born May 6, 1875, Hampton, Iowa, U.S.
died July 20, 1959, Bethesda, Md.
U.S. naval officer.
After graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy, he served in the Spanish-American War, the Philippine insurrection, and the Boxer Rebellion. He commanded a navy transport during World War I, when he began a friendship with Franklin D. Roosevelt , then assistant secretary of the navy. He served as chief of naval operations (1937–39), as governor of Puerto Rico (1939), and as U.S. ambassador to France (1940). He was Roosevelt's chief of staff during World War II and continued in that post under Harry S. Truman . He was made a fleet admiral in 1944.