Joshua W. Alexander

Joshua Willis Alexander (January 22, 1852 – February 27, 1936) was United States secretary of commerce from December 16, 1919, to March 4, 1921, in the administration of President Woodrow Wilson.

Biography Born on January 22, 1852, in Cincinnati, Ohio, the son of Thomas Willis Alexander and Jane (née Robinson). Alexander attended Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Missouri, and later moved to Gallatin, Missouri, where he served as mayor and then as a state representative in the Missouri General Assembly (1883–1887). He also gained prominence for his service as Chairman of the United States Commission to the international conference on the safety of life at sea in London in 1913.

After his tenure as Secretary of Commerce, Alexander returned to the practice of law in Missouri. Another son, George F. Alexander, became a federal judge in Juneau, Alaska.