Adolph Edward Borie was born in 1809 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1825. He ultimately became a wealthy Philadelphia businessman and involved himself in political affairs. Borie served as U.S. consul to Belgium in 1843, was a member of the Republican Party, supported the Union, and befriended a young Ulysses S. Grant.

When Grant won the presidency in 1868, he nominated Borie as his secretary of the Navy, a post Borie held for all of fourteen weeks in 1869. After resigning from the cabinet, Borie resumed his business interests but remained close friends with Grant. He died in 1880.