1] A native of Washington, North Carolina, Daniels moved with his mother and two siblings to Wilson, North Carolina after his father was accidentally killed by Confederate troops during the Civil War.^[2] He was educated at Wilson Collegiate Institute and at Trinity College (now Duke University). He edited and eventually purchased a local newspaper, the Wilson Advance. Within a few years, he became part owner of the Kinston Free Press and the Rocky Mount Reporter.^[2] He studied law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and was admitted to the bar in 1885, but did not practice law. After becoming increasingly involved in the North Carolina Democratic Party and taking over the weekly paper Daily State Chronicle, he was North Carolina's state printer in 1887-93 and chief clerk of the Federal Department of the Interior under Grover Cleveland in 1893-95.

In 1888, Daniels married Addie Worth Bagley, the granddaughter of former Governor Jonathan Worth.

News and Observer

In 1894, Daniels acquired a controlling interest in the Raleigh News & Observer, which led him to leave his federal office. The paper was unabashed in its advocacy for the Democratic Party, which at the time was struggling against a fusion of the Republicans and Populists.^[3]

Daniels and other Democrats launched a "White Supremacy" campaign to appeal to racist sentiment. That led to Democratic victories in 1898 and 1900 and to the disfranchisement of African Americans. On December 15, 2005, the 1898 Wilmington Race Riot Commission noted in its draft report that Daniels' involvement in the overthrow of the elected city government of Wilmington, NC, by actively promoting white supremacy in The News and Observer was so significant that he has been referred to as the "precipitator of the riot."

Daniels later said he regretted his tactics and supported a number of progressive causes, like public education, anti child-labor laws, and banning alcohol.

The News and Observer remained under Daniels' family control until its sale to The McClatchy Company in 1995.

Secretary of the Navy

Daniels supported Woodrow Wilson in the 1912 presidential election, and after Wilson's victory was appointed as Secretary of the Navy.

Letter from Daniels confirming that the Navy Cross was conferred on Ernesto Burzagli in the name of the President of the United States in 1919. Captain Burzagli was an officer in the Royal Italian Navy.

Secretary Daniels held the post from 1913 to 1921, throughout the Wilson administration, overseeing the Navy during World War I. Future U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt served as his Assistant Secretary of the Navy.^[4]

Daniels (right) shaking hands with his successor as Secretary of the Navy, Edwin Denby.

Secretary Daniels believed in government ownership of armorplate factories, and of telephones and telegraphs. At the end of the First World War he made a serious attempt to have the Navy control all radio transmitters in the United States. If he had succeeded amateur radio would have ended, and it is likely that radio broadcasting would have been substantially delayed.

Daniels banned alcohol from United States Navy ships in General Order 99 of 1 June 1914. This led to the folk etymology that "cup of joe" (referring to a cup of coffee) derives from Daniels' name.

In 1917, Secretary Daniels determined that no prostitution would be permitted within a five-mile radius of naval installations. In the Vieux Carré of New Orleans, this World War I directive caused long-lasting consequences for servicemen and others during subsequent decades.^[5]

During World War One, Daniels created the Naval Consulting Board to encourage inventions that would be helpful to the Navy. Daniels asked Thomas Edison to chair the Board. Daniels was worried that the US was unprepared for the new conditions of warfare and needed new technology.^[6]

Daniels wrote The Navy and the Nation, a collection of war addresses he made as Secretary of the Navy. The book was published in 1919.

USS Josephus Daniels

The Navy named USS Josephus Daniels (DLG/CG-27) for the Secretary. It was in commission from 1965 to 1994. One of the recruit barracks at the Navy's Recruit Training Center in Great Lakes, Illinois is also named for him.

Later life

After leaving government service in 1921, Daniels resumed the editorship of the Raleigh News and Observer.

Daniels strongly supported Franklin Roosevelt for president in 1932.

Ambassador to Mexico

President Roosevelt appointed his former boss at the Department of the Navy as United States Ambassador to Mexico. The appointment of a friend as Ambassador was an important element of Roosevelt's "Good Neighbor Policy;" however, Daniels' arrival in Mexico City was marred by a violent demonstration when a group of Mexicans stoned the American Embassy.^[7] Although the American naval bombardment in April 1914 of the Mexican Naval Academy at Veracruz was blamed on then Secretary of the Navy Daniels, he had disagreed with the act and only proceeded when ordered to by Wilson. After accepting the appointment as Ambassador in order to try and heal the rift the invasion had created between the two nations, his speeches and policies while serving as Ambassador to Mexico did greatly improve US-Mexican relations. He praised a proposed Mexican plan for universal popular education and, in a speech to US consular officials, advised them to refrain from interfering too much in the affairs of other nations. Daniels also favored the Loyalist cause in the Spanish Civil War, realizing that a collapse of the Spanish government would have dire affects on Mexico.

In 1941, when his son Jonathan was named a special assistant to FDR, Josephus resigned his post in Mexico to return to North Carolina and resume the editor's post at the News & Observer and continued his outspoken editorial style.

Daniels had married Addie Worth Bagley on May 2, 1888, and the Daniels family grew to include four sons: Josephus, Worth Bagley, Jonathan Worth, and Frank A. III. After Addie Daniels died in 1943, the S.S. Addie Daniels was commissioned in her honor in 1944.

Daniels published several recollections of his years in public office. In addition to The Navy and the Nation, he wrote Our Navy at War which was finished in 1922. The Life of Woodrow Wilson was published in 1924. He also wrote The Wilson Era which was published in 1944.

During the course of his life, Daniels operated several newspapers, culminating with the News & Observer, which is still in operation today. He served in public office with a strong belief in improving conditions for labor and the working class. The story of Daniels' life closely mirrors that of North Carolina during the same time period. From the catastrophe of Civil War to national prominence, Daniels was a prime example of the strengths and weaknesses that marked the progress of his state. From the continuing presence of the News & Observer to the public middle school in Raleigh which bears his name (Josephus Daniels Middle School), the influence of Josephus Daniels continues to be felt.In 1941, he retired to Raleigh due to his wife's poor health. After completing a five-volume autobiography in which he expressed regret over the vicious attacks (but not the overall righteousness) of the White Supremacy campaign, he died in Raleigh on January 15, 1948 at the age of eighty-five. He is buried in Historic Oakwood Cemetery.^[8] Daniels divided his shares of the News and Observer among all his children, one of whom, Jonathan Worth Daniels, became editor.^[9]

Eight years after he died, the new Daniels Middle School was named after him. Daniels Hall on North Carolina State University main campus is also named after him.^[10]

Selected works

1919 -- The Navy and the Nation. New York: George H. Doran Company. OCLC 1450710
1922 -- Our Navy at War. Washington, D.C.: Pictorial Bureau. OCLC 1523367
1924 -- The Life of Woodrow Wilson, 1856-1924. Philadelphia: Universal Book and Bible House. OCLC 4894794. reprint by Kessinger Publishing, 2004. 10-ISBN 0-766-18631-8; 13-ISBN 978-0-766-18631-6; OCLC 81967751
1939 -- Tar heel editor. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. OCLC 335116
1941 -- Editor in Politics. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. OCLC 339245
1944 -- The Wilson Era: Years of Peace, 1910-1917. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. OCLC 750810 (1944 edition); OCLC 63786963 (1946 edition)
1947 -- Shirt-sleeve Diplomat. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. OCLC 422237

Notes

^ url=http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20061116/NEWS/61116029/-1/NEWS28?Title=Josephus_Daniels# Father a shipbuilder for the Confederacy
^ ^a ^b Zogry, Kenneth Joel. (2002). "Josephus, Jonathan, and Frank Daniels" in The North Carolina Century: Tar Heels who Made a Difference, 1900-2000, p. 302.
^ Zogry, p. 303.
^ Haugen, Brenda. (2006). Franklin Delano Roosevelt, p. 42.
^ Stanonis, Anthony. (1997). "An Old House in the Quarter: Vice in the Vieux Carré of the 1930s." Loyola University New Orleans History Writing Award.
^ Scott, Lloyd N. (2002). Naval Consulting Board of the United States, pp. 286-288.
^ Dent, David W. (1995). U.S.-Latin American Policymaking: A Reference Handbook, p. 313.
^ [1]
^ Zogry, p. 304.
^ Daniels Hall

References

Covington, Howard E. and Marion A. Ellis. (2002). The North Carolina Century: Tar Heels who Made a Difference, 1900-2000. Charlotte, North Carolina: Levine Museum of the New South. 10-ISBN 0-807-82757-6; 13-ISBN 978-0-807-82757-4; OCLC 50124471
Cronon, E. David. (1960). Josephus Daniels in Mexico. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. 10-ISBN 0-299-02061-4; 13-ISBN 978-0-299-02061-3
Daniels, Josephus. "The Significance of Naval Preparedness," in The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Vol. 66-68. (July-November 1916). OCLC 1479265
Kittredge, Tracy Barrett. (1921). Naval Lessons of the Great War: A Review of the Senate Naval Investigation of the Criticisms by Admiral Sims of the Policies and Methods of Josephus Daniels. Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page & Company. OCLC 1900437

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Military offices
Preceded by George von L. Meyer	United States Secretary of the Navy March 5, 1913 – March 4, 1921	Succeeded by Edwin Denby
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by J. Reuben Clark, Jr.	U.S. Ambassador to Mexico March 17, 1933 – November 9, 1941	Succeeded by George S. Messersmith

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