Kentucky. Governor (1848-1850 : Crittenden)

John Jordan Crittenden was elected in 1848 as Kentucky's fifteenth governor. A member of the Whig party, he served until his resignation in 1850.

Crittenden was born in 1787, in Woodford County, Kentucky. After his graduation from the College of William and Mary in 1807, he began a law practice in Logan County, and maintained a thriving legal practice throughout his career as a public official. Crittenden was appointed as attorney general of the Illinois Territory in 1809, and served at the Battle of the Thames in the War of 1812 under Governor Isaac Shelby.

His long political career began in 1811 when he was elected to the Kentucky General Assembly. He was elected to fill a vacant United States Senate seat in 1817, and served there for two years. Upon his return to Kentucky, Crittenden moved to Franklin County and served several terms in the state legislature before being elected again to the United States Senate in 1835. He resigned in 1841 to become United States Attorney General in William Henry Harrison's administration, but returned to the Senate in 1842. Although a long-time supporter of fellow Whig and Kentuckian Henry Clay, Crittenden decided to back Zachary Talor as the Whig candidate for president in 1848. Crittenden resigned from the Senate to run for governor and campaigned in Kentucky on behalf of Taylor and himself in the 1848 election. Crittenden defeated Democrat Lazarus Powell to win the governor's office.

As governor, Crittenden urged support for the state's commmon schools, and persuaded the legislature to authorize a property tax to help them. Significant legislation concerning the common schools was passed during his term. The legislation contained guidelines for administering the schools and authorized a two percent property tax for a public school fund. Certain river tolls were also to be deposited in the school fund. Crittenden endorsed the call for a constitutional convention, which subsequently met and produced Kentucky's third constitution.

Crittenden resigned after less then three years as governor to become United States Attorney General in Millard Fillmore's administration. In 1854, he was once again elected to the United States Senate. During the crisis period after Abraham Lincoln's election and before the secession of the southern states, his "Crittenden's Proposition" unsuccessfully advocated compromise to preserve the Union. In 1861, he returned to Kentucky to lend his support to the pro-Union cause, and was soon elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Crittenden died in 1863 and is buried in Frankfort Cemetery.