USS Branch (DD-197)

John Branch, born in Halifax, N.C., on 4 November 1782, graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1801. and, after studying law, entered politics in 1811. Although he then studied law, he never pursued that profession but entered politics instead. In 1811, the voters of Halifax County elected him to the North Carolina Senate where he won respect for integrity and ability. But for the period from 1817 to 1820 when he was the governor of North Carolina, Branch served in the state senate until sent to Washington in 1824 as a United States senator.

In 1829, President Andrew Jackson selected Branch to be his Secretary of the Navy. Although, on 8 December 1829, Jackson had characterized the Navy as "the best standing security of this country against foreign aggression" with a claim to "the especial attention of the government," the service did not benefit much during Branch's service as secretary, mostly as a result of the brevity of his tenure (just over two years). Nevertheless, Branch addressed a number of important issues, notably a complete overhaul for Navy regulations, the need for a naval academy, the call for an increase in officers' pay, the potential advantages to naval administration offered by the proposed bureau system, and the necessity of constructing steam-powered warships.

Ironically, while Branch carried out the duties of his cabinet post with "integrity and zeal" he lost that position because of social, not political, forces. The furor within Jackson's cabinet concerning the wife of Secretary of War John Eaton caused the entire cabinet to resign. Succeeded by Levi Woodbury as Secretary of the Navy on 12 May 1831, Branch returned to his home at Enfield, N.C., and to the life of a gentleman planter.

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From the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command (Branch (Destroyer No. 197)). A work of the United States Government, in the public domain.