Louis A. Johnson
Louis Arthur Johnson (January 10, 1891 – April 24, 1966) was an American politician and attorney who served as the second United States Secretary of Defense from 1949 to 1950.[1] He was the Assistant Secretary of War from 1937 to 1940 and the 15th national commander of the American Legion from 1932 to 1933.
Louis Johnson
Henry Stevens
April 24, 1966 (aged 75)
Washington, D.C., United States
2
- 305th Ammunition Train, 80th Division
- 397th Infantry, 95th Division
Early life[edit]
Johnson was born on January 10, 1891, in Roanoke, Virginia,[1] to Marcellus and Catherine (née Arthur) Johnson. He earned a law degree from the University of Virginia. After graduation, he practiced law in Clarksburg, West Virginia; his firm, Steptoe & Johnson eventually opened offices in Charleston, West Virginia, and Washington, DC Elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates in 1916, he served as majority floor leader and chairman of the Judiciary Committee. During World War I, Johnson saw action as an Army captain in France, where he compiled a long report to the War Department on Army management and materiel requisition practices. After the war, he resumed his law practice, was active in veterans' affairs, and served as National Commander of the American Legion.
Assistant Secretary of War, 1937–40[edit]
As Assistant Secretary of War from 1937 to 1940, Johnson advocated universal military education and training, rearmament, and expansion of military aviation. He feuded with the isolationist Secretary of War Harry Hines Woodring over military aid to Britain. In mid-1940, after Woodring had resigned and the fall of France had revealed the precarious state of the nation's defenses, Franklin D. Roosevelt bypassed Johnson for the position of Secretary of War but instead choosing Henry Stimson.[2][3]
Having aspired to the position of Secretary, which he felt he had earned, Johnson felt betrayed by Roosevelt.[4] During the war, Johnson had no major responsibilities within the government involving military matters, but he agreed to participate in the Roosevelt administration's war mobilization of US industry. Later, he served as Alien Property custodian for the American operations of the German chemical giant I. G. Farben. In 1942, Johnson briefly served as the president's personal representative in India, until an intestinal illness[5] caused him to resign his post and return to the United States.
Later years[edit]
His political career at an end, Johnson returned to his law practice, which he pursued until his death from a stroke in 1966 in Washington, DC, at the age of 75. He is buried at the Elkview Masonic Cemetery in Clarksburg, West Virginia. He was survived by his wife, Ruth Frances Maxwell Johnson and daughters Lillian and Katherine.
In his last speech as Secretary of Defense, the day before he left office, Johnson made a reference to William Shakespeare's Macbeth: "When the hurly burly's done and the battle is won, I trust the historian will find my record of performance creditable, my services honest and faithful commensurate with the trust that was placed in me and in the best interests of peace and our national defense."[36]
On December 7, 1950, The Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center was dedicated in honor of Johnson. The medical center rests on a 16-acre site adjacent to the Veterans Memorial Park and the West Virginia State Nursing Home in the city of Clarksburg, West Virginia. This medical center has been an active teaching facility since 1960 by participating in residency and academic affiliations with West Virginia University, Fairmont State University, Alderson-Broaddus College, and other nearby institutions of higher education.[37]