Daniel C. Roper

Daniel C. Roper
7th United States Secretary of Commerce
In office
March 4, 1933  December 23, 1938
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded by Roy D. Chapin
Succeeded by Harry L. Hopkins
5th United States Ambassador to Canada
In office
May 19, 1939  August 20, 1939
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Preceded by Norman Armour
Succeeded by James H. R. Cromwell
Personal details
Born April 1, 1867
Marlboro County,
South Carolina, United States
Died April 11, 1943 (aged 76)
Washington, D.C., United States
Resting place Rock Creek Cemetery,
Washington, D.C., United States
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Lou McKenzie Roper
(m. 1889 - 1943, his death)
Children Margaret May Roper
James Hunter Roper
Daniel Calhoun Roper, Jr.
Grace Henrietta Roper
John Welsey Roper II
Harry McKenzie Roper
Richard Frederick Roper
Alma mater Duke University
Profession Government
Religion Methodist

Daniel Calhoun Roper (April 1, 1867  April 11, 1943) was a U.S. administrator who served as the 7th United States Secretary of Commerce under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and was the 5th United States Ambassador to Canada from May 19, 1939 until August 20, 1939.

Biography

Roper was born in Marlboro County, South Carolina to John Wesley Roper who was the leader of the 18th Regiment of North Carolina troops in the Confederate Army. Roper attended Duke University (then called "Trinity College") in 1888, and he received his bachelor of laws degree from National University in 1901.

On December 25, 1889, Roper married Lou McKenzie. They had seven children: Margaret May, James Hunter, Daniel Calhoun, Jr., Grace Henrietta, John Welsey Roper II (future Vice admiral), Harry McKenzie (future Major general) and Richard Frederick Roper.

He served in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1892 to 1894, and, from 1893 to 1897, he was a clerk for the U.S. Senate Committee on Interstate Commerce. From 1900 to 1910, he worked for the Census Bureau, and then served as the clerk of the Committee on Ways and Means in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1911 to 1913.

Immediately following and through 1916, he served as first assistant postmaster general, and was chairman of Woodrow Wilson's reelection campaign in 1916. He was the chairman of the 1917 U.S. Tariff Commission and served as Commissioner of Internal Revenue from 1917 to 1920. He was to served as the U.S. Secretary of Commerce from 1933 until 1938, and was served as the three months later, from the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, from May 19, 1939 until August 20, 1939.

Roper's Letter of Credence was accepted personally by George VI, King of Canada, at La Citadelle in Quebec City, on May 17, 1939. It was the King's first official duty as King of Canada on Canadian soil.[1]

In 1939, Roper with his family, friends, and the political colleagues celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary of Lou McKenzie, and was the following of two decades in 1941, and he was to published his autobiography entitled Fifty Years of Public Life (Duke University Press).

He died on April 11, 1943, in Washington, D.C., at the aged of 76. Roper was interred at the Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

Political offices
Preceded by
Roy D. Chapin
U.S. Secretary of Commerce
Served under: Franklin D. Roosevelt

March 4, 1933December 23, 1938
Succeeded by
Harry L. Hopkins
Diplomatic posts
Preceded by
Norman Armour
U.S. Ambassador to Canada
1939
Succeeded by
James H.R. Cromwell

References