Benjamin Stoddert
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{{Infobox US Cabinet official
| name=Benjamin Stoddert
| image=BStoddert.jpg
| image_width=200px
| order=1st
| title=[[United States Secretary of the Navy]]
| term_start=[[June 18]], [[1798]]
| term_end=[[March 31]], [[1801]]
| predecessor=''(none)''
| successor=[[Robert Smith (cabinet)|Robert Smith]]
| birth_date=[[1751]]
| birth_place=[[Charles County, Maryland]], [[United States|U.S.]]
| death_date={{death date|1813|12|13|mf=y}}
| death_place=[[Bladensburg, Maryland]], [[United States|U.S.]]
| party=[[Federalist Party (United States)|Federalist]]
| spouse=Rebecca Lowndes
| profession=[[Politician]], [[Merchant]]
| religion=
}}
'''Benjamin Stoddert''' ([[1751]] – [[December 13]], [[1813]]) was the first [[United States Secretary of the Navy]] from [[May 1]], [[1798]] to [[March 31]], [[1801]].
==Early life==
Stoddert was born in [[Charles County, Maryland]], in 1751, the son of Captain Thomas Stoddert. He was educated at the [[University of Pennsylvania]], although he did not earn a degree, and then worked as a merchant. He served as a captain in the [[Pennsylvania]] cavalry and later as secretary to the [[Continental Board of War]] during the [[American Revolutionary War]]. During the war, he was severely injured in the [[Battle of Brandywine]] and was subsequently released from active military service.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Portrait of Old Georgetown |date=1933 |publisher=Garrett & Massie, Inc. |author=Ecker, Grace Dunlop |pages=p. 12}}</ref> In 1781, he married Rebecca Lowndes, daughter of a [[Maryland]] merchant, and they had eight children.
In 1783, Forest established a [[tobacco]] export business in [[Georgetown, Washington, D.C.|Georgetown]], with business partners [[Uriah Forrest]] and John Murdock.<ref>{{cite book |title=A Portrait of Old Georgetown |date=1933 |publisher=Garrett & Massie, Inc. |author=Ecker, Grace Dunlop |pages=p. 12}}</ref>
After [[George Washington]] was elected [[President of the United States|President]], he asked Stoddert to purchase key parcels of land in the area that would become the nation's capital, before the formal decision to establish the federal city on the banks of the [[Potomac River|Potomac]] drove up prices there. Stoddert then transferred the parcels to the government. During the 1790s, he also helped found the [[Bank of Columbia]] to handle purchases of land in the [[District of Columbia]] for the federal government.
==Secretary of the Navy==
In May 1798, President [[John Adams]] appointed Stoddert, a loyal [[Federalist]], to oversee the newly established [[United States Department of the Navy|Department of the Navy]].<ref>Scharf, J. Thomas (1879). ''History of Maryland: From the Earliest Period to the Present Day''. Baltimore: John B. Piet. Vol. II, p. 437.</ref> As the first [[Secretary of the Navy]], Stoddert soon found himself dealing with an undeclared naval war with [[France]], which would come to be known as the [[Quasi-War]]. Stoddert realized that the infant Navy possessed too few warships to protect a far-flung merchant marine by using convoys or by patrolling the [[North America]]n coast. Rather, he concluded that the best way to defeat the French campaign against American shipping was by offensive operations in the [[Caribbean]], where most of the French cruisers were based. Thus at the very outset of the conflict, the Department of the Navy adopted a policy of going to the source of the enemy's strength. American successes during the conflict resulted from a combination of Stoddert's administrative skill in deploying his limited forces and the initiative of his seagoing officers. Under Stoddert's leadership, the reestablished [[United States Navy]] acquitted itself well and achieved its goal of stopping the depredations of French ships against American commerce.
Stoddert concerned himself not only with the Navy's daily administration and operations, but also with the service's future strength. He established the first six navy yards and advocated building twelve ships of the line. [[United States Congress|Congress]] initially approved construction of six ships of the line, but following the peace accord with France, changed its mind, eliminating the ships of the line and reducing the officer corps. Stoddert left a legacy of able administration and successful war fighting. Despite subsequent shifting political sentiments, the American people would ever after depend on the Navy to defend their commerce and assert their rights on the high seas.
Stoddert established the Navy Department Library as a result of instructions received from President Adams in a letter dated [[31 March]] [[1800]].
==Post-Navy life==
He left office in March 1801 to return to commercial life. Following his term as Secretary of the Navy, Stoddert's final years witnessed a decline in his fortunes: as Stoddert lost heavily in land speculation, Georgetown declined as a commercial center, and the Embargo and the [[War of 1812]] brought American overseas trade to a halt. During this period he lived at Halcyon House, on the corner at 3400 Prospect Street NW.<ref>Candyce H. Stapen (2000), Washington DC Blue Guide (London: A&C Black, Publishers), p. 572</ref>
Benjamin Stoddert died on [[December 13]], [[1813]].
==Things named for Benjamin Stoddert==
Two [[United States Navy|Navy]] ships have been named in honor of Benjamin Stoddert: [[USS Stoddert (DD-302)|USS ''Stoddert'' (DD-302)]], 1920-1935, and [[USS Benjamin Stoddert (DDG-22)|USS ''Benjamin Stoddert'' (DDG-22)]], 1964-1991. [[Fort Stoddert]] in the [[Mississippi Territory]] (today [[Alabama]]) was also named for him as well as [http://www.ccboe.com/stoddert/ Benjamin Stoddert Middle School] in [[Waldorf, Maryland]], [http://www.pgcps.org/~stoddert/ Benjamin Stoddert Middle School] in [[Temple Hills, Maryland]], and [http://www.stoddert.org/ Benjamin Stoddert Elementary School] in [[ Washington D.C.]]
In the [[Georgetown, Washington, D.C.|Georgetown]] section of Washington, DC, there was a Stoddert Street named after Benjamin Stoddert.[http://books.google.com/books?id=3scgAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA372&dq=%22stoddert+street%22+georgetown+history&ei=7xLaRr62O4jm6wL826DvBQ&ie=ISO-8859-1]. In the [[Georgetown street renaming]] of 1895 the name was changed to Q Street NW. An apartment building that today stands at 2900 Q Street NW is named ''The Stoddert''.{{coord|38.910354|-77.058481|region:US_type:landmark_scale:2000_source:Wikimapia}}
==Notes and references==
<references/>
==Sources==
*{{PD-NHC}}
*{{DANFS}}
==External links==
*[http://www.history.navy.mil/bios/stoddert.htm Biography on Benjamin Stoddert]
*[http://www.woodleysociety.org/BenjaminStoddartPage.htm Brief on Benjamin Stoddert]
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{{succession box | before=''(none)'' | title=[[United States Secretary of the Navy]] | years=1798–1801 | after=[[Robert Smith (cabinet)|Robert Smith]]}}
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{{Jefferson cabinet}}
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[[Category:1751 births]]
[[Category:1813 deaths]]
[[Category:United States Secretaries of the Navy]]
[[Category:People of the Quasi-War]]
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[[zh:本杰明·斯托德特]]