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Josephus Daniels: His Life and Times
As a longtime leader of the Democratic Party and key member of Woodrow Wilson's cabinet, Josephus Daniels was one of the most influential progressive politicians in the country, and as secretary of the navy during the First World War, he became one of the most important men in the world. Before that, Daniels revolutionized the newspaper industry in the South, forever changing the relationship between politics and the news media. Lee Craig, an expert on economic history, delves into Daniels' extensive archive to inform this nuanced and eminently readable biography, following Daniels' rise to power in North Carolina and chronicling his influence on twentieth-century politics.A man of great contradictions, Daniels--an ardent prohibitionist, free trader, and free silverite--made a fortune in private industry yet served as a persistent critic of unregulated capitalism. He championed progressive causes like the graded public school movement and antitrust laws even as he led North Carolina's white supremacy movement. Craig pulls no punches in his definitive biography of this political powerhouse.
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First published May 1, 2013
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About the author
Lee A. Craig
6 books1 followerLee A. Craig is Alumni Distinguished Professor at North Carolina State University.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 9, 2020
Josephus Daniels (1862-1948) was an early on supporter of Woodrow Wilson for the presidency and
as a reward got appointed Secretary Of The Navy, a position he served in the entire two terms of the
Wilson presidency.
Daniels relied on the journalism route to make it into politics. He was born into a hardscrabble
background in North Carolina and as a teen worked in newspaper offices. He also was a lawyer, but
never did practice the law much. He rose to become a power in the Democratic party in North Carolina by dint of his editorials. Daniels was much responsible for the white supremacy policies that
North Carolina followed until the civil rights era.
Daniels had a patronage position during the second Grover Cleveland administration in the Interior
Department, but resigned in protest of the gold standard monetary policies of Cleveland. He was a
supporter and friend of William Jennings Bryan from 1896 when Bryan first ran for president for
the next several years. He had a hand in winning Bryan's support for the Wilson candidacy in 1912,
As Secretary of the Navy it was Daniels who created the general staff organizational approach to the
Navy high command with a Chief of Naval Operations. His proudest achievement as Navy Secretary
was his department fulfilling its mission in transporting the American Expeditionary Force to France with minimal casualties.
Daniels was not popular in many quarters. He was a prohibitionist and stopped the sailor's grog
rations. He was a churchgoer and also put through a policy change banning prostitution within
50 miles of a naval base.
His Assistant Secretary of the Navy was Franklin D. Roosevelt and Daniels's lack of knowledge in
matters nautical was made up for by FDR who had a lifelong interest. FDR was at first thinking of
Daniels as some hayseed rube, but gradually they developed a healthy respect for each other. I
think FDR learned a lot about southern sensibilities in his time with Daniels.
When FDR became president he appointed Daniels as Ambassador to Mexico and he served there
from 1933 to 1941. After that it was retirement.
Despite being a confirmed white supremacist, Daniels did have progressive views on universal
education and on agricultural issues. His type was most typical of a left leaning southerner in those times. This book will give you a good guide to his life and times.
as a reward got appointed Secretary Of The Navy, a position he served in the entire two terms of the
Wilson presidency.
Daniels relied on the journalism route to make it into politics. He was born into a hardscrabble
background in North Carolina and as a teen worked in newspaper offices. He also was a lawyer, but
never did practice the law much. He rose to become a power in the Democratic party in North Carolina by dint of his editorials. Daniels was much responsible for the white supremacy policies that
North Carolina followed until the civil rights era.
Daniels had a patronage position during the second Grover Cleveland administration in the Interior
Department, but resigned in protest of the gold standard monetary policies of Cleveland. He was a
supporter and friend of William Jennings Bryan from 1896 when Bryan first ran for president for
the next several years. He had a hand in winning Bryan's support for the Wilson candidacy in 1912,
As Secretary of the Navy it was Daniels who created the general staff organizational approach to the
Navy high command with a Chief of Naval Operations. His proudest achievement as Navy Secretary
was his department fulfilling its mission in transporting the American Expeditionary Force to France with minimal casualties.
Daniels was not popular in many quarters. He was a prohibitionist and stopped the sailor's grog
rations. He was a churchgoer and also put through a policy change banning prostitution within
50 miles of a naval base.
His Assistant Secretary of the Navy was Franklin D. Roosevelt and Daniels's lack of knowledge in
matters nautical was made up for by FDR who had a lifelong interest. FDR was at first thinking of
Daniels as some hayseed rube, but gradually they developed a healthy respect for each other. I
think FDR learned a lot about southern sensibilities in his time with Daniels.
When FDR became president he appointed Daniels as Ambassador to Mexico and he served there
from 1933 to 1941. After that it was retirement.
Despite being a confirmed white supremacist, Daniels did have progressive views on universal
education and on agricultural issues. His type was most typical of a left leaning southerner in those times. This book will give you a good guide to his life and times.
August 5, 2013
Josephus Daniels was a strong Navy secretary and had many accomplishments, including the rapid buildup of the fleet and its readiness prior to World War I, enabling the Navy’s excellent wartime performance. He brought Thomas Edison in to advise on keeping the Navy at the cutting edge of technology and mentored his own assistant secretary, Franklin Roosevelt, for eight years. He was a mover shaker in Democratic Party circles before and after the First World War. Lee A. Craig’s biography is exhaustively researched and highly readable.
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June 18, 2015
This is a brilliant account of Josephus Daniels' rise to power and influence in the New South and a sophisticated explanation of why he considered segregation a progressive reform. The author's sophistication and insight into the North Carolina phase of Daniels' life makes all the more disappointing his treatment of Daniel's time as secretary of the Navy. To put it bluntly, the author has not mastered the literature. His account is based almost entirely on Daniels' diary and correspondence with no real understanding of many of the issues involved---because simply put Daniels lacked such understanding. This is one half of a brilliant book.
August 27, 2015
Lee Craig does an excellent job of weaving Daniels (blemishes and all) into the larger tapestry of American history, from Reconstruction, through the Gilded Age to the inter-war years. His activities thrust him to the forefront of many important events. Because of this, the book isn't simply a biography, but also a great chronology of the times.
October 29, 2014
This was an exhaustively researched and detailed biography and was highly readable. I found the subject fascinating, but I warn you: unless you are very interested in BOTH North Carolina history and world war 1, you probably won't enjoy this book. It's a history book, and it reads like one. Also, Craig regularly referenced historical events without explaining what they were, and that bugged me.
May 28, 2014
A solid history of one of North Carolinas influential sons. Whether his race baiting in the late 1800's or his work withWilson in World War I he was a powerful figure in North Carolina as the owner and editor of the Raleigh News and Observer
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews