Lewis Nixon (April 7, 1861 – September 23, 1940) was a

naval architect This is the top category for all articles related to architecture and its practitioners. {{Commons category, Architecture by occupation Design occupations Occupations Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's rol ...

, shipbuilding executive, public servant, and

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

. He designed the United States' first modern

battleship A battleship is a large, heavily naval armour, armored warship with a main battery consisting of large naval gun, guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most form ...

s, and supervised the construction of its first modern

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

s, all before his 40th birthday. He was briefly the leader of

Tammany Hall Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was an American political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789, as the Tammany Society. It became the main local ...

. 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 New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

commission that began construction of the Williamsburg Bridge.

Birth and naval education

Nixon was born on the eve of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, in

Leesburg, Virginia Leesburg is a town in and the county seat of Loudoun County, Virginia, United States. It is part of both the Northern Virginia region of the state and the Washington metropolitan area, including Washington, D.C., the nation's capital. European se ...

, 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."Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography
" at p. 1077 (Lyon Tyler ed. 1915). Nixon graduated first in his class from the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

in 1882 and was sent to study naval architecture at the

Royal Naval College, Greenwich The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers. The equi ...

, where, in 1885, he again graduated first in the class.

Shipbuilding and other businesses

On Nixon's return to the United States, he was assigned to the John Roach & Sons shipyard in

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the Philadelphia metropolitan area (also known as the Delaware Valley) on the western bank of the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. ...

, which the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

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 A Doctor of Science (; most commonly abbreviated DSc or ScD) is a science doctorate awarded in a number of countries throughout the world. Africa Algeria and Morocco In Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Tunisia, all universities accredited by the s ...

degree from

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

. Soon after the contracts for the battleships were awarded, he resigned from the Navy to work as Superintendent of Construction for William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company, the shipyard that won the lead contract. In 1891, Nixon married Sally Lewis Wood of Washington, D.C., a descendant of General Andrew Lewis of

Colonial Virginia The Colony of Virginia was a British Empire, British colonial settlement in North America from 1606 to 1776. The first effort to create an English settlement in the area was chartered in 1584 and established in 1585; the resulting Roanoke Colo ...

. Their son was Stanhope Wood Nixon, whom Swiss-born American artist Adolfo Müller-Ury (1862–1947) would paint full-length in Scottish costume in 1902-1903. Sally would die on June 15, 1937, three years before Nixon himself. In January 1895, Nixon leased the Crescent Shipyard in

Elizabeth, New Jersey Elizabeth is a City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Arthur Leopold Busch, another former William Cramp & Sons shipbuilder and naval architect, who had come from Great Britain to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

in 1892. Under Nixon and Busch, the yard built many vessels, including

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...

s and , cruiser ,

monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, Wes ...

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 Pre-steam ...

, and Anstice

yacht A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

(1902) that was renamed the ''Sandy Hook''. Beginning in December 1896, the Crescent Shipyard built the United States' first

s, including the . 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, 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. ...

, a shipbuilding firm near

Mare Island Naval Shipyard The Mare Island Naval Shipyard (MINSY or MINS) was the first United States Navy base established on the Pacific Ocean and was in service 142 years from 1854 to 1996. It is located on Mare Island, northeast of San Francisco, in Vallejo, Califor ...

, 20 miles north of

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. 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 (; February 24, 1841August 12, 1914) was an Irish marine engineer who developed the first submarine to be formally commissioned by the US Navy, USS Holland (SS-1) and the first Royal Navy submarine, ''Holland 1''. Early lif ...

on February 7, 1899. His company was then known as the Holland Torpedo Boat Company and (after 1904) the Electric Boat Company. Portrait of Lewis Nixon

Nixon also founded the International Smokeless Powder and Dynamite Company of Parlin, New Jersey. E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company acquired it company from Nixon in 1904, forming part of what would soon be deemed DuPont's unlawful monopoly of the gunpowder industry. Nixon also founded the United States Long Distance Automobile Company. From 1901 to 1903, its

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

, 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.Robert Hessen,
Steel Titan: The Life of Charles M. Schwab
" 145-62 (1990) ("The U.S. Shipbuilding Company Scandal"), . Unfortunately, "the one thing he consolidated firmslacked, individually and collectively, was a realistic prospect of earning sustained profits." As the president of the new company, Nixon had convinced Charles M. Schwab, the U.S. Steel Corporation president and

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Until its closure in 2003, it was one of the world's largest steel-producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its success ...

owner, to help underwrite the 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 mortgage-holders forced it into receivership. It emerged from receivership, without Nixon, as Bethlehem 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 Perth Amboy is a city (New Jersey), city in northeastern Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, within the New York metropolitan area, New York Metro Area. As of the 2020 United States census, the city' ...

. From late 1904 to January 1906, Nixon was in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

supervising the construction of ten torpedo boats for the navy of Czar Nicholas II. Nixon's shipbuilding expertise was called upon after the sinking of the . Nixon suggested numerous changes including the required use of wireless communication devices on ships. He also suggested that ships have a more efficient way of reversing. In 1910, Müller-Ury 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 the

Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 36th vice president under P ...

section of Edison,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. 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 Long Branch is a beachside city in Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 31,667, an increase of 948 (+3.1%) from the 2010 census count of 30,719, which in turn reflect ...

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 Bridge. In January 1898, New York City Mayor Robert A. Van Wyck sacked the entire membership of the Commission after he had complained of its slow and expensive pace. He appointed Nixon 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 active in Democratic Party politics. In December 1901, the longtime

boss Richard Croker chose Nixon as his successor.Nixon Resigns as Tammany's Leader
" New York Times, 1902-05-15 at p. 1. 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 and explained, "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 The Democratic National Convention (DNC) 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 18 ...

seven times. A friend and supporter of three-time Democratic presidential nominee

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator, and politician. He was a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running three times as the party' ...

, 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 Staten Island ( ) is the southernmost of the boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County and situated at the southernmost point of New York (state), New York. The borough is separated from the ad ...

, 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 Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was the 42nd governor of New York, serving from 1919 to 1920 and again from 1923 to 1928. He was the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party's presidential nominee in the 1 ...

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 Division The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division (military), division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault military operation, operations. The 101st is designed to plan, coordinat ...

during

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, who was made famous by the miniseries '' Band of Brothers''.

References

Notes Sources *

External links

*
Crescent Shipyard information at globalSecurity.comCorpWatch : General Dynamics
at www.corpwatch.org History and origins of Electric Boat/General Dynamics. Company foundation begins here at Crescent Shipyard, Elizabeth, New Jersey.

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Nixon, Lewis 1861 births 1940 deaths Graduates of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich American naval architects United States Naval Academy alumni United States Navy officers Leaders of Tammany Hall New York state superintendents of public works Commissioners in New York City People from Leesburg, Virginia New York (state) Democrats