Paul Morton (May 22, 1857 – January 19, 1911) was a U.S. businessman, and served as the 36th Secretary of the Navy under Theodore Roosevelt.
Morton was born in Detroit, Michigan on May 22, 1857 and grew up in Nebraska City, Nebraska. A son of J. Sterling Morton, former Acting Governor of Nebraska, founder of Arbor Day, and Secretary of Agriculture under President Grover Cleveland. Among his siblings were Mark Morton, and Joy Morton, founder of Morton Salt.
Though his father was a "Bourbon" (i.e. conservative) Democrat, Paul Morton was a Progressive Republican. This shift of party by father/son cabinet secretaries is paralleled by that of Henry Cantwell Wallace, who served as a Progressive Republican Secretary of Agriculture under Harding and Coolidge, and his son Henry A. Wallace who served in the same office as a Democrat under Franklin D. Roosevelt.
He served as the U.S. Secretary of the Navy between 1904 and 1905. Previous to this, he had been vice president of the Santa Fe Railroad. When it came to light that the Santa Fe had given illegal rebates under Morton, he was forced out of the cabinet to avoid scandal, though Roosevelt maintained that Morton himself was unaware of the improprieties. After leaving government service, Morton was President of Equitable Life Assurance Society.
George Burroughs Torrey painted a portrait of him.
In 1880, Morton was married to Charlotte "Lottie" Goodrich (1858âÂÂ1938), a daughter of Charles Lowell Goodridge and Charlotte Helen Amelia ( Wheeler) Goodridge. Together, they were the parents of:
Morton died in New York City on January 19, 1911. His widow died at her residence, One Sutton Place South in New York City, in 1938.