United States Army Officer, Presidential Cabinet Official. He was the son of Tabasco brand pepper sauce inventor Edmund McIlhenny and after his father's death in 1890, he oversaw the business operations with his mother. With the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, he joined the First Volunteer Cavalry of the United States Army, the celebrated Rough Riders on May 19, 1898. Participating in the battles of Las Guasimas and San Juan Hill, Cuba, he was claimed to have saved Theodore Roosevelt from sniper's bullet. Promoted 2nd Lieutenant of Troop E by Roosevelt for gallantry in action, he was discharged on September 15, 1898. He and Theodore Roosevelt became lifelong friends. He entered politics, serving in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1900-1904, and the State Senate, 1904-1906. On November 30, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt, appointed him U.S. Civil Service Commissioner. He retained the post under Taft and Wilson, was appointed president of U.S. Civil Service Commission, on June 12, 1913, and appointed financial advisor to Haiti during the U.S. occupation on January 27, 1919. He resigned from public office on October 11, 1922, and retired in Washington, D.C.
United States Army Officer, Presidential Cabinet Official. He was the son of Tabasco brand pepper sauce inventor Edmund McIlhenny and after his father's death in 1890, he oversaw the business operations with his mother. With the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, he joined the First Volunteer Cavalry of the United States Army, the celebrated Rough Riders on May 19, 1898. Participating in the battles of Las Guasimas and San Juan Hill, Cuba, he was claimed to have saved Theodore Roosevelt from sniper's bullet. Promoted 2nd Lieutenant of Troop E by Roosevelt for gallantry in action, he was discharged on September 15, 1898. He and Theodore Roosevelt became lifelong friends. He entered politics, serving in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1900-1904, and the State Senate, 1904-1906. On November 30, 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt, appointed him U.S. Civil Service Commissioner. He retained the post under Taft and Wilson, was appointed president of U.S. Civil Service Commission, on June 12, 1913, and appointed financial advisor to Haiti during the U.S. occupation on January 27, 1919. He resigned from public office on October 11, 1922, and retired in Washington, D.C.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
Family Members
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