He held many important posts during his time in the Navy, including Director of the Office of Naval Intelligence, Naval attaché to Kaiser Wilhelm II, and aid for naval personnel. During the Spanish–American War, he participated in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba, after which he commanded a number of ships. In 1913, he was forced into retirement after not having spent a large enough portion of his service at sea.
This forced retirement sparked outrage from many, and led to letters and marches of protest.
A United States Senator even introduced a bill in Congress to have him re-instated. Though these efforts all ultimately failed, they led to greater scrutiny of the retirement board.
As governor, he forbade the men under his command to marry native Chamorro women and increased funding to fight disease on Guam. Potts was born on November 1, 1855 in Washington, District of Columbia He received his education in the Washington area private school system.
On May 10, 1902, Potts married Alden Brown in a civil ceremony in Berlin.
He died on March 22, 1927 in Pasadena, California. Potts attended the United States Naval Academy and, entering on June 6, 1872 and graduating on June 20, 1876.
In 1877, he served aboard the United States Ship Plymouth as a midshipman. He also served aboard the United States Ship Swatara in 1879 and the United States Ship Palos from 1879 to 1892.
During the Spanish–American War, he served aboard the United States Ship Massachusetts, where he participated in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba.
From 1885 to 1887, he served on the United States Ship Pensacola. From October 1, 1902 to December 30, 1904, he served as Naval attaché to Rome, Vienna, and Berlin. During this tour of duty, Potts was a lieutenant commander.
He served as commanding officer of the United States Ship Des Moines and of the United States Ship Georgia in 1908.
That same year, he obtained the rank of Captain. From December 17, 1909 to January 25, 1912, Potts was Director of the Office of Naval Intelligence.
In 1911, he acted as the official United States representative for the reception of Japanese Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō. Soon after, he became Navy aid for personnel.
From 1912 to July 2, 1913, he commanded the United States Ship Louisiana.
After this command, Potts was forced into retirement. The Captain had passed his examination for rear admiral, but had been let go nonetheless, as he had not spent at least half of his time as captain at sea. His case drew national attention after he saved the Louisiana from flooding following a valve blowout in the ship"s starboard engine room that left a hole in the ship"s hull.
He consulted his lawyers about the possibility of reinstatement, and a group of sailors protested the forced retirement through demonstrations and letter-writing, and a Senator even introduced a bill in Congress to reinstate him with the rank of Rear Admiral.
Despite the criticism, the Navy did not reinstate him. Potts served as Governor of Guam from December 3, 1906 to October 3, 1907.
Potts sought to separate whites from the native Chamorro population by denouncing interracial marriage, calling it "degenerating to the whites", and threatened to forcibly discharge any military man who married a native Guamanian woman. He successfully obtained additional funding from Congress to combat outbreaks of leprosy and yaws on the island.