Josephus Daniels (May 18, 1862 – January 15, 1948) was an American newspaper editor and publisher from the 1880s until his death; he controlled the Raleigh "News and Observer", at the time North Carolina's largest newspaper, for decades. A Democrat, he was appointed by United States President Woodrow Wilson to serve as Secretary of the Navy during World War I. He became a close friend and supporter of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who served as his Assistant Secretary of the Navy and later was elected as United States President. Roosevelt appointed Daniels as his Ambassador to Mexico, 1933–1941. Daniels was a vehement white supremacist and segregationist and, along with Charles Aycock and Furnifold Simmons, was a leading perpetrator of the 1898 Wilmington insurrection.