William E. Chandler

Infobox Officeholder
name =William Eaton Chandler

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order =30th
office =United States Secretary of the Navy
term_start =April 16, 1882
term_end =March 4, 1885
president =Chester A. Arthur
predecessor =William H. Hunt
successor =William C. Whitney
order2 =United States Senator from
New Hampshire
term_start2 =June 14, 1887
term_end2 =March 3, 1889
June 18, 1889 – March 3, 1901
predecessor2 =Person C. Cheney
Gilman Marston
successor2 =Gilman Marston
Henry E. Burnham
birth_date =December 28, 1835
birth_place =Concord, New Hampshire
death_date =November 30, 1917
death_place =Concord, New Hampshire
nationality =
party =Republican
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William Eaton Chandler (December 28, 1835 – November 30, 1917) was a lawyer who served as United States Secretary of the Navy and as a Senator from New Hampshire.

Born in Concord, New Hampshire, Chandler attended the common schools and the academies in Thetford, Vermont, and Pembroke, New Hampshire before attending Harvard Law School where he graduated in 1854. He was admitted to the bar in 1855 and commenced practice in Concord.

In 1859, he was appointed reporter of the decisions of the supreme court of New Hampshire. He then served in the State house of representatives from 1862-1864 and was the speaker during the last two years.

In 1865, Chandler was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln solicitor and judge advocate general of the Navy Department. Subsequently, he was appointed First Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, until he resigned in 1867.

Chandler returned to New Hampshire and became a newspaper publisher and editor during the 1870s and 1880s. Continuing in politics, he was a member of the State constitutional convention in 1876 and a member of the State house of representatives in 1881.

Chandler was appointed by President Chester A. Arthur as Secretary of the Navy in 1882. He took charge in 1883 in planning for the rescue of Lt. Adolphus Greely's Lady Franklin Bay Expedition. Chandler served until 1885.

As a Republican, he was elected to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Austin F. Pike and served from June 14, 1887, to March 3, 1889. Subsequently elected for the term beginning March 4, 1889, he was reelected in 1895 and served from June 18, 1889, to March 3, 1901. He was an unsuccessful candidate for renomination. He served as chairman of the Committee on Immigration (Fifty-first and Fifty-second Congresses), Committee on Census (Fifty-fourth Congress), Committee on Privileges and Elections (Fifty-fifth and Fifty-sixth Congresses).

Chandler was appointed by President William McKinley as president of the Spanish Claims Treaty Commission 1901-1908.

Leaving public office, Chandler resumed the practice of law in Concord and Washington, D.C..

He died at Concord in 1917.

Legacy

USS "Chandler" (DD-206) was named for him.

His grandson, Theodore E. Chandler joined the U.S. Navy in 1911 and later distinguished himself as a Rear Admiral in World War II, and was killed in action by a Japanese kamikaze aircraft.

ources

*DANFS