J. Donald Cameron

Who was J. Donald Cameron?

James Donald Cameron was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as Secretary of War under President Ulysses S. Grant and in the United States Senate for nearly twenty years. In May, 1876 Cameron was part of a Cabinet realignment by President Grant, having been appointed after a brief tenure by Secretary Alphonso Taft, whom Grant appointed U.S. Attorney General. Former Secretary William W. Belknap had resigned from office, was impeached by the House for taking profit money from the Fort Sill tradership, put on trial in the Senate and acquitted. Secretary Cameron was one of two father-son combinations that served as Secretary of War. Secretary Simon Cameron was Cameron's father who served under President Abraham Lincoln. The other father-son combination was Secretary Alphonso Taft and his son Secretary William Howard Taft. During Cameron's tenure the U.S. Military was challenged by the Great Sioux War and by the threat of a second Southern secession after the controversial election of President Rutherford B. Hayes that ended Reconstruction. Cameron proved to be an energetic administrator and his appointment as Secretary of War launched his lengthy political career in the Senate.