John Weeks
48thUnited States Secretary of War
In office March 5, 1921 – October 13, 1925
President	Warren G. Harding Calvin Coolidge
Preceded by	Newton D. Baker
Succeeded by	Dwight F. Davis
United States Senator fromMassachusetts
In office March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1919
Preceded by	Winthrop M. Crane
Succeeded by	David I. Walsh
Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromMassachusetts
In office March 4, 1905 – March 4, 1913
Preceded by	Samuel L. Powers
Succeeded by	John Mitchell
Constituency	12th district (1905–1913) 13th district (1913)
Mayor of Newton
In office 1902–1903
Preceded by	Edward L. Pickard
Succeeded by	Alonzo Weed
Personal details
Born	John Wingate Weeks (1860-04-11)April 11, 1860 Lancaster, New Hampshire, U.S.
Died	July 12, 1926(1926-07-12) (aged 66) Lancaster, New Hampshire, U.S.
Resting place	Arlington National Cemetery
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Martha Aroline Sinclair
Education	United States Naval Academy (BS)
Military service
Allegiance	United States
Branch/service	United States Navy
Years of service	1881–1883 1898
Rank	Lieutenant

John Wingate Weeks (April 11, 1860 – July 12, 1926) was an American banker andpolitician fromMassachusetts. A Republican, he served as Mayor ofNewton from 1902 to 1903, aUnited States representative from 1905 to 1913,United States Senator from 1913 to 1919, andSecretary of War from 1921 to 1925.^[1]

John Wingate Weeks was born and raised inLancaster, New Hampshire. He received an appointment to theUnited States Naval Academy, graduating in 1881,^[2] and served for two years in theUnited States Navy. He married Martha Aroline Sinclair on October 7, 1885.

Weeks made a fortune in banking during the 1890s, after co-founding theBoston financial firmHornblower & Weeks in 1888.^[3] During theSpanish–American War, he returned to active duty with the U.S. Navy from April to October 1898 with the rank of lieutenant.

With his financial well-being assured, Weeks became active in politics, first at a local level in his then-home ofNewton, Massachusetts, serving as alderman in 1899–1902 and as mayor in 1903–04. He then moved on to the national scene in 1905, when he was elected to serve the 12th congressional district of Massachusetts in the United States Congress.^[4]

As a member of theUnited States House of Representatives andUnited States Senate, Weeks made various contributions to important banking and conservation legislation. His most notable accomplishment as Congressman was the passage of theWeeks Act in 1911, his name-sake bill that enabled the creation ofnational forests in the eastern United States.

In the election of 1918, Weeks was defeated in his re-election campaign. Due to the passage of theSeventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, this was the first time election to his U.S. Senate seat was decided by the voters rather than the state legislature. His defeat has been attributed to his refusal to support women's suffrage, and his opposition to theNineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, a distinction he shared with SenatorWillard Saulsbury Jr. of Delaware.^[5] Despite his defeat for re-election to the Senate in 1918, Weeks remained an active and influential participant in the nationalRepublican Party. He was an early supporter of the nomination ofWarren G. Harding for President in 1920, and when Harding became president, he named Weeks to his cabinet.

AsSecretary of War, Weeks was a competent, honest, and respected administrator and adviser, who guided the Department of War through its post-World War I downsizing. Weeks's hard work and long hours led to a stroke in April 1925, which led in turn to his resignation as Secretary in October of that year.

Weeks died several months later, at hissummer home on Prospect Mountain in Lancaster, New Hampshire. His ashes were buried inArlington National Cemetery^[6] near what is now known as Weeks Drive.^[7]

Weeks's son,Charles Sinclair Weeks, served asUnited States senator fromMassachusetts, and was laterSecretary of Commerce during theEisenhower administration.^[8]

His great uncle, for whom he was named,John Wingate Weeks (1781–1853), was a major in the U.S. Army during theWar of 1812 and served as a congressman from New Hampshire.^[9]Edgar Weeks congressman fromMichigan was mis-attributed as a cousin of John Wingate Weeks in the past.^[10]

Weeks's summer home where he died is now open for tours as part of theWeeks State Park. A nearby mountain within the White Mountain National Forest was namedMount Weeks in his honor.

TheJohn W. Weeks Bridge, a footbridge over theCharles River on the campus ofHarvard University inBoston andCambridge, Massachusetts, was named for Weeks and opened in 1927.

TheJohn Wingate Weeks Junior High School built in 1930 inNewton Centre, Massachusetts, was named for him.

DuringWorld War II, the U.S. Navydestroyer escortUSSWeeks (DE-285) was named for Weeks. Her construction was cancelled in 1944.

ThedestroyerUSSJohn W. Weeks (DD-701) then was named for Weeks. She was incommission from 1944 to 1970.

The investment banking and brokerage firmHornblower and Weeks, founded in 1888, was named for Weeks and co-founder Henry Hornblower.

Weeks Field inFairbanks,Alaska was named after him.^[11]

• New Hampshire Historical Marker No. 219: The Weeks Act 1911

Wikimedia Commons has media related toJohn W. Weeks.

Wikisource has the text of a 1922Encyclopædia Britannica article about "John W. Weeks".

• Works by or about John W. Weeks at theInternet Archive

• United States Congress."John W. Weeks (id: W000246)".Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• The Papers of John W. Weeks at Dartmouth College Library

• 1860 births
• 1926 deaths
• Military personnel from New Hampshire
• American military personnel of the Spanish–American War
• People from Lancaster, New Hampshire
• United States secretaries of war
• Candidates in the 1916 United States presidential election
• United States Navy officers
• United States Naval Academy alumni
• Mayors of Newton, Massachusetts
• Republican Party United States senators from Massachusetts
• Burials at Arlington National Cemetery
• Harding administration cabinet members
• Coolidge administration cabinet members
• Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts
• Republican National Committee members
• 20th-century United States senators
• 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from July 2020
• Commons category link is on Wikidata
• Articles with Internet Archive links