Paul Morton
36th United States Secretary of the Navy
In office July 1, 1904 – June 30, 1905
President	Theodore Roosevelt
Preceded by	William Moody
Succeeded by	Charles Bonaparte
Personal details
Born	(1857-05-22)May 22, 1857 Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Died	January 19, 1911(1911-01-19) (aged 53) New York City, New York, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Children	Pauline Sabin
Parent	Julius Sterling Morton (father)
Signature

Paul Morton (May 22, 1857 – January 19, 1911) was a U.S. businessman, and served as the 36th Secretary of the Navy under Theodore Roosevelt.

He served as the U.S. Secretary of the Navy between 1904 and 1905. Previous to this, he had been vice president of the Santa Fe Railroad. When it came to light that the Santa Fe had given illegal rebates under Morton, he was forced out of the cabinet to avoid scandal, though Roosevelt maintained that Morton himself was unaware of the improprieties.^[1] After leaving government service, Morton was President of Equitable Life Assurance Society.^[2]

Born in Detroit, Michigan, and growing up in Nebraska City, Nebraska, he was the younger brother of Joy Morton, founder of Morton Salt, and the son of J. Sterling Morton, former Acting Governor of Nebraska, founder of Arbor Day, and Secretary of Agriculture under President Grover Cleveland.^[3] Though his father was a "Bourbon" (i.e. conservative) Democrat, Paul Morton was a Progressive Republican. This shift of party by father/son cabinet secretaries is paralleled by that of Henry Cantwell Wallace, who served as a Progressive Republican Secretary of Agriculture under Harding and Coolidge, and his son Henry A. Wallace who served in the same office as a Democrat under Franklin D. Roosevelt.

George Burroughs Torrey painted a portrait of him.

Morton's daughter, Pauline Morton Sabin, became an influential figure in the Republican party, and played an important role in the Repeal of Prohibition in the United States.

Paul Morton died in New York City on January 19, 1911.^[4]

• Dictionary of American Biography, Under the Auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies, C. Scribner's Sons, New York City, 1928.

• Media related to Paul Morton at Wikimedia Commons
• Paul Morton at Find a Grave

v t e United States Secretaries of the Navy
Secretaries	Cabinet-level Stoddert Smith Hamilton Jones Crowninshield S Thompson Southard Branch L. Woodbury Dickerson Paulding Badger Upshur Henshaw Gilmer Mason Bancroft Mason Preston Graham Kennedy Dobbin Toucey Welles Borie Robeson R Thompson Goff Hunt Chandler Whitney Tracy Herbert Long Moody Morton Bonaparte Metcalf Newberry Meyer Daniels Denby Wilbur Adams Swanson Edison Knox Forrestal Dept. of Defense Sullivan Matthews Kimball Anderson Thomas T. Gates Franke Connally Korth Nitze Ignatius Chafee Warner Middendorf Claytor Hidalgo Lehman Webb Ball Garrett O'Keefe Dalton Danzig England Winter Mabus Spencer Braithwaite Del Toro
Under Secretaries	Forrestal Bard A. Gates Sullivan Kenney Kimball Whitehair Thomas T. Gates Franke Bantz Fay BeLieu Baldwin Baird Warner Sanders Middendorf Potter Macdonald Woolsey Murray Goodrich Garrett Howard Danzig Hultin Pirie Livingstone Aviles Work Davidson Modly Raven
Assistant Secretaries	Pre–1954 Fox Faxon Soley McAdoo T. Roosevelt Sr. Allen Hackett Darling Newberry Satterlee Winthrop F. Roosevelt G. Woodbury T. Roosevelt Jr. Robinson Jahncke H. Roosevelt Edison Compton Bard Hensel Kenney Andrews Koehler Askins Fogler Post–1954 Financial Management and Comptroller Energy, Installations and Environment Manpower and Reserve Affairs Research, Development and Acquisitions General Counsel of the Navy defunct: Air Installations and Logistics Material Research and Development Research, Engineering and Systems Shipbuilding and Logistics

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)

Authority control databases
International	VIAF FAST WorldCat
National	United States
Other	NARA SNAC