Three U.S. Secretaries of War, three Washington houses, and all three buildings still stand today. One is now the office of the Argentine Military Attaché. One is a National Historic Landmark that Jackie Kennedy briefly called home. One is the official residence of the Colombian Ambassador. Here is who lived where, and what is on those addresses today.
1. Jacob M. Dickinson, 1909 to 1911 under President Taft
Dickinson was originally from Mississippi, born in 1851. At the age of 14 he enlisted in the Confederate Army as a private in the cavalry.
After the Civil War, he moved with his family to Nashville, Tennessee, where he attended and graduated from the University of Nashville.
He was appointed to be William Howard Taft’s first Secretary of War, serving from March 12th, 1909 to May 21st, 1911, when he was succeeded by Henry Stimson.
While serving in the Cabinet, he lived at 1810 Connecticut Avenue, NW. Today, that address serves as the office of the Argentine Military Attaché, one of several Argentine government properties clustered around Dupont Circle.
Source: Library of Congress
2. Newton D. Baker, 1916 to 1921 under President Wilson
Baker served as Secretary of War under Woodrow Wilson from March 9th, 1916 to March 4th, 1921. During his tenure, he oversaw the buildup of forces leading into America’s involvement in World War I.
Originally from West Virginia, born in 1871, he graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1892 and earned his law degree from Washington and Lee University two years later.
After serving as private secretary to Postmaster General William Wilson under Grover Cleveland, he moved to Cleveland, Ohio. Roughly a decade later, he was elected mayor of the city in 1911, serving from 1912 until 1915.
Baker had known Woodrow Wilson during their days at Johns Hopkins, and after turning the President down for a position as Secretary of the Interior during Wilson’s first term, he later accepted the Secretary of War role as the U.S. marched toward war in Europe.
While serving under President Wilson, Baker lived at 3017 N Street, NW. Built in 1794 and known today as the Newton D. Baker House (and originally the Thomas Beall House), the Georgetown Federal-style mansion was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976. After President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, Jackie Kennedy bought the house and lived there briefly before moving to New York.
Source: Library of Congress
3. Dwight F. Davis, 1925 to 1929 under President Coolidge
Davis is better known as a tennis player than a politician, though he served as Secretary of War under Coolidge and as Governor-General of the Philippines under Hoover. In his youth, he was a champion tennis player, and with Holcombe Ward was a runner-up at Wimbledon doubles in 1901. Davis also competed in tennis at the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, possibly the only Cabinet member ever to do so.
His lasting legacy was the International Lawn Tennis Challenge, started in 1900, for which Davis donated a silver bowl as the trophy. The challenge was originally conceived in 1899 by four members of the Harvard University tennis team, including Davis, to pit British players against Americans. Eventually, the tournament became known as the Davis Cup.
Davis was originally from St. Louis, Missouri, born there on July 5th, 1879, and returned to the city after Harvard, finishing his law degree at Washington University. He first served as Assistant Secretary of War under President Coolidge from 1923 until 1925, before being elevated to Secretary of War, taking over for John W. Weeks.
While living in Washington, he made his home at 1520 20th Street, NW. Known as the Thomas T. Gaff House, the 1904 Beaux-Arts mansion was designed by architects Bruce Price and Jules Henri de Sibour with details inspired by the Château de Balleroy in Normandy. Colombia bought the house in 1944, and today it serves as the official residence of the Colombian Ambassador to the United States.
Source: Library of Congress