Crawford, William Harris, 1772-1834

Diplomat and U.S. secretary of the treasury.

William Harris Crawford was born on February 24, 1772, in Amherst County (later Nelson County), Virginia, to Fanny Harris and Joel Crawford. The family moved to the Edgefield District of South Carolina in 179 and then to Richmond County (later Columbia County), Georgia in 1783. After several years of teaching and farming, Crawford enrolled at Moses Waddel's Carmel Academy in Appling, and later at Richmond Academy in Augusta. He studied law privately, was admitted to the bar, and began practice in Lexington in 1799. No other Georgian of his time achieved as much political prominence in the early national period as did William Harris Crawford. A two-time U.S. presidential nominee and the only Georgian to run for the presidency prior to Jimmy Carter, Crawford campaigned in both 1816 and 1824. Although best known nationally for his 1824 bid for the presidency, the most controversial presidential election in U.S. history up to that point, Crawford served the state and nation in a variety of ways, including terms as a U.S. senator, cabinet member under two presidents, and foreign diplomat. His younger cousin, George W. Crawford, served as Georgia's governor in the 1840s. New Georgia Encyclopedia http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org (Retrieved January 14, 2009)

Lawyer, legislator, diplomat, and statesman, of Crawford, Ga.

William H. Crawford, Georgian, lawyer, Minister to France, was at the time of this letter Secretary of the Treasury. "A two-time U.S. presidential nominee and the only Georgian to run for the presidency prior to Jimmy Carter, Crawford campaigned in both 1816 and 1824. Although best known nationally for his 1824 bid for the presidency, the most controversial presidential election in U.S. history up to that point, Crawford served the state and nation in a variety of ways, including terms as a U.S. senator, cabinet member under two presidents, and foreign diplomat."--"William Harris Crawford (1772-1834)" New Georgia Encyclopedia. http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/ (Retrieved 12/9/2008)

Crawford was a Georgia judge, legislator, U. S. senator (1807-1813), and U. S. secretary of the treasury (1816-1825).

U.S. senator, secretary of war, politician.

William Harris Crawford was born in Virginia in 1772, but settled with his family in Georgia soon after. Crawford pursued classical studies at a private school in Augusta, GA; then studied law, was admitted to the bar, and began practice in Lexington in 1799. While a member of the State house of representatives (1803-1807), he was elected to fill the vacancy in the United States Senate caused by the death of Abraham Baldwin. Crawford remained in the United States Senate from 1807-1813, when he resigned to become the Minister to France from 1813-1815. Upon his return to the states, he accepted the position of Secretary of War from President James Madison until 1816, when he transferred to be the Secretary of the Treasury until 1825. Due to a stroke, his Presidential campaign for the 1824 election was unsuccessful. Resigning from the position of Secretary of the Treasury, he was appointed a judge for the Georgian northern circuit, which position he held until his death in 1834.

William Harris Crawford, legislator, politician, and judge, was born 24 February 1772, in Amherst County, Virginia, and died 15 September 1834, near Elberton, Georgia. He was a member of the Georgia legislature (1803-1807); a United States Senator (1807) and President Pro Tem (1811); United States Minister to France (1813-1815); United States Secretary of War (1815-1816); and United States Secretary of the Treasury (1816-1825). He was a United States presidential candidate (1824) but was plagued by ill health. He became a judge of the Northern circuit of the Georgia Superior Court (1827; re-elected 1828, 1831).

Epithet: US statesman

U.S. Senator from Georgia (1807-1813); minister to France (1813-1815); U.S. Secretary of War (1815), U.S. Secretary of Treasury (1816-1825); and judge in northern circuit court in Georgia until his death in 1934.