| Charles Joseph Bonaparte | |
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| In office July 1, 1905 – December 16, 1906 |
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| Preceded by | Paul Morton |
| Succeeded by | Victor H. Metcalf |
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| In office December 17, 1906 – March 4, 1909 |
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| Preceded by | William H. Moody |
| Succeeded by | George W. Wickersham |
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| Born | June 9 1851 Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |
| Died | June 28 1921 (aged 70) Baltimore County, Maryland, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Ellen Channing Day Bonaparte |
| Profession | Politician, Lawyer |
Charles Joseph Bonaparte (June 9, 1851 – June 28, 1921) was a grandson of Jérôme Bonaparte (the youngest brother of the French emperor Napoleon I), and a member of the United States Cabinet. Born in Baltimore, Maryland, he was the son of Jérôme Napoleon Bonaparte (1805-1870) and Susan May Williams (1812-1881), from whom the American line of the Bonaparte family descended. After graduating from Harvard University and Harvard Law School, where he would later be appointed a university overseer, he practiced law in Baltimore and became prominent in municipal and national reform movements. On September 1, 1875, Bonaparte married Ellen Channing Day (1852-1924). The daughter of attorney Thomas Mills Day and Ellen Cornelia (Jones) Pomeroy. They had no children. He was a member of the Board of Indian Commissioners from 1902 to 1904, chairman of the National Civil Service Reform League in 1904 and appointed a trustee of The Catholic University of America. In 1905, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt appointed Bonaparte to his cabinet as United States Secretary of the Navy. From 1906 until the end of President Roosevelt's administration he served as United States Attorney General. He was active in suits brought against the trusts and was largely responsible for breaking up the tobacco monopoly. In 1908, Joseph founded the Bureau of Investigation (BOI). He was one of the founders, and for a time the president, of the National Municipal League. Bonaparte died in Bella Vista (originally built as "Mount Vista Estates", Baltimore County, Maryland, and is interred at Baltimore's Loudon Park Cemetery. Cause of death was "Saint Vitus Dance". A nearby street in Baltimore County bears the name of Bonaparte Ave. It was said that Mr. Bonaparte drove the 15 miles every day to Baltimore to do business in his coach pulled by four stout draft horses, and was so timely that the local residents would be able to tell time by his passing by. The Mount Vista Mansion can be seen by driving north on Maryland Route 147 and is not the original property on Mount Vista Estates. The original "Bella Vista" property burned in the 1930s and was replaced by a poured concrete structure built upon the original location of Mr. Bonaparte's Bella Vista home.
Literature
- Joseph Bucklin Bishop, Charles Joseph Bonaparte: His Life and Public Services (1922)
- Eric F. Goldman, Charles J. Bonaparte: Patrician Reformer, His Earlier Career (1943)
| Preceded by Paul Morton |
United States Secretary of the Navy July 1, 1905 – December 16, 1906 |
Succeeded by Victor H. Metcalf |
| Preceded by William H. Moody |
United States Attorney General December 17, 1906 – March 4, 1909 |
Succeeded by George W. Wickersham |
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