Adolph Edward Borie (November 25, 1809 – February 5, 1880) was a United States merchant and politician who briefly served (1869) as Secretary of the Navy in the Ulysses S. Grant administration.

Early in Grant's presidential administration, Borie served as Navy Secretary for a few months before stepping down, citing frail health.

[1] He was the son of John Joseph Borie, who emigrated from France's Bordeaux region, settled in Philadelphia and became a leading merchant and manufacturer.

[1] Borie was a pioneer in lobbying the federal government for diplomatic and naval support in protecting his business abroad.

[1] The magnitude of his business was enormous, identified by $100,000 in property damages incurred during the 1857-58 disturbances of the Second Opium War in China.

[1] He was a founding member and one-time vice-president of Philadelphia's Union League, and guided the recruiting and equipping of several regiments, inspiring Unionist sentiment.

Grant, considering that he owed something to Borie and to the Republicans in the Keystone State announced that there would be a man from Pennsylvania in his cabinet.

Borie had little interest in public office, and freely admitted that Admiral David Dixon Porter was the actual manager.

Borie disliked the Native American Indian names borne by so many United States Navy ships of the post-American Civil War era, and during his very short term as Secretary of the Navy, had a great many vessels renamed after states of the Union, creatures and personages from classical Greek or Roman mythology, or names that conveyed power or strength.

Ironically, Borie was a Philadelphian associated with the town of Manayunk (now a Philadelphia neighborhood), and one of the vessels that was never given back its original name was USS Manayunk, which permanently kept its new name of USS Ajax, renamed by Borie on June 15, 1869, ten days before his resignation.

The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments respectively abolished slavery and gave African Americans, former slaves, U.S. citizenship.

Controversy ensued as conservative European Americans throughout the nation desired to keep blacks in a condition similar to slavery by violence or coercion and to keep them separate from white society.

[6] In June 1869, during his last month in office, Borie desegregated the Washington Navy Yard, allowing African American males to enter and work in the facilities.

There was no formal explanation given other than that he was in frail health, running the Navy Department was overall too demanding for him, and he desired to return to his business.