John Addison Porter (April 17, 1856 – December 15, 1900) was an American journalist, and the first person to hold the position of "Secretary to the President".

[2] Porter attended Hopkins Grammar School and the Russell Military Academy at New Haven, and graduated from Yale College with an A.B.

Moving to Pomfret, Connecticut in 1886, he purchased a third interest in the Hartford Evening Post, and became managing editor and editor-in-chief.

In 1886, he organized and ran the Oregon Publishing Company,[2] which took over the Portland Evening Telegram newspaper[citation needed] (founded 1877).

In 1887 illness obliged him to spend the winter in the South; returning north he purchased an estate in Pomfret, Connecticut, which became his final home.

[2] In 1901 she founded the John Addison Porter Prize in American History at Yale University in memory of her husband.