Talk:Josephus Daniels

Untitled
Ahm, alcohol was banned on navy ships startning midnight September 1, 1862. Or at least I have heard same from multiple reputable sources. Cheers. 130.64.154.225 06:20, 5 November 2005 (UTC)


 * He didn't ban alcohol, he banned wine from the wardroom. Jean Smith's FDR biography actually has the primary references.  I'll be adding them shortly.  Old64mb 19:40, 28 May 2007 (UTC)

A progressor of change.
Richard McKenna was a Chief Petty Officer in the US Navy, depression rhrough the end of WWII. He later wrote "The Sand Pebbles", basis for movie of same title. "The Left handed Monkey Wrench" is a collection of his short stories and essays. one short story agree with Josephus Daniels being Secretary of Navy when alcohol abolished aboard ships. It also states his policies had some good changes, and some negative ones. Make me think of Chief Of Naval Operations Elmos Zumawalt in early 1970's. Wfoj2 23:05, 21 May 2007 (UTC)

I first heard of Josephus Daniels because of McKenna's book "The Left Handed Monkey Wrench". Would there be any objections to placing a reference to this book in the list of further readings?Ramon4 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 01:28, 21 November 2018 (UTC)

Neutrality issue
It seems to me that the opening section of this article needs to be reworked to reflect less bias and to more accurately assess historical importance. Although it may very well be true that Josephus Daniels was a white supremacist, I doubt most people would say that he is historically important primarily for that reason, rather than because he was Secretary of the Navy during World War I. As the article is worded now, it sounds like his being Secretary of the Navy was little more than a footnote in his life, and far less important than his racial views. Jrt989 (talk) 02:18, 3 March 2009 (UTC)


 * Looks like this issue has been addressed, so I will be removing the neutrality tag. Jrt989 (talk) 04:17, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

The most important thing Daniels did in his life was to help instigate the 1898 Wilmington insurrection. This was the turning point which created the Solid South and put an end to black voting rights there. The last black Congressman from the South, George Henry White, left office in 1901 (in part as a result of this insurrection), and the next black southern Congressman wasn't elected until 1973. This far overshadows anything Daniels did or didn't do as Ambassador to Mexico or as Secretary of the Navy -- few know or care about any of that, and why should they? See the Wilmington Race Riot Commission's 2006 report (http://www.history.ncdcr.gov/1898-wrrc/report/report.htm; http://www.global25.com/1898-Wilmington-Race-Riot-Report.html). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.179.170.19 (talk) 11:18, 2 March 2011 (UTC)

Clearly, the writer above is biased against Josephus Daniels and cannot claim to make neutral entries. The information about the race riots should be included, but we should not define the man as a "white supremacist." B1db2 (talk) 20:28, 21 April 2011 (UTC)
 * If the sources describe him as a 'white supremacist' (and they do), we should do the same. It seems difficult to argue otherwise; see the editorial cartoons his News & Observer was printing at the time, for example: Robofish (talk) 14:18, 5 September 2012 (UTC)
 * The objection is to defining him primarily as a white supremacist. His primary historical importance was that of Secretary of the Navy and founder of a prominent newspaper. My first edit was to address the neutrality issue noted above, He clearly was for much of his life a white supremacist and it should be included prominently as it is.  B1db2 (talk) 21:05, 27 December 2015 (UTC)

Worst Secretary of the Navy
I'm not going to waste my time trying to add and re-add information about how Daniels was so inept and incompetent that Wilson might as well have appointed Tirpitz, but it should be noted and it is far from being merely a point of view. Though it is my point of view that Daniels should hold a similar place in American history as a sort of more pathetic Benedict Arnold. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.18.227.100 (talk) 18:25, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

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It seems like this article has been rewritten to paint everything as Josephus Daniels as negative.
Just read this for the first time in 2023, with the intention of learning more about Daniels' stint as Navy Secretary. After reading, I almost expected Woodrow Wilson to be attacked for appointing him. Were there no redeeming qualities of the man whatsoever? What did Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt see in him? About all I learned was that he ruthlessly and relentlessly attacked blacks, sex workers, Catholics and ...alcohol distribution? I was expecting something about how he fought isolationism and used his media experience to campaign for America's entry into WWI. Currently this article reads mostly as an anti-Daniels polemic. I see the discussion about how he was the "worst secretary of the Navy".... with literally zero examples to support this, sourced or otherwise. Maybe Daniels was terrible, but the article currently seems biased and non-trustworthy. 2605:3D00:401D:5C:3C8E:4FF1:B7D4:9E1C (talk) 00:35, 23 September 2023 (UTC)