By U.S. Department of the Interior Museum
Presented by the U.S. Department of the Interior Museum
Secretarial Portraits
Since the U.S. Department of the Interior's founding in 1849, more than 50 men and women have served as secretary of the Interior. They have been lawyers, administrators or politicians. Others still have come from academia, corporate America and even the field of medicine. For most, Interior represented one of many stops in a career of public service; for a few, it was the only public office ever held. Out of somewhat eclectic origins as a "bucket of executive fragments" coalesced a U.S. Department of the Interior responsible for a portfolio of the nation's most pressing concerns and most precious resources. As the country expanded, so too did the role of the Department, and yet many of the issues secretaries faced in the 19th century still resonate with their contemporaries in the 21st. The average tenure of a secretary of the Interior is approximately three and a half years. Whether serving as few as 12 days or for more than 12 years, each secretary has left a mark on the office. While it is difficult to generalize about such a diverse group over the span of three separate centuries, they have all resided at the intersection of presidential agendas, congressional acts, current events and public opinion. In balancing development with stewardship they commit to deal directly in the arenas about which Americans care so passionately. The tradition of secretarial portraiture is as old as the federal agencies themselves. Typically the portraits are commissioned near the end of a term and are painted from life. The artists who have rendered them are often among the most renowned portraitists of their eras. These portraits are held in trust for the American people as part of the collection of the U.S. Department of the Interior Museum. To trace the history of the Department through these portraits is to gain unique insight into American history.
Thomas Ewing Sr. (1861) by John Mix StanleyU.S. Department of the Interior Museum
Thomas Ewing Sr. (1789–1871)
Served under Presidents Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore, 1849–1850
Portrait by John Mix Stanley (1814–1872), 1861
U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, INTR 01605
Ewing was a leading lawyer of the era. His initial foray into politics included a term as U.S. senator from Ohio and six months as secretary of the Treasury under Presidents Harrison and Tyler. President Taylor tapped Ewing as the first secretary of the Interior when the Department was established in 1849, inheriting disparate functions cast off from other Departments. Ewing was a proponent of westward expansion and a transcontinental railroad but was immediately responsible for the Land, Patent, and Pension Offices; Indian Affairs; and public buildings. Ewing earned the moniker “Butcher Ewing” for replacing employees on a partisan basis. At its inception, the Department occupied rented space at 15th and F Streets, N.W.
This is one of two secretarial portraits painted by John Mix Stanley, an artist-explorer widely respected for his landscapes of the American West and portraits of American Indians. A fire in 1865 destroyed most of Stanley's work, so his surviving pieces are relatively scarce.
Thomas M. T. McKennan (1935/1936) by Henry Salem HubbellU.S. Department of the Interior Museum
Thomas M. T. McKennan (1794–1852)
Served under President Millard Fillmore, 1850
Portrait by Henry Salem Hubbell (1870–1949), 1935–1936
U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, INTR 01606
McKennan had been Pennsylvania's deputy attorney general and also served in the U.S. House of Representatives. After much external pressure, McKennan accepted the secretary of the Interior appointment but immediately regretted his decision. Resigning after just 12 days in the position, McKennan holds the distinction of serving the shortest term as secretary. By virtue of his brief tenure, however, McKennan was fleetingly the head of the 1850 Census and had officially expressed concern about privacy protection in terms of the data collected. McKennan went on to become president of the Hempfield Railroad.
Artist Henry Salem Hubbell (1870-1949) ultimately painted portraits of 17 secretaries of the Interior. Thirty-second secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes considered the artist a family friend and owned some of his works, so it was not surprising that Ickes turned to him to paint his official secretarial portrait in 1934. When Ickes learned that several past secretarial portraits had been rendered simply as crayon drawings incongruous with the other existing paintings, he again enlisted Hubbell. The artist took the additional commissions very seriously. Since many secretaries were long since deceased, Hubbell conducted exhaustive research to ensure faithful likenesses, including corresponding with secretaries' descendants to verify eye color and hair style, and—where available—consulting photographs and other known works.
Alexander H. H. Stuart (1935/1936) by Henry Salem HubbellU.S. Department of the Interior Museum
Alexander H. H. Stuart (1807–1891)
Served under President Millard Fillmore, 1850–1853
Portrait by Henry Salem Hubbell (1870–1949), 1935–1936
U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, INTR 01607
Serving two and a half years as secretary of the Interior, Virginia lawyer Stuart lent stability to the leadership of the young Department satirically known as the "Great Miscellany." Stuart focused on organizational improvements, setting policies and defining roles and responsibilities within a newly introduced civil service system. The result was a more efficient Department of the Interior that had a more favorable reputation and a better relationship with Congress.
Robert McClelland (1935/1936) by Henry Salem HubbellU.S. Department of the Interior Museum
Robert McClelland (1807–1880)
Served under President Franklin Pierce, 1853–1857
Portrait by Henry Salem Hubbell (1870–1949), 1935–1936
U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, INTR 01608
McClelland served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and two terms as governor of Michigan prior to being appointed secretary of the Interior by President Pierce. Realizing that the Department’s management of public lands, the pension system, and Indian Affairs was susceptible to corruption, McClelland committed to enacting administrative reforms that curried him little favor among land speculators. Upon leaving Washington, D.C., at the conclusion of Pierce's term, McClelland returned to Detroit to practice law.
Jacob Thompson (1936) by Henry Salem HubbellU.S. Department of the Interior Museum
Jacob Thompson (1810–1885)
Served under President James Buchanan, 1857–1861
Portrait by Henry Salem Hubbell (1870–1949), 1936
U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, INTR 01609
Thompson served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and chaired the Committee on Indian Affairs. During his years as Interior secretary, the Department accrued additional responsibilities, including the Boundary Surveys of Texas and California; the Copyright Office; and jurisdiction over both the Potomac Water Works and what is now Gallaudet University. With the secession of his home state of Mississippi and the outbreak of the Civil War, Thompson resigned his post at Interior. He went on to become inspector general of the Confederate States Army and orchestrated several anti-Union plots. Thompson was even suspected—but never convicted—of a role in President Lincoln's assassination, forcing him into exile in Europe and Canada. He returned to Mississippi in 1868 and ultimately resided in Tennessee.
Caleb Blood Smith (1861) by John Mix StanleyU.S. Department of the Interior Museum
Caleb Blood Smith (1808–1864)
Served under President Abraham Lincoln, 1861–1862
Portrait by John Mix Stanley (1814–1872), 1861
U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, INTR 01610
Smith practiced law and served in the Indiana House of Representatives. His strong support of Abraham Lincoln's presidential campaign led to his appointment as secretary of the Interior. Smith was in ill health, however, so his tenure was unremarkable save for the historic 1862 signing of the Homestead Act—the administration of which fell to the Department's General Land Office. Smith left Interior later that same year to fill a seat on the U.S. District Court in Indiana but died shortly after.
John Palmer Usher (1935/1936) by Henry Salem HubbellU.S. Department of the Interior Museum
John Palmer Usher (1816–1889)
Served under Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, 1863–1865
Portrait by Henry Salem Hubbell (1870–1949), 1935–1936
U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, INTR 01611
Usher was an able attorney who had briefly been Indiana's attorney general. He came to the nation's capital to serve at the Department of the Interior as assistant secretary for a fellow Indianan, Secretary Smith. As Smith's health and inclination for the office declined, Usher was effectively the acting secretary, and President Lincoln nominated him as the logical successor after Smith's resignation. Usher had little political influence or stature, however, and made limited contributions. While he took a slightly more humanitarian approach to Indian affairs than many of his contemporaries, his interests increasingly favored the Pacific Railroad project. After leaving the Department, he became the solicitor for the Kansas Pacific Railroad and served a term as the mayor of Lawrence, Kansas.
James Harlan (1935/1936) by Henry Salem HubbellU.S. Department of the Interior Museum
James Harlan (1820–1899)
Served under President Andrew Johnson, 1865–1866
Portrait by Henry Salem Hubbell (1870–1949), 1935–1936
U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, INTR 01612
Harlan was a lay Methodist minister and president of what is now known as Iowa Wesleyan College. As a U.S. senator from that state, he was responsible for the passage of the original Homestead Act of 1862. Although President Lincoln had Harlan confirmed as Secretary Usher’s successor at the Department of the Interior in 1865, he had not taken office at the time of Lincoln's assassination and therefore had to be renominated by President Johnson. As secretary, Harlan replaced three bureau chiefs and somewhat controversially dismissed scores of pensioners—most notably Walt Whitman. Harlan resigned in 1866, when he felt he could no longer support President Johnson's policies but was almost immediately re-elected to his U.S. Senate seat, where he chaired the committees on Public Lands, the District of Columbia, Education and Indian Affairs.
Orville Hickman Browning (1935/1936) by Henry Salem HubbellU.S. Department of the Interior Museum
Orville Hickman Browning (1806–1881)
Served under President Andrew Johnson, 1866–1869
Portrait by Henry Salem Hubbell (1870–1949), 1935–1936
U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, INTR 01613
During his time as an Illinois lawyer and state senator, Browning developed a close relationship with Abraham Lincoln. In 1861 Browning came to Washington, D.C., to fill Stephen Douglas' seat in the U.S. Senate and for a couple of years partnered with former Interior Secretary Thomas Ewing in a private law and lobbying firm. As President Johnson's secretary of the Interior, Browning favored a peaceful approach toward Indian affairs, believing that focusing funding and efforts on diplomacy could alleviate the need for troops in the West. The Office of Education was also added to the Department's portfolio during Browning's tenure. Browning remained loyal to President Johnson during the impeachment trial but returned to Illinois in 1869 to practice law.
Jacob Dolson Cox (1935/1936) by Henry Salem HubbellU.S. Department of the Interior Museum
Jacob Dolson Cox (1828–1900)
Served under President Ulysses S. Grant, 1869–1870
Portrait by Henry Salem Hubbell (1870–1949), 1935–1936
U.S. Department of the Interior Museum, INTR 01614
Cox was a major general in the Union Army under General Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War. He had already practiced law and been a school superintendent and state senator, but Cox's military distinctions advanced his political career, and he was elected for a single term as governor of Ohio in 1865. Cox was teaching law in Cincinnati when now President Grant tapped him to serve as his secretary of the Interior. Since Cox had been born in Canada, he was the Department's first foreign-born secretary. Cox was an ardent supporter of civil service reform and introduced a merit system. A Board of Indian Commissioners was established, and Cox personally believed in honoring tribal treaties. Grant and Cox were increasingly at odds on policy, however, and Cox ultimately resigned when it became clear that Grant's support for him had waned. Cox went on to serve a term in Congress and then became involved in academia and wrote several books on the Civil War.