George von Lengerke Meyer

George von Lengerke Meyer (June 24, 1858 – March 9, 1918) was a Massachusetts businessman and politician who served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, as United States ambassador to Italy and Russia, as United States Postmaster General from 1907 to 1909 during the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt and United States Secretary of the Navy from 1909 to 1913 during the administration of President William Howard Taft.

Early life

Meyer was a native of Boston, reared in a patrician society.

His paternal grandfather, George Augustus Meyer (also the name of von Lengerke Meyer's father), had emigrated from Germany to New York City.

Meyer graduated from Harvard in 1879, and for twenty years was in business as a merchant and trustee.

Career

He was a director of various trust companies, banks, manufacturing companies, and public utilities concerns. While managing his business affairs, he also held positions in state and local government, his public service beginning with his election as a member of the Boston Common Council, on which he represented ward 9 in 1889 and 1890. Later he served on the Boston Board of Aldermen in 1891. He then joined the Massachusetts Legislature, where for some time he served as speaker of the house. In 1898 he was appointed by Governor Wolcott as chairman of the Massachusetts Paris Exposition managers.

Upon taking office in March 1909, President Taft appointed Meyer to the position of Secretary of the Navy, a post which Meyer held throughout Taft's term. During this period, the Navy made its first experiments with aviation, although Meyer initially opposed the project. In separate tests in 1910 and 1911, civilian pilot Eugene Ely proved the feasibility of carrier-based aviation, by taking off from and landing on a Navy warship.

thumb|At naval review in [[New York Harbor with President Taft and Capt. A. W. Butt]]

After 1911, Meyer was an overseer of Harvard University. which was managed by Chanler's ex-wife Beatrice Ashley Chanler.

Personal life

In 1885, he married Marian Alice Appleton.