Jesse M. Donaldson

Jesse M. Donaldson
53rd United States Postmaster General
In office December 16, 1947 – January 20, 1953
President	Harry S. Truman
Preceded by	Robert E. Hannegan
Succeeded by	Arthur E. Summerfield
Personal details
Born	August 17, 1885 Shelbyville, Illinois, United States
Died	March 25, 1970 (aged 84) Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Resting place	Forest Hill Cemetery, Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Spouse(s)	Nell Graybill Donaldson
Profession	Politician, Civil servant

Jesse Monroe Donaldson (August 17, 1885 – March 25, 1970) was the first United States Postmaster General to have started his career as a letter carrier.^[1]

Biography

Postmaster General Jesse M. Donaldson (left) at the President Truman's Oval Office to taking his new Freedom Stamps, (April 1950).

Donaldson was born in Shelbyville, Illinois. He was the son of merchant and local postmaster Moses Martin Donaldson, and his wife, Amanda Saletha Little. Donaldson was a Methodist and a Freemason. Donaldson married Nell Fern Graybill on August 14, 1911, with whom he had three children. Donaldson began his postal career in 1908, as the one of three mailmen for the Shelbyville, Illinois, then rose through the ranks of the Department.

He was appointed U.S. Postmaster General by President Harry S. Truman on December 16, 1947, following the resignation of Robert E. Hannegan. He served for the remainder from the Truman's administration until January 20, 1953. During this the period, he modernized the postal service and also announced the "3 cent Gold Star Mothers" stamp in recognition of the Sullivan brothers' and his mother.

Donaldson died in Kansas City, Missouri, on March 25, 1970. He was buried at the Forest Hill Cemetery in Kansas City, Missouri.

References

External links

• American President.org Profile
• Political Graveyard on Methodist politicians in Missouri
• Arlington Cemetery: Sullivan Bros.
• Jesse M. Donaldson at Find a Grave

United States Postmasters General
Confederal	Franklin Bache Hazard
Federal	Osgood Pickering Habersham G. Granger Meigs McLean
Cabinet level Post Office Department	Barry Kendall Niles F. Granger Wickliffe Johnson Collamer Hall Hubbard Campbell A. Brown Holt King Blair Dennison Randall Creswell Marshall Jewell Tyner Key Maynard James Howe Gresham Hatton Vilas Dickinson Wanamaker Bissell Wilson Gary Smith Payne Wynne Cortelyou Meyer Hitchcock Burleson Hays Work New W. Brown Farley Walker Hannegan Donaldson Summerfield Day Gronouski O'Brien Watson Blount
U.S. Postal Service	Blount Klassen Bailar Bolger Carlin Casey Tisch Frank Runyon Henderson Potter Donahoe Brennan

Cabinet of President Harry S. Truman (1945–53)
Vice President	None (1945–49) Alben W. Barkley (1949–53)
Secretary of State	Edward R. Stettinius Jr. (1945) James F. Byrnes (1945–47) George C. Marshall (1947–49) Dean G. Acheson (1949–53)
Secretary of the Treasury	Henry Morgenthau Jr. (1945) Fred M. Vinson (1945–46) John W. Snyder (1946–53)
Secretary of War	Henry L. Stimson (1945) Robert P. Patterson (1945–47) Kenneth C. Royall (1947)
Secretary of Defense	James V. Forrestal (1947–49) Louis A. Johnson (1949–50) George C. Marshall (1950–51) Robert A. Lovett (1951–53)
Attorney General	Francis B. Biddle (1945) Tom C. Clark (1945–49) J. Howard McGrath (1949–52) James P. McGranery (1952–53)
Postmaster General	Frank C. Walker (1945) Robert E. Hannegan (1945–47) Jesse Monroe Donaldson (1947–53)
Secretary of the Navy	James V. Forrestal (1945–47)
Secretary of the Interior	Harold L. Ickes (1945–46) Julius A. Krug (1946–49) Oscar Littleton Chapman (1949–53)
Secretary of Agriculture	Claude Raymond Wickard (1945) Clinton P. Anderson (1945–48) Charles F. Brannan (1948–53)
Secretary of Commerce	Henry A. Wallace (1945–46) W. Averell Harriman (1946–48) Charles Sawyer (1948–53)
Secretary of Labor	Frances Perkins (1945) Lewis B. Schwellenbach (1945–48) Maurice J. Tobin (1948–53)