Edwin Denby
42ndUnited States Secretary of the Navy
In office March 6, 1921 – March 10, 1924
President	Warren G. Harding Calvin Coolidge
Preceded by	Josephus Daniels
Succeeded by	Curtis D. Wilbur
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMichigan's1st district
In office March 4, 1905 – March 3, 1911
Preceded by	Alfred Lucking
Succeeded by	Frank Doremus
Member of theMichigan House of Representatives
In office 1903
Personal details
Born	(1870-02-18)February 18, 1870 Evansville, Indiana, U.S.
Died	February 8, 1929(1929-02-08) (aged 58) Detroit,Michigan, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Marion Bartlett Thurber
Education	University of Michigan, Ann Arbor(LLB)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Navy United States Marine Corps
Years of service	1898(USN) 1917–1919(USMC)
Rank	Gunner's Mate 3rd Class(USN) Major(USMC)
Battles/wars	Spanish-American War World War I

Edwin Denby (February 18, 1870 – February 8, 1929) was an Americanlawyer andpolitician who served asSecretary of the Navy in the administrations ofWarren G. Harding andCalvin Coolidge from 1921 to 1924. He also played a notable role in the infamousTeapot Dome scandal which took place during the Harding presidency. He was the son ofCharles Harvey Denby, grandson ofGraham N. Fitch, brother ofCharles Denby, Jr., and uncle of dance criticEdwin Orr Denby.

Denby was born inEvansville, Indiana, where he attended the public schools. In 1885, his father,Charles Harvey Denby, was appointed United States minister atPeking,China, by PresidentGrover Cleveland, and Edwin accompanied him. He worked in the maritime customs service from 1887 to 1894. He then returned to the United States and graduated fromlaw school at theUniversity of Michigan in 1896. While attending the University of Michigan, Denby played on the1895 Michigan Wolverines football team. He was subsequently admitted to thebar and began practicing as a lawyer inDetroit.

In 1898 Denby enlisted in theUnited States Navy and served aboard theauxiliary cruiserUSSYosemite in theCaribbean. He was discharged with the rating ofGunner's Mate 3rd Class.

He was a member of theMichigan House of Representatives in 1903. In 1904, Denby was elected as aRepublican fromMichigan's 1st congressional district to the59th,60th and61st Congresses, serving from March 4, 1905, to March 3, 1911. Denby served as chairman of theUnited States House Committee on Naval Affairs.

He was defeated in 1910 general election byDemocratFrank E. Doremus and resumed his law practice in Detroit. He served as president of the Detroit Board of Commerce in 1916, and in 1917 enlisted as aprivate in theUnited States Marine Corps when the U.S. enteredWorld War I. He was discharged in 1919 with the rank ofmajor.

WhenWarren G. Harding became President in March 1921, he appointed Denby Secretary of the Navy. During the crisis of mail robberies in 1921, Denby issued orders that Marines should be put in mail trucks and rail cars as protectors of the U.S. Mails.^[1] In his stirring order "To the Men of the Mail Guard", Denby impressed upon his former service the importance of the high duty entrusted to them: "If two Marines are covered by a robber, neither must put up his hands, but both must immediately go for their guns. One may die, but the other will get the robber, and the mail will get through.When our Corps goes in as guards over the mail, that mail must be delivered, or there must be a Marine dead at the post of duty. There can be no compromise ..." Within days, the robberies stopped, and there was not a single delivery of the mails disrupted while Marines stood the watch.

Shortly afterwards, Denby got Harding's approval to transfer control of the naval oil reserves atTeapot Dome,Wyoming, andElk Hills,California, from theDepartment of the Navy to theDepartment of the Interior, headed byAlbert B. Fall. Fall proceeded to lease these oil fields to friends who were heads of oil companies in exchange for over $400,000 in personal loans. Despite attempts to keep the deal secret,The Wall Street Journal leaked news of the leasing, and theSenate decided to launch an inquiry into the matter.

The investigation began in October 1923 after Harding's death, and the Senate Committee on Lands and Public Surveys, which carried out the inquiry, concluded in 1924 that the Teapot Dome and Elk Hills leases to the oil companies had been fraudulent and corrupt. Both Denby and Fall were forced to resign from office as a result; however, it is apparent that President Harding did not have an active role in the wrongdoing.^[2]

Following his resignation, Denby went back to practicing law in Detroit, where he died at age 58. Detroit'sEdwin C. Denby High School is named in his honor, as is the Denby Center for Children and Family Services, which the Salvation Army opened in Detroit in 1930 to provide housing and treatment for abused and neglected children.

A portrait of Edwin Denby, painted by Robert Grafton, hangs in the Michigan State Capitol Building.^[3]

• 
  Denby as aMichigan Wolverines football player in 1896
• 
  Sergeant Edwin Denby,USMC in 1918
• 
  Denby shaking hands with his predecessor as Secretary of the Navy,Josephus Daniels
• 
  Mrs. Edwin Denby

• Little Green House on K Street

• United States Congress."Edwin Denby (id: D000232)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved on 2008-02-24.
• Edwin Denby atThe Political Graveyard

Wikimedia Commons has media related toEdwin Denby.

• The Denby Family Papers at The Library of Congress

• Portrait of Edwin Denby, MI State Capitol

• 1870 births
• 1929 deaths
• Republican Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives
• Michigan Wolverines football players
• United States secretaries of the navy
• American Episcopalians
• Michigan lawyers
• United States Marine Corps officers
• Politicians from Detroit
• Politicians from Evansville, Indiana
• Military personnel from Indiana
• Teapot Dome scandal
• Harding administration cabinet members
• Coolidge administration cabinet members
• University of Michigan Law School alumni
• Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan
• United States Marine Corps personnel of World War I
• United States Navy sailors
• 20th-century members of the Michigan Legislature
• 20th-century United States representatives

• Articles with short description
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• Use mdy dates from July 2024
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