Charles Francis Adams III

Adams taking oath

Adams was appointed Secretary of the Navy on March 5, 1929, by President Herbert Hoover. He vigorously promoted public understanding of the Navy's indispensable role in international affairs, and worked strenuously to maintain naval strength and efficiency during the Great Depression. He served at the London Naval Treaty in 1930 where he successfully maintained the principle of United States naval parity with Britain.[1] In his memoirs, Hoover noted that, had he known Adams at the start of his presidency as well as he did at its end, he would have named Adams his Secretary of State.[7] Adams retired from his position on March 4, 1933.

Adams was a supporter of limited presidential terms, well before the 22nd Amendment passed, and advocated that the Presidents should be required to renounce political parties and that after they left the presidency, should be made ex-officio members of the United States Senate.[1]

Former New York Governor Al Smith (right) asking for help of Navy engineers in the construction of the Empire State Building

In 1920, Adams skippered the America's Cup defender Resolute and soon became known as the "Dean of American Helmsmen". He was posthumously inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame in 1993. In 1939, he won the King's Cup, Astor Cup, and Puritan Cup, the three most coveted domestic yachting trophies in a single season.[1]

In 1929, he became a member of the District of Columbia Society of the Sons of the American Revolution. His national membership number was 48,952.[8] He was also an honorary companion of the Naval Order of the United States. In 1932, he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.[9]

A scion of the Adams family that produced two presidents, Charles Francis Adams III, a son of John Quincy Adams II, the oldest son of the Charles Francis Adams Sr., was a great-grandson of the sixth U. S. President John Quincy Adams, and a great-great-grandson of the second U.S. President John Adams.[3] His mother Fanny Crowninshield was the granddaughter of U.S. Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Williams Crowninshield.[10] Adams was also the third cousin twice removed of Otis Norcross, the 19th Mayor of Boston. Both descending from their fourth great-grandfather, Joseph Adams; Otis from his first wife Mary [Chapin], and Charles from his second wife Hannah [Bass].[11]

Charles Francis Adams Jr. was the uncle, not the father of Charles Francis Adams III, an assumption regularly made by virtue of sequential name succession. Charles F. Adams Jr. had five children, the first three being daughters, which may explain why his brother John Q. Adams II took the prerogative to name his firstborn son after his brother. Charles, Jr.'s only sons (twins) were born in 1875.

Adams and Frances in 1929

On April 3, 1899,[12] Adams married Frances Lovering (d. 1956),[13] the daughter of U.S. Representative William C. Lovering (1835–1910),[14] at St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. Together, they had two children:[1]

• Catherine Frances Lovering Adams in 1902, who married Henry Sturgis Morgan, son of J. P. Morgan, Jr. and Jane Norton Grew and one of the founders of Morgan Stanley (1935), along with Harold Stanley, on June 26, 1923.[15][16] Together, they had five sons.
• Charles Francis Adams IV in 1910, who was a prominent businessman and the first president of Raytheon Company, was married firstly to Margaret [Stockton]. Their children were: Abigail Adams, Allison Adams, Charles Francis Adams V, and Timothy Adams. He married secondly, widow Mrs. Beatrice D. Penati.[17]

Adams died on June 11, 1954,[1] and was interred in Mount Wollaston Cemetery in Quincy, Massachusetts,[14] on June 13, 1954.[18] His estate, valued at $192,000 in 1954,[19] was left to his widow.[20]

In 1899 Adams built his family home and estate on land in Concord, MA formerly owned by his uncle, Charles Francis Adams Jr.[21] The home, known as Mt. Vernon, stood for 120 years until it was destroyed by fire shortly after Christmas Day 2019.[22]

The Charles Francis Adams Memorial Trophy for yacht racing was established in his memory, and the Navy destroyer USS Charles F. Adams was dedicated in his honor.[23][24]