Mahan, A. T. (Alfred Thayer), 1840-1914

Alfred T. Mahan, naval officer, was born in 1840. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1859. He served as second president of the Naval War College, 1885-1886 and again in 1892-1893. His Influence of Seapower on History was published in 1890.

Naval officer and historian.

Mahan was president of the Naval War College, 1886-1889, 1893-1894.

Alfred Thayer Mahan, Navy admiral and naval historian, was president of the Naval War College, 1886-1888, 1892-1893 and author of The Influence of Seapower on History.

Alfred Thayer Mahan, U.S. Naval Officer, was born in West Point, NY on September 27, 1840. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1859 and served in the Navy until his retirement in 1896. Historian and author of numerous books, including the Influence of Seapower on History, he also served as Naval War College President, 1886-1888 and again in 1892-1893. He died on December 1, 1914 in Washington, DC.

Alfred Thayer Mahan, naval historian and naval officer, was born on September 27, 1940 and died on December 1, 1914. Mahan served as president of the Naval War College from 1886-1889 and again from 1892-1893. He is best known for his work entitled The Influence of Seapower on History.

American naval historian.

Mahan was president of the Naval War College, 1886-1889, 1892-1894.

Alfred Thayer Mahan was a U.S. naval officer and historian. A Union naval officer in the Civil War, he later lectured on naval history and strategy at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I., of which he was president (1886-89, 1892-93). Out of his lectures grew his two major works on the historical significance of sea power: THE INFLUENCE OF SEA POWER UPON HISTORY, 1660-1783 (1890) and THE INFLUENCE OF SEA POWER UPON THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND EMPIRE, 1793-1812 (2 vols., 1892). In these he argued that naval power was the key to success in international politics; the nation that controlled the seas held the decisive factor in modern warfare. Theodore Roosevelt and other proponents of a big navy and overseas expansion were influenced by Mahan's writings. Among his many other works are biographies of David Farragut and Horatio Nelson and the autobiographical FROM SAIL TO STEAM (1907).

Alfred Thayer Mahan, naval officer and naval historian, was born in 1840 and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1859. He was president of the Naval War College, 1886-1889, and 1892-93. Author of scholarly works on naval history, he was a proponent of sea power.

A.T. Mahan was an American naval officer and historian. He authored the highly influential book, The Influence of Seapower Upon History .

Alfred Thayer Mahan, naval historian and naval officer, was born on September 27, 1840 and died on December 1, 1914. Mahan served as president of the Naval War College from 1886-1889 and again from 1892-1893.

Naval officer and author.

Alfred Thayer Mahan, naval officer and naval historian, was born in 1840 and graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1859. He was president of the Naval War College, 1886-1889 and 1892-93. Author of many books on naval history, he was a proponent of sea power.

Mahan was president of the Naval War College, 1886-1889, 1892-1893.

Alfred Thayer Mahan, U.S. Naval Officer, was born in West Point, NY on September 27, 1840. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1859 and served in the Navy until his retirement in 1896. Historian and author of numerous books, including the Influence of Seapower on History, he also served as Naval War College President, 1886-1888 and again in 1892-1893. He died on December 1, 1914 in Washington, DC.

Lt. Chambers was a member of the College staff, 1892-1893.

Biographical Note

Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840-1914), American naval officer and historian, was born on September 27, 1840, in West Point, New York, to Dennis Hart (1802-1871), a United States Military Academy professor, and Mary Helen (Okill) Mahan. Mahan graduated second from his class at the United States Naval Academy in 1859 and went on to serve nearly forty years of active duty in the United States Navy. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant while fighting in the American Civil War (1861-1865), was named Captain in 1885, and retired from active service in November 1896. Thayer was promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral on June 29, 1906, by an act of Congress which promoted all retired captains who had served during the Civil War.

In October 1885, Mahan was invited by Stephen Luce (1827-1917), president of the newly established Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, to serve as a lecturer on naval history and tactics. Mahan was later appointed president of the Naval War College in June 1886 to January 1889 and again from July 1892 to May 1893. The lectures Mahan gave at the college became the basis for the Influence of sea power upon history, 1660-1783, published in 1890, the first of twenty books and twenty-three essays written by Mahan on this broad subject. Mahan’s works on naval history and strategies greatly influenced the buildup of naval forces among the major world powers in the years prior to World War I. Rear Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan died on December 1, 1914, in Quogue, New York.