Everything about William Harris Crawford totally explained
»
William Harris Crawford (
February 24,
1772 –
September 15,
1834) was an important
American politician, as well as a judge, during the early
19th century. He served as
United States Secretary of War from
1815 to
1816 and
United States Secretary of the Treasury from 1816 to
1825, and was a candidate for
President of the United States in
1824.
Crawford was born in
Amherst County, Virginia, but his family moved south to
Appling County, Georgia, when he was a boy. As a young man, he worked as a farmer and a schoolteacher for about 10 years, then began to practice law in
Lexington, Georgia in
1799.
In
1803, Crawford was elected to the
Georgia state legislature as a member of the
Democratic-Republican Party. In
1807, that legislature elected him to fill a vacant
United States Senate seat.
Crawford soon became a respected and influential senator, and was elected
President pro tempore in
1811. On
April 12,
1812 Vice President George Clinton died in office which made Crawford, as President pro tempore, the
Acting Vice President until
March 4, [1813]]. In recognition of his abilities, President
James Madison appointed Crawford as the American minister to the
First French Empire in
1812. Crawford held that important ministerial post throughout the
War of 1812, and returned shortly after its end in
1815.
Upon Crawford's return, Madison appointed him as
Secretary of War. After slightly more than a year of satisfactory service in that post (and after disclaiming interest in the 1816 Democratic-Republican nomination for President, which he could have had), Crawford moved within the
Cabinet to become
Secretary of the Treasury. He remained in that position through the rest of Madison's term and
Monroe's entire administration which ended in 1825.
Crawford was again a leading candidate for the Democratic-Republican presidential nomination in
1824, but a massive stroke in
1823 ended his chances. The
Democratic-Republican Party split apart that year, and one of the splinter groups nominated Crawford. Despite Crawford's improved health (and the support of former presidents Madison and
Thomas Jefferson), he finished only third, behind
John Quincy Adams and
Andrew Jackson. Refusing Adams's request that he remain at the Treasury, Crawford then retired to Georgia, where he was appointed as a state superior court judge.
Crawford remained an active judge until his death a decade later. He is buried in Crawford Cemetery in
Crawford, Georgia.
His cousin,
George W. Crawford, also served as Secretary of War under President
Zachary Taylor.
Fractional currency
In 1875, William Harris Crawford appeared on the
50 cent bill. Just above it an original wax letter sealer he used while in various offices.
Trivia
The town of
Crawfordsville, Indiana, as well as
Crawford County, Illinois;
Crawford County, Iowa;
Crawford County, Missouri;
Crawford County, Arkansas;
Crawford County, Wisconsin;
Crawfordville, Georgia; and
Crawford County, Georgia, are named for Crawford.
Further Information
Get more info on 'William Harris Crawford'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://william_h__crawford.totallyexplained.com">William H. Crawford Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
