William Jones (statesman)
Template:Short description Template:Other people Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox officeholder William Jones (1760Template:Spaced ndashSeptember 6, 1831) was an American politician.
Early career
Jones was born in Philadelphia in the Province of Pennsylvania. Apprenticed in a shipyard, during the American Revolutionary War, he saw combat in the battles of Trenton and Princeton and later served at sea. In the decades that followed the war, he was a successful merchant in Charleston, South Carolina, and in Philadelphia. He was elected as a Republican to the United States House of Representatives in 1800 and was offered the office of Secretary of the Navy in 1801, but declined and remained in Congress to the end of his term in 1803. In 1805, he was elected as a member of the American Philosophical Society.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Secretary of the Navy
With the War of 1812 raging, Jones became Secretary of the Navy in January 1813. His policies contributed greatly to American success on the Great Lakes and to a strategy of coastal defense and commerce raiding on the high seas. In late 1814, near the end of his term, he made recommendations on the reorganization of the Navy Department. These led to the establishment of the Board of Commissioners system which operated from 1815 until 1842.
Bank president
From May 1813 to February 1814, Jones also served as acting Secretary of the Treasury and in 1816 was appointed President of the Second Bank of the United States.<ref>To James Madison from William Jones, 14 January 1813</ref><ref>Template:Cite web </ref> He returned to commercial pursuits in 1819. Jones died in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Legacy
The destroyer USS William Jones (DD-308) was named in his honor.
References
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Further reading
External links
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- 1760 births
- 1831 deaths
- Politicians from Philadelphia
- Merchants from colonial Pennsylvania
- 18th-century American merchants
- People of Pennsylvania in the American Revolution
- United States secretaries of the navy
- American people of the War of 1812
- Madison administration cabinet members
- Continental Army soldiers
- Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
- Burials at St. Peter's churchyard, Philadelphia
- Acting United States secretaries of the treasury
- 19th-century American merchants
- 19th-century United States representatives
- Members of the American Philosophical Society
- Merchants from Pennsylvania