Victor H. Metcalf

Victor Metcalf
Victor Metcalf
38th United States Secretary of the Navy
	In office; December 17, 1906 – November 30, 1908
President	Theodore Roosevelt
Preceded by	Charles Bonaparte
Succeeded by	Truman Newberry
2nd United States Secretary of Commerce and Labor
	In office; July 1, 1904 – December 16, 1906
President	Theodore Roosevelt
Preceded by	George B. Cortelyou
Succeeded by	Oscar Straus
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives; from California's 3rd district
	In office; March 4, 1899 – July 1, 1904
Preceded by	Samuel G. Hilborn
Succeeded by	Joseph R. Knowland
Personal details
Born	Victor Howard Metcalf; October 10, 1853; Utica, New York, U.S.
Died	February 20, 1936 (aged 82); New York City, New York, U.S.
Resting place	Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland, CA
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Emily Corinne Nicholson
Education	Yale University (BA); Hamilton College, New York (LLB)
Signature

Victor Howard Metcalf (October 10, 1853 – February 20, 1936) was an American politician; he served in President Theodore Roosevelt's cabinet as Secretary of Commerce and Labor, and then as Secretary of the Navy.

Early life and education

Born in Utica, New York, on October 10, 1853, to William and Sarah P. (Howard) Metcalf. He attended the Utica public schools, Utica Free Academy, and Russell's Military Institute at New Haven, Connecticut. In 1872, he entered Yale College where he was a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Phi chapter); he left in his junior year to attend Yale Law School. He graduated in 1876 and was admitted to the Connecticut bar. In 1877, he continued his legal education at Hamilton College, and was admitted to the New York bar.

Early career

He practiced in Utica in 1877, and then moved to Oakland, California in 1879. His law practice in California handled real property and commercial cases.

Family

He married Emily Corinne Nicholson in 1881; they had two sons, one of them being educated at the Annapolis Naval Academy,^[2] the other becoming a businessman in California.^[3]

Political career

Congress

He was elected as a Republican to the 56th, 57th and 58th United States Congresses, serving from 1899 until 1904.^[4] In congress he served on the Naval Affairs and the Ways and Means committees. Metcalf's legislation for reclamation of arid lands put him in touch with President Theodore Roosevelt.

Roosevelt cabinet

President Roosevelt appointed him, on July 1, 1904, Secretary of Commerce and Labor. As Secretary of Commerce, Roosevelt sent Metcalf to San Francisco in 1905 as an intermediator between the San Francisco school board and 91 Japanese students who were refused entry to public schools. A compromise was reached where the students would be permitted into the public schools while Japan would stop issuing passports to laborers.^[5] As President Roosevelt's personal representative, Secretary Metcalf traveled to San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake and fire to survey the damage.^[6] He served until December 12, 1906, when he was appointed Secretary of the Navy. During his term, he oversaw the world cruise of the Great White Fleet.^[7] The pressures of office took a toll on his health and he resigned as navy secretary November 13, 1908.

Retirement and death

After leaving Roosevelt's Cabinet he returned to Oakland and resumed his practice of law, and engaged in the banking business. Little more than a month after his wife Emily died, Metcalf died in Oakland, February 20, 1936.

He is buried at Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland, Calif.

Electoral history

1898 United States House of Representatives elections in California, District 3
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Victor H. Metcalf	20,592	57.3
	Democratic	John A. Jones	14,051	39.1
	Socialist Labor	Thomas F. Burns	1,309	3.6
Total votes			35,952	100.0
	Republican hold

1900 United States House of Representatives elections in California, District 3
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Victor H. Metcalf (Incumbent)	22,109	58.9
	Democratic	Frank Freeman	14,408	38.4
	Socialist	R. A. Dague	596	1.6
	Prohibition	Alvin W. Holt	431	1.1
Total votes			37,544	100.0
	Republican hold

1902 United States House of Representatives elections in California, District 3
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Victor H. Metcalf (Incumbent)	20,532	66.2
	Democratic	Calvin B. White	8,574	27.7
	Socialist	M. W. Wilkins	1,556	5.0
	Prohibition	T. H. Montgomery	338	1.1
Total votes			31,000	100.0
	Republican hold

References

^ METCALF OF CALIFORNIA, by The Watchman; in The California Weekly, originally published January 15, 1909
^ The Independent, Volume 57 (1904) New York
^ Merrill Edward Gates, ed. (1905) Men of Mark in America, Men of Mark Publishing Co., Washington D.C.
^ "S. Doc. 58-1 - Fifty-eighth Congress. (Extraordinary session -- beginning November 9, 1903.) Official Congressional Directory for the use of the United States Congress. Compiled under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing by A.J. Halford. Special edition. Corrections made to November 5, 1903". GovInfo.gov. U.S. Government Printing Office. November 9, 1903. p. 7. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
^ Wu and Song, editors. (2000) Asian American Studies: A Reader, Rutgers University Press ISBN 0-8135-2725-2
^ Sandy Sher, "Rally Round the Fleet, Boys and Pass the Bull's Head, Please: A Biographical Sketch of Oakland's Victor H. Metcalf, Cabinet Member Under Theodore Roosevelt and Early Resident of Adams Point" (Adams Point Preservation, Oakland, Calif., 1982), pp. 7-8.
^ "Great White Fleet, an American Symbol" (February 28, 1987) The New York Times

External links

United States Congress. "Victor H. Metcalf (id: M000672)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
Men of Mark in America
Biography
The Political Graveyard

U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Samuel G. Hilborn	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 3rd congressional district 1899–1904	Succeeded by Joseph R. Knowland
Political offices
Preceded by George B. Cortelyou	U.S. Secretary of Commerce and Labor Served under: Theodore Roosevelt 1904 – 1906	Succeeded by Oscar S. Straus
Government offices
Preceded by Charles J. Bonaparte	United States Secretary of the Navy 1906–1908	Succeeded by Truman H. Newberry

[Watchman-1] METCALF OF CALIFORNIA, by The Watchman; in The California Weekly, originally published January 15, 1909

[2] The Independent, Volume 57 (1904) New York

[3] Merrill Edward Gates, ed. (1905) Men of Mark in America, Men of Mark Publishing Co., Washington D.C.

[cd-4] "S. Doc. 58-1 - Fifty-eighth Congress. (Extraordinary session -- beginning November 9, 1903.) Official Congressional Directory for the use of the United States Congress. Compiled under the direction of the Joint Committee on Printing by A.J. Halford. Special edition. Corrections made to November 5, 1903". GovInfo.gov. U.S. Government Printing Office. November 9, 1903. p. 7. Retrieved July 2, 2023.

[5] Wu and Song, editors. (2000) Asian American Studies: A Reader, Rutgers University Press ISBN 0-8135-2725-2

[6] Sandy Sher, "Rally Round the Fleet, Boys and Pass the Bull's Head, Please: A Biographical Sketch of Oakland's Victor H. Metcalf, Cabinet Member Under Theodore Roosevelt and Early Resident of Adams Point" (Adams Point Preservation, Oakland, Calif., 1982), pp. 7-8.

[7] "Great White Fleet, an American Symbol" (February 28, 1987) The New York Times

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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 United States secretaries of labor
Secretaries of commerce and labor	Cortelyou Metcalf Straus Nagel
Secretaries of labor	Wilson Davis Doak Perkins Schwellenbach Tobin Durkin Mitchell Goldberg Wirtz Shultz Hodgson Brennan Dunlop Usery Marshall Donovan Brock McLaughlin Dole Martin Reich Herman Chao Solis Perez Acosta Scalia Walsh

v t e Cabinet of President Theodore Roosevelt (1901–1909)
Secretary of State	John Hay (1901–1905) Elihu Root (1905–1909) Robert Bacon (1909)
Secretary of the Treasury	Lyman J. Gage (1901–1902) L. M. Shaw (1902–1907) George B. Cortelyou (1907–1909)
Secretary of War	Elihu Root (1901–1904) William Howard Taft (1904–1908) Luke Edward Wright (1908–1909)
Attorney General	Philander C. Knox (1901–1904) William Henry Moody (1904–1906) Charles Joseph Bonaparte (1906–1909)
Postmaster General	Charles Emory Smith (1901–1902) Henry Clay Payne (1902–1904) Robert Wynne (1904–1905) George B. Cortelyou (1905–1907) George von Lengerke Meyer (1907–1909)
Secretary of the Navy	John Davis Long (1901–1902) William Henry Moody (1902–1904) Paul Morton (1904–1905) Charles Joseph Bonaparte (1905–1906) Victor H. Metcalf (1906–1908) Truman H. Newberry (1908–1909)
Secretary of the Interior	Ethan A. Hitchcock (1901–1907) James Rudolph Garfield (1907–1909)
Secretary of Agriculture	James Wilson (1901–1909)
Secretary of Commerce and Labor	George B. Cortelyou (1903–1904) Victor H. Metcalf (1904–1906) Oscar Straus (1906–1909)

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