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Lewis Nixon (naval architect)
Encyclopedia
Lewis Nixon I was a naval architect
, shipbuilding executive, public servant, and political activist. He designed the United States' first modern battleship
s, and supervised the construction of its first modern submarine
s, all before his 40th birthday. He was briefly the leader of Tammany Hall
. He started an ill-fated effort to run seven major American shipyards under common ownership as the United States Shipbuilding Company
, and he was the chair of the New York City
commission building the Williamsburg Bridge
.
, in Leesburg, Virginia
, to Colonel Joel Lewis Nixon and Mary Jane Turner. Leesburg, only three miles into the Confederacy
, changed hands several times over the course of the War. His brother George H. Nixon fought in the Virginia Cavalry as a member of "Mosby's Raiders
."
Nixon graduated first in his class from the United States Naval Academy
in 1882 and was sent to study naval architecture at the Royal Naval College
, where, in 1885, he again graduated first in the class. At the Royal Naval College he was appointed an assistant naval constructor with the rank of lieutenant.
shipyard in Chester, Pennsylvania
, which the United States Navy
had commandeered in order to finish three protected cruisers of the new steel navy: , , and . In 1890, with help from assistant naval constructor David W. Taylor
, he designed the three s - , and . While in Pennsylvania, he earned a Doctor of Science
degree from Villanova University
.
,_antonio_jacobsen.jpg)
Soon after the contracts for the battleships were awarded, he resigned from the Navy to work as Superintendent of Construction for William Cramp and Sons Shipbuilding Company
, the shipyard that won the lead contract.
Nixon married Sally Lewis Wood of Washington, D.C. in 1891. She died June 15, 1937. Mrs. Nixon was a descendant of General Andrew Lewis
of Colonial Virginia. Their son was Stanhope Wood Nixon
. Adolfo Müller-Ury
also painted him full-length in Scottish costume in 1902-1903.
Nixon started his own business in January 1895 by leasing the Crescent Shipyard
in Elizabeth, New Jersey
. He started this business with another former William Cramp and Sons shipbuilder and naval architect, Arthur Leopold Busch
, who came from Great Britain to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
in 1892, and was Nixon's superintendent-in-charge at Crescent during this time. Under Nixon (and Busch) this yard built many vessels, including torpedo boats
and ], cruiser , monitor
and gunboat
.
Beginning in December 1896, the Crescent Shipyard, under Nixon's oversight, built the United States' first submarine
s. The was one of the creations of that shipyard and is a very significant achievement in naval technology. The submarine's success led to an order for more submarines of the "Holland Type" by the Navy. Those subs, known as the s, were built at the Crescent Shipyard and the Union Iron Works
, a shipbuilding firm located near Mare Island Naval Shipyard
, 20 miles north of San Francisco. These submarines became America's first fleet of underwater fighting vessels, and were operated by the United States Navy on both coasts.
These submarines also gave birth to a new company, founded by John Philip Holland
on February 7, 1899. His company was then known as the Holland Torpedo Boat Company and (after 1904) the Electric Boat Company.
Nixon was also the founder of the International Smokeless Powder and Dynamite Company of Parlin, New Jersey
, and the Standard Motor Construction Company of Jersey City, New Jersey
. E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company acquired the smokeless powder company from Nixon in 1904, forming part of what would soon be deemed DuPont's unlawful monopoly of the gunpowder industry.
Nixon was the president of the United States Long Distance Automobile Company. From 1901 to 1903, its Jersey City, New Jersey
factory manufactured gasoline-powered cars "to meet the requirements of those who seek simplicity of construction, economy in running and unusual strength and durability." In January 1904, the company became Standard Motor Construction Company, which manufactured a larger car called a "Standard" through 1905. The auto lines were then sold to Hewitt Motor Co. of New York City. Nixon continued to serve as Standard Motor Construction's president into the next decade, when it was a major manufacturer of marine engines.
In 1902, promoter John W. Young persuaded Nixon to preside over the consolidation of Crescent Shipyard with six other shipyards on the East and West Coasts, to form a single shipbuilding trust, under the name United States Shipbuilding Company. Unfortunately, however, "the one thing [the consolidated firms] lacked, individually and collectively, was a realistic prospect of earning sustained profits." As the newly formed company's president, Nixon had personally convinced Charles M. Schwab
, U.S. Steel Corporation president and Bethlehem Steel
owner, to help underwrite the new business, while Schwab agreed to add Bethlehem Steel to the venture. However, the terms that Nixon and Schwab had negotiated for Schwab's financing were so one-sided in favor of Schwab and Bethlehem Steel that, when United States Shipbuilding failed almost immediately, it damaged the business reputations of both Nixon and Schwab. Within a year of its incorporation, the company's mortgageholders forced it into receivership. It emerged from receivership, without Nixon, as Bethelem Steel and Shipbuilding Company
, in 1904. One of its first actions was to close Crescent Shipyard. By then, Nixon had re-entered the shipbuilding business by leasing a yard in Perth Amboy, New Jersey
.
From late 1904 to January 1906, Nixon was in Russia
supervising the construction of ten torpedo boats for the navy of Czar Nicholas II.
Nixon's shipbuilding expertise was called on in the aftermath of the sinking of the .
In 1910 the Swiss-born American artist Adolfo Müller-Ury
(1862-1947) completed a three-quarter length seated portrait of Nixon that was exhibited at Knoedler's that December.
From 1915 until his death, Nixon was president of the Nixon Nitration Works, in what is now Edison, New Jersey
. A 1924 explosion and resulting fire
destroyed much of the Works, which was then rebuilt and resumed operations.
He died on September 23, 1940 at Monmouth Memorial Hospital in Long Branch, New Jersey
.
. In January 1898 New York City Mayor Robert Anderson Van Wyck
sacked the entire membership of the Commission, complaining of its slow and expensive pace. He appointed Lewis as the Commission's new president. Nixon continued to serve as the Commission's president during the bridge's construction until the Commission's powers were transferred to the Commissioner of Bridges on January 1, 1902.
Nixon was also active in Democratic Party
politics. In December 1901, longtime Tammany Hall
boss Richard Croker
chose Nixon as his successor. Croker's choice of Nixon surprised observers, because Nixon had spoken out against vice and corruption in City government, and seemingly had nothing in common with Croker. Nixon resigned several months later, explaining that "I find that I cannot retain my self-respect and remain the leader of the Tammany organization."
He was a delegate
to the Democratic National Convention
seven times. A friend and supporter of three-time Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan
, Nixon played a key role in the 1908 Democratic National Convention
, where he chaired the subcommittee on the platform, overcame Tammany's initial hostility to Bryan to deliver New York's delegation for him, and was urged as Bryan's running-mate.
A resident of Staten Island
, Nixon served from 1914 to 1915 as the borough's Acting Commissioner of Public Works and its consulting engineer.
In 1919, New York Governor Al Smith
appointed Nixon as the State's Superintendent of Public Works, and then as New York City's Regulatory Public Service Commissioner.
during WWII
, who was made famous by the miniseries Band of Brothers.
Naval architecture
Naval architecture is an engineering discipline dealing with the design, construction, maintenance and operation of marine vessels and structures. Naval architecture involves basic and applied research, design, development, design evaluation and calculations during all stages of the life of a...
, shipbuilding executive, public servant, and political activist. He designed the United States' first modern battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
s, and supervised the construction of its first modern submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s, all before his 40th birthday. He was briefly the leader of Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society...
. He started an ill-fated effort to run seven major American shipyards under common ownership as the United States Shipbuilding Company
United States Shipbuilding Company
The United States Shipbuilding Company was a short-lived trust made up of seven shipbuilding companies, a property owner and steel company. Its stocks and bonds were unattractive to investors, and several of its member shipyards were overvalued, conditions which brought down the company less than...
, and he was the chair of the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
commission building the Williamsburg Bridge
Williamsburg Bridge
The Williamsburg Bridge is a suspension bridge in New York City across the East River connecting the Lower East Side of Manhattan at Delancey Street with the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn at Broadway near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway...
.
Birth and naval education
Nixon was born on the eve of the American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, in Leesburg, Virginia
Leesburg, Virginia
Leesburg is a historic town in, and county seat of, Loudoun County, Virginia, United States of America. Leesburg is located west-northwest of Washington, D.C. along the base of the Catoctin Mountain and adjacent to the Potomac River. Its population according the 2010 Census is 42,616...
, to Colonel Joel Lewis Nixon and Mary Jane Turner. Leesburg, only three miles into the Confederacy
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
, changed hands several times over the course of the War. His brother George H. Nixon fought in the Virginia Cavalry as a member of "Mosby's Raiders
43rd Battalion Virginia Cavalry
The 43rd Battalion, Virginia Cavalry, also known as Mosby's Rangers, Mosby's Raiders or Mosby's Men, was a battalion of partisan cavalry in the Confederate army during the American Civil War...
."
Nixon graduated first in his class from the United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
in 1882 and was sent to study naval architecture at the Royal Naval College
Old Royal Naval College
The Old Royal Naval College is the architectural centrepiece of Maritime Greenwich, a World Heritage Site in Greenwich, London, described by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation as being of “outstanding universal value” and reckoned to be the “finest and most...
, where, in 1885, he again graduated first in the class. At the Royal Naval College he was appointed an assistant naval constructor with the rank of lieutenant.
Shipbuilding and other businesses
On Nixon's return to the United States, he was assigned to the John Roach & SonsJohn Roach & Sons
John Roach & Sons was a major 19th-century American shipbuilding and manufacturing firm founded in 1864 by Irish-American immigrant John Roach. Between 1871 and 1885, the company was the largest shipbuilding firm in the United States, building more iron ships than its next two major competitors...
shipyard in Chester, Pennsylvania
Chester, Pennsylvania
Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 33,972 at the 2010 census. Chester is situated on the Delaware River, between the cities of Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.- History :...
, which the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
had commandeered in order to finish three protected cruisers of the new steel navy: , , and . In 1890, with help from assistant naval constructor David W. Taylor
David W. Taylor
Rear Admiral David Watson Taylor, USN was a naval architect and engineer of the United States Navy. He served during World War I as Chief Constructor of the Navy, and Chief of the Bureau of Construction and Repair...
, he designed the three s - , and . While in Pennsylvania, he earned a Doctor of Science
Doctor of Science
Doctor of Science , usually abbreviated Sc.D., D.Sc., S.D. or Dr.Sc., is an academic research degree awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. In some countries Doctor of Science is the name used for the standard doctorate in the sciences, elsewhere the Sc.D...
degree from Villanova University
Villanova University
Villanova University is a private university located in Radnor Township, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States...
.
William Cramp and Sons
thumb | upright | 1899 advertisement for William Cramp & Sons William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company of Philadelphia was founded in 1825 by William Cramp, and was the preeminent U.S. iron shipbuilder in the 19th century. The American Ship & Commerce Corporation bought the yard in 1919 but closed...
, the shipyard that won the lead contract.
Nixon married Sally Lewis Wood of Washington, D.C. in 1891. She died June 15, 1937. Mrs. Nixon was a descendant of General Andrew Lewis
Andrew Lewis (soldier)
Andrew Lewis was an American pioneer, surveyor, and soldier from Virginia. He served as a colonel of militia during the French and Indian War, and as a brigadier general in the American Revolutionary War...
of Colonial Virginia. Their son was Stanhope Wood Nixon
Stanhope Wood Nixon
Stanhope Wood Nixon was a vice president of the Nixon Nitration Works during the 1924 Nixon Nitration Works disaster. He later became chairman of the board.-Biography:...
. Adolfo Müller-Ury
Adolfo Müller-Ury
Adolfo Muller-Ury was a Swiss-born American portrait painter and impressionistic painter of roses and still life.-Heritage and early life in Switzerland:...
also painted him full-length in Scottish costume in 1902-1903.
Nixon started his own business in January 1895 by leasing the Crescent Shipyard
Crescent Shipyard
Crescent Shipyard, located in Elizabeth, New Jersey, built a number of ships for the United States Navy and allied nations as well during their production run, which lasted about ten years while under the Crescent name and banner. Production of these ships began before the Spanish-American war and...
in Elizabeth, New Jersey
Elizabeth, New Jersey
Elizabeth is a city in Union County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 124,969, retaining its ranking as New Jersey's fourth largest city with an increase of 4,401 residents from its 2000 Census population of 120,568...
. He started this business with another former William Cramp and Sons shipbuilder and naval architect, Arthur Leopold Busch
Arthur Leopold Busch
Arthur Leopold Busch or Du Busc was a British-born American naval architect responsible for the development of the United States Navy's first submarines.-Career:...
, who came from Great Britain to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
in 1892, and was Nixon's superintendent-in-charge at Crescent during this time. Under Nixon (and Busch) this yard built many vessels, including torpedo boats
Torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval vessel designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs rammed enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes, and later designs launched self-propelled Whitehead torpedoes. They were created to counter battleships and other large, slow and...
and ], cruiser , monitor
Monitor (warship)
A monitor was a class of relatively small warship which was neither fast nor strongly armoured but carried disproportionately large guns. They were used by some navies from the 1860s until the end of World War II, and saw their final use by the United States Navy during the Vietnam War.The monitors...
and gunboat
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
.
Beginning in December 1896, the Crescent Shipyard, under Nixon's oversight, built the United States' first submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s. The was one of the creations of that shipyard and is a very significant achievement in naval technology. The submarine's success led to an order for more submarines of the "Holland Type" by the Navy. Those subs, known as the s, were built at the Crescent Shipyard and the Union Iron Works
Union Iron Works
Union Iron Works, located in San Francisco, California, on the southeast waterfront, was a central business within the large industrial zone of Potrero Point, for four decades at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries.-History:...
, a shipbuilding firm located near Mare Island Naval Shipyard
Mare Island Naval Shipyard
The Mare Island Naval Shipyard was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located 25 miles northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates the peninsula shipyard from the main portion of the...
, 20 miles north of San Francisco. These submarines became America's first fleet of underwater fighting vessels, and were operated by the United States Navy on both coasts.
These submarines also gave birth to a new company, founded by John Philip Holland
John Philip Holland
John Philip Holland was an Irish engineer who developed the first submarine to be formally commissioned by the U.S...
on February 7, 1899. His company was then known as the Holland Torpedo Boat Company and (after 1904) the Electric Boat Company.
Nixon was also the founder of the International Smokeless Powder and Dynamite Company of Parlin, New Jersey
Parlin, New Jersey
Parlin is an unincorporated area in Old Bridge Township and Sayreville in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. The area is served as United States Postal Service ZIP Code 08859....
, and the Standard Motor Construction Company of Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.Part of the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City lies between the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay across from Lower Manhattan and the Hackensack River and Newark Bay...
. E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company acquired the smokeless powder company from Nixon in 1904, forming part of what would soon be deemed DuPont's unlawful monopoly of the gunpowder industry.
Nixon was the president of the United States Long Distance Automobile Company. From 1901 to 1903, its Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City, New Jersey
Jersey City is the seat of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States.Part of the New York metropolitan area, Jersey City lies between the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay across from Lower Manhattan and the Hackensack River and Newark Bay...
factory manufactured gasoline-powered cars "to meet the requirements of those who seek simplicity of construction, economy in running and unusual strength and durability." In January 1904, the company became Standard Motor Construction Company, which manufactured a larger car called a "Standard" through 1905. The auto lines were then sold to Hewitt Motor Co. of New York City. Nixon continued to serve as Standard Motor Construction's president into the next decade, when it was a major manufacturer of marine engines.
In 1902, promoter John W. Young persuaded Nixon to preside over the consolidation of Crescent Shipyard with six other shipyards on the East and West Coasts, to form a single shipbuilding trust, under the name United States Shipbuilding Company. Unfortunately, however, "the one thing [the consolidated firms] lacked, individually and collectively, was a realistic prospect of earning sustained profits." As the newly formed company's president, Nixon had personally convinced Charles M. Schwab
Charles M. Schwab
Charles Michael Schwab was an American steel magnate. Under his leadership, Bethlehem Steel became the second largest steel maker in the United States, and one of the most important heavy manufacturers in the world....
, U.S. Steel Corporation president and Bethlehem Steel
Bethlehem Steel
The Bethlehem Steel Corporation , based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was once the second-largest steel producer in the United States, after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel. After a decline in the U.S...
owner, to help underwrite the new business, while Schwab agreed to add Bethlehem Steel to the venture. However, the terms that Nixon and Schwab had negotiated for Schwab's financing were so one-sided in favor of Schwab and Bethlehem Steel that, when United States Shipbuilding failed almost immediately, it damaged the business reputations of both Nixon and Schwab. Within a year of its incorporation, the company's mortgageholders forced it into receivership. It emerged from receivership, without Nixon, as Bethelem Steel and Shipbuilding Company
Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation
Bethlehem Steel Corporation Shipbuilding Division was created in 1905 when Bethlehem Steel Corporation acquired the San Francisco shipyard Union Iron Works in 1905...
, in 1904. One of its first actions was to close Crescent Shipyard. By then, Nixon had re-entered the shipbuilding business by leasing a yard in Perth Amboy, New Jersey
Perth Amboy, New Jersey
Perth Amboy is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States. The City of Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 50,814. Perth Amboy is known as the "City by the Bay", referring to Raritan Bay.-Name:The Lenape...
.
From late 1904 to January 1906, Nixon was in Russia
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
supervising the construction of ten torpedo boats for the navy of Czar Nicholas II.
Nixon's shipbuilding expertise was called on in the aftermath of the sinking of the .
In 1910 the Swiss-born American artist Adolfo Müller-Ury
Adolfo Müller-Ury
Adolfo Muller-Ury was a Swiss-born American portrait painter and impressionistic painter of roses and still life.-Heritage and early life in Switzerland:...
(1862-1947) completed a three-quarter length seated portrait of Nixon that was exhibited at Knoedler's that December.
From 1915 until his death, Nixon was president of the Nixon Nitration Works, in what is now Edison, New Jersey
Edison, New Jersey
Edison Township is a township in Middlesex County, New Jersey. What is now Edison Township was originally incorporated as Raritan Township by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1870, from portions of both Piscataway Township and Woodbridge Township...
. A 1924 explosion and resulting fire
1924 Nixon Nitration Works disaster
The 1924 Nixon Nitration Works disaster was an explosion and fire that claimed many lives and destroyed several square miles of New Jersey factories. It began on Saturday morning, March 1, 1924, when an explosion destroyed a building in Nixon, New Jersey used for processing ammonium nitrate. The...
destroyed much of the Works, which was then rebuilt and resumed operations.
He died on September 23, 1940 at Monmouth Memorial Hospital in Long Branch, New Jersey
Long Branch, New Jersey
Long Branch is a city in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 30,719.Long Branch was formed on April 11, 1867, as the Long Branch Commission, from portions of Ocean Township...
.
Public service and political activism
In 1895, the New York Legislature authorized the East River Bridge Commission to undertake a second span across the river, ultimately known as the Williamsburg BridgeWilliamsburg Bridge
The Williamsburg Bridge is a suspension bridge in New York City across the East River connecting the Lower East Side of Manhattan at Delancey Street with the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn at Broadway near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway...
. In January 1898 New York City Mayor Robert Anderson Van Wyck
Robert Anderson Van Wyck
Robert Anderson Van Wyck, was the first mayor of New York City after the consolidation of the five boroughs into the City of New York in 1898.-Biography:...
sacked the entire membership of the Commission, complaining of its slow and expensive pace. He appointed Lewis as the Commission's new president. Nixon continued to serve as the Commission's president during the bridge's construction until the Commission's powers were transferred to the Commissioner of Bridges on January 1, 1902.
Nixon was also active in Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
politics. In December 1901, longtime Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society...
boss Richard Croker
Richard Croker
Richard Croker, Sr. was an American politician, a leader of New York City's Tammany Hall.-Biography:...
chose Nixon as his successor. Croker's choice of Nixon surprised observers, because Nixon had spoken out against vice and corruption in City government, and seemingly had nothing in common with Croker. Nixon resigned several months later, explaining that "I find that I cannot retain my self-respect and remain the leader of the Tammany organization."
He was a delegate
Delegate
A delegate is a person who speaks or acts on behalf of an organization at a meeting or conference between organizations of the same level A delegate is a person who speaks or acts on behalf of an organization (e.g., a government, a charity, an NGO, or a trade union) at a meeting or conference...
to the Democratic National Convention
Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 national convention...
seven times. A friend and supporter of three-time Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
, Nixon played a key role in the 1908 Democratic National Convention
1908 Democratic National Convention
The 1908 Democratic National Convention was the quadrennial Democratic National Convention, the presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party. It took place from July 7 to July 10, 1908 at Denver Auditorium Arena in Denver, Colorado....
, where he chaired the subcommittee on the platform, overcame Tammany's initial hostility to Bryan to deliver New York's delegation for him, and was urged as Bryan's running-mate.
A resident of Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
, Nixon served from 1914 to 1915 as the borough's Acting Commissioner of Public Works and its consulting engineer.
In 1919, New York Governor Al Smith
Al Smith
Alfred Emanuel Smith. , known in private and public life as Al Smith, was an American statesman who was elected the 42nd Governor of New York three times, and was the Democratic U.S. presidential candidate in 1928...
appointed Nixon as the State's Superintendent of Public Works, and then as New York City's Regulatory Public Service Commissioner.
Legacy
Nixon was the grandfather of Lewis Nixon III, an officer in the 101st Airborne Division101st Airborne Division (United States)
The 101st Airborne Division—the "Screaming Eagles"—is a U.S. Army modular light infantry division trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it was renowned for its role in Operation Overlord, the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944, in Normandy, France, Operation Market Garden, the...
during WWII
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, who was made famous by the miniseries Band of Brothers.
External links
- Crescent Shipyard information at globalSecurity.com
- CorpWatch : General Dynamics at www.corpwatch.org History and origins of Electric Boat/General Dynamics. Company foundation begins here at Crescent Shipyard, Elizabeth, New Jersey.
- http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/ss-2.htm More detailed account of first U.S. Navy submarines built at Crescent and Mare Island Naval ShipyardMare Island Naval ShipyardThe Mare Island Naval Shipyard was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean. It is located 25 miles northeast of San Francisco in Vallejo, California. The Napa River goes through the Mare Island Strait and separates the peninsula shipyard from the main portion of the...
/Union Iron WorksUnion Iron WorksUnion Iron Works, located in San Francisco, California, on the southeast waterfront, was a central business within the large industrial zone of Potrero Point, for four decades at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries.-History:...
.