= George W. Crawford = '''George W. Crawford''' was a [[UnitedStates/WhigParty|Whig]] politician, [[UnitedStates/HouseOfRepresentatives|congressman]], governor of Georgia, and [[UnitedStates/DepartmentOfWar|secretary of War]]. <> ---- == History == Crawford began his political career with an appointment to Georgia's attorney general in 1827, by [[UnitedStates/JohnForsyth|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 [[UnitedStates/ThomasEBurnside|Burnside]].) In 1837, Crawford won election to the '''Georgia House of Representatives''' to represent Richmond county. Following the death of [[UnitedStates/RichardWHabersham|Habersham]], Crawford was appointed to fill his [[UnitedStates/HouseOfRepresentatives|congressional]] seat for the remaining two months of the term. He was nominated by the [[UnitedStates/WhigParty|Whigs]] for the 1843 gubernatorial election. He defeated [[UnitedStates/MarkACooper|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 [[UnitedStates/MatthewHMcAllister|McAllister]] by an extremely slim margin. He was appointed as [[UnitedStates/DepartmentOfWar|secretary of War]] by [[UnitedStates/ZacharyTaylor|Taylor]]. Following Taylor's death in 1850, Crawford resigned rather than serve in [[UnitedStates/MillardFillmore|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 [[UnitedStates/CivilWar|Confederacy]], and therefore was exempted from general amnesty. (He was specifically granted amnesty, nonetheless.) He was a central figure in the [[UnitedStates/WhigParty|Whig]] fiscal conservatism movement. He nearly erased Georgia's public debt and is responsible for dismantling the Georgia Central Bank. ---- CategoryRicottone