Samuel Lewis Southard was a prominent American statesman of the early 19th century, serving as a U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Navy, and the tenth governor of New Jersey. He also served as President pro tempore of the Senate, and was briefly first in the presidential line of succession.

The secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) is a statutory officer and the head of the Department of the Navy, a military department within the United States Department of Defense.