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(Redirected from Jesse Monroe Donaldson) 53rd U.S. Postmaster General (1885–1970)

Jesse M. Donaldson
Donaldson in 1939

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 Summerfield

Personal details
Born	Jesse Monroe Donaldson (1885-08-17)August 17, 1885 Shelbyville, Illinois, U.S.
Died	March 25, 1970(1970-03-25) (aged 84) Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Hill Calvary Cemetery Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Nell Graybill (m. 1911)
Children	3

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.

Biography

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 at St. Luke's Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, on March 25, 1970. He was buried at the Forest Hill Calvary Cemetery in Kansas City, Missouri.

References

"Donaldson, Jesse Monroe", in Biographical Directory of the United States Executive Branch, 1774–1989, Robert Sobel, ed. (Greenwood Publishing Group, 1990) p. 108
"Sheet of Gold Star Mothers Stamp to be presented to Mrs. Sullivan". Release No. 513. Post Office Information Service. September 16, 1948. Postmaster General Jesse M. Donaldson today announced that the first sheet of the 3-cent Gold Star Mothers commemorative Postage Stamp will be presented to Mrs. Thomas F. Sullivan at Waterloo, Iowa, on September 21, 1948.
"Jesse Donaldson, Truman Aide, Dies". The Kansas City Times. March 26, 1970. p. 5D. Retrieved October 8, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

Political offices
Preceded byRobert E. Hannegan	United States Postmaster General Served under: Harry S. Truman 1947 – 1953	Succeeded byArthur E. Summerfield

v t e 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 DeJoy

v t e Cabinet of President Harry S. Truman (1945–1953)
Vice President	None (1945–1949) Alben W. Barkley (1949–1953)
Secretary of State	Edward Stettinius Jr. (1945) James F. Byrnes (1945–1947) George C. Marshall (1947–1949) Dean Acheson (1949–1953)
Secretary of the Treasury	Henry Morgenthau Jr. (1945) Fred M. Vinson (1945–1946) John Wesley Snyder (1946–1953)
Secretary of War	Henry L. Stimson (1945) Robert P. Patterson (1945–1947) Kenneth Claiborne Royall (1947)
Secretary of Defense	James Forrestal (1947–1949) Louis A. Johnson (1949–1950) George C. Marshall (1950–1951) Robert A. Lovett (1951–1953)
Attorney General	Francis Biddle (1945) Tom C. Clark (1945–1949) J. Howard McGrath (1949–1952) James P. McGranery (1952–1953)
Postmaster General	Frank C. Walker (1945) Robert E. Hannegan (1945–1947) Jesse M. Donaldson (1947–1953)
Secretary of the Navy	James Forrestal (1945–1947)
Secretary of the Interior	Harold L. Ickes (1945–1946) Julius Albert Krug (1946–1949) Oscar L. Chapman (1949–1953)
Secretary of Agriculture	Claude R. Wickard (1945) Clinton Anderson (1945–1948) Charles F. Brannan (1948–1953)
Secretary of Commerce	Henry A. Wallace (1945–1946) W. Averell Harriman (1946–1948) Charles W. Sawyer (1948–1953)
Secretary of Labor	Frances Perkins (1945) Lewis B. Schwellenbach (1945–1948) Maurice J. Tobin (1948–1953)

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