George W. Crawford
George W. Crawford was a Whig politician, congressman, governor of Georgia, and secretary of War.
Contents
History
Crawford began his political career with an appointment to Georgia's attorney general in 1827, by Forsyth. He served until 1831, despite inspiring a state law denying eligibility for public office based on participation in duels. (In 1828, he dueled and killed Burnside.)
In 1837, Crawford won election to the Georgia House of Representatives to represent Richmond county.
Following the death of Habersham, Crawford was appointed to fill his congressional seat for the remaining two months of the term.
He was nominated by the Whigs for the 1843 gubernatorial election. He defeated Cooper, and the Whigs won a majority in both houses of the Assembly; he was enabled to pursue an ambitious platform for the next two years. In 1845, he won re-election against McAllister by an extremely slim margin.
He was appointed as secretary of War by Taylor. Following Taylor's death in 1850, Crawford resigned rather than serve in Fillmore's cabinet.
In 1861, the Georgia Assembly opened a Secession Convention. Crawford re-entered politics and was elected to represent Richmond county; he was then elected president of the Convention. Crawford is recognized as the primary author of the Ordinance of Secession.
Policies
Crawford supported slavery and secession. He was classified as a leader of the Confederacy, and therefore was exempted from general amnesty. (He was specifically granted amnesty, nonetheless.)
He was a central figure in the Whig fiscal conservatism movement. He nearly erased Georgia's public debt and is responsible for dismantling the Georgia Central Bank.