Joshua W. Alexander - Misplaced Pages

(Redirected from Joshua Willis Alexander) American politician

Joshua Alexander


2nd United States Secretary of Commerce
In office December 16, 1919 – March 4, 1921
President	Woodrow Wilson
Preceded by	William C. Redfield
Succeeded by	Herbert Hoover
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri's 3rd district
In office March 4, 1907 – December 15, 1919
Preceded by	Frank B. Klepper
Succeeded by	Jacob L. Milligan
Member of the Missouri House of Representatives
In office 1883–1887

Personal details
Born	Joshua Willis Alexander (1852-01-22)January 22, 1852 Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
Died	February 27, 1936(1936-02-27) (aged 84) Gallatin, Missouri, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Roe Richardson
Children	8, including George
Education	Culver-Stockton College (BA)

Joshua Willis Alexander (January 22, 1852 – February 27, 1936) was United States secretary of commerce from December 16, 1919, to March 4, 1921, in the administration of President Woodrow Wilson.

Biography

Born on January 22, 1852, in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of Thomas Willis Alexander and Jane (née Robinson). Alexander attended Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Missouri, and later moved to Gallatin, Missouri, where he served as mayor and then as a state representative in the Missouri General Assembly (1883–1887). He served as a judge on Missouri's 17th Circuit until 1905.

Alexander, a member of the United States Democratic Party, served as a United States representative from Missouri from 1907 until his resignation to become Commerce Secretary in 1919. He served as chairman of the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries and took a lead role in shaping wartime shipping legislation, which drew him to the attention of President Wilson. He also gained prominence for his service as Chairman of the United States Commission to the international conference on the safety of life at sea in London in 1913.

After his tenure as Secretary of Commerce, Alexander returned to the practice of law in Missouri. He served as a delegate to the state's constitutional convention in 1922–23.

He died there on February 27, 1936, at the age of 84, eighteen years later, after retiring in Gallatin. Alexander was interred in Brown Cemetery in Gallatin.

Joshua W. Alexander was a brother of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Phi chapter).

Family

Alexander married, the former Roe Ann Richardson (February 3, 1859 - March 18, 1940), the daughter of a judge, on February 3, 1876. The couple had eight children.

Alexander's son, aviator Walter Alexander, was killed in a propeller accident at Bolling Field in 1920. Another son, George F. Alexander, became a federal judge in Juneau, Alaska.

References

^ TO SUCCEED W.C. REDFIELD.; Joshua W. Alexander of Missouri New Secretary of Commerce, The New York Times, Dec. 3, 1919
^ JW Alexander, Wilson Aide, Dies, The New York Times, Feb 28, 1936
^ Judge Alexander, 84, Passes in Missouri, The Atlanta Constitution, Feb 28, 1936
Airplane Propeller Kills Walter Alexander, Aviator Son of the Secretary of Commerce, New York Times, Sept. 22, 1920

External links

United States Congress. "Joshua W. Alexander (id: A000098)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded byFrank B. Klepper	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Missouri's 3rd congressional district 1907–1919	Succeeded byJacob L. Milligan
Preceded byWilliam S. Greene	Chair of the House Merchant Marine Committee 1911–1919	Succeeded byWilliam S. Greene
Political offices
Preceded byWilliam C. Redfield	United States Secretary of Commerce 1919–1921	Succeeded byHerbert Hoover

v t e United States Secretaries of Commerce
Secretaries of Commerce and Labor	Cortelyou Metcalf Straus Nagel
Secretaries of Commerce	Redfield Alexander Hoover Whiting Lamont Chapin Roper Hopkins Jones Wallace Harriman Sawyer Weeks Strauss Mueller Hodges Connor Trowbridge Smith Stans Peterson Dent Morton Richardson Kreps Klutznick Baldrige Verity Mosbacher Franklin Brown Kantor Daley Mineta Evans Gutierrez Locke Bryson Pritzker Ross Raimondo

v t e Cabinet of President Woodrow Wilson (1913–1921)
Vice President	Thomas R. Marshall (1913–1921)
Secretary of State	William Jennings Bryan (1913–1915) Robert Lansing (1915–1920) Bainbridge Colby (1920–1921)
Secretary of the Treasury	William Gibbs McAdoo (1913–1918) Carter Glass (1918–1920) David F. Houston (1920–1921)
Secretary of War	Lindley Miller Garrison (1913–1916) Newton D. Baker (1916–1921)
Attorney General	James Clark McReynolds (1913–1914) Thomas Watt Gregory (1914–1919) A. Mitchell Palmer (1919–1921)
Postmaster General	Albert S. Burleson (1913–1921)
Secretary of the Navy	Josephus Daniels (1913–1921)
Secretary of the Interior	Franklin Knight Lane (1913–1920) John Barton Payne (1920–1921)
Secretary of Agriculture	David F. Houston (1913–1920) Edwin T. Meredith (1920–1921)
Secretary of Commerce	William C. Redfield (1913–1919) Joshua W. Alexander (1919–1921)
Secretary of Labor	William Bauchop Wilson (1913–1921)

v t e Chairs of the United States House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries
Dunn Farquhar Fowler Fithian Payne Grosvenor Greene Alexander Scott White Davis Bland Bradley Weichel Bland Hart Weichel Bonner Garmatz Sullivan Murphy Ashley Jones Studds
Italics indicates acting chairman

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