author
Josephus Daniels
1862–1948
A powerful newspaper editor who rose to national office, he helped shape the U.S. Navy during World War I and later served as ambassador to Mexico. His long public career also left a complicated legacy, especially for his role in segregation-era policy.
1 Audiobook
Our Navy at war
by Josephus Daniels
About the author
Born in 1862, Josephus Daniels was an American newspaper editor, publisher, and Democratic political figure best known for leading the Raleigh News & Observer. He became a major voice in North Carolina politics before joining President Woodrow Wilson’s cabinet as Secretary of the Navy, serving from 1913 to 1921.
During World War I, he oversaw a major naval expansion and pushed reforms in the Navy, including efforts aimed at education and discipline. After his cabinet service, he returned to publishing and later served as U.S. ambassador to Mexico from 1933 to 1941 under President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Daniels died in 1948. Remembered as an influential public man of his era, he is also tied to the racial politics of the Jim Crow South, so modern views of his life often weigh his public achievements alongside that record.