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  Crawford, William Harris
CANDIDATE DETAILS
AffiliationDemocratic-Republican  
 
NameWilliam Harris Crawford
Address
Lexington, Georgia , United States
EmailNone
WebsiteNone
Born February 24, 1772
DiedSeptember 15, 1834 (62 years)
ContributorU Ole Polecat
Last ModifedOld LW
Dec 17, 2020 01:25am
Tags
InfoWilliam Harris Crawford
CRAWFORD, William Harris - American politician from Georgia whose presidential candidacy in 1824 brought about the demise of the congressional caucus.

Born in Amherst county, Virginia, on 2/24/1772. When he was seven his parents moved into Edgefield district, South Carolina, and four years later into Columbus county, Georgia. The death of his father in 1788 left the family in reduced circumstances, and William made what he could by teaching school for six years. He then studied at Carmel Academy for two years, was principal, for a time, of one of the largest schools in Augusta, and in 1798 was admitted to the bar. From 1801 to 1802, with Horatio Marbury, he prepared a digest of the laws of Georgia from 1755 to 1800.

Georgia State House 1803 to 1807. Became the leader of one of two personal / political factions in the state. Fought two duels, in one of which he killed his antagonist, and in the other was wounded in his wrist.

US Senate (DR-GA) 1807-1813. President pro tempore, 1812-1813 during the vanancy in the vice presidency.

In 1813 he declined the offer of the post of Secretary of War

Minister to France 1813-1815

Secretary of War 1815-1816

Secretary of the Treasury 1816 to 1825. Crawford was invited by JQ Adams to continue as Secretary of the Treasury, but declined.

Candidate for US President 1816; defeated for nomination in the congressional caucus

Suffered from poor health 1823-1826

Candidate for US President 1824. Victorious in the congressional caucus but placed third in the election.

Circuit judge 1827-1834; died while on circuit in Elberton, Georgia, on 9/15/1834.

In his day he was undoubtedly one of the foremost political leaders of the country, but his reputation has not stood the test of time. He was of imposing presence and had great conversational powers; but his inflexible integrity was not sufficiently tempered by tact and civility to admit of his winning general popularity. He won the admiration of Albert Gallatin and others by his powerful support of the movement in 1811 to recharter the Bank of the United States; he earned the condemnation of posterity by his authorship in 1820 of the four-years-term law, which limited the term of service of thousands of public officials to four years, and did much to develop the "spoils system."


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NEWS
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DISCUSSION
Importance? 9.66670 Average

FAMILY
Wife Sussana Girardin Crawford 00, 0000-

INFORMATION LINKS
New Georgia Encyclopedia  Discuss
RACES
  02/09/1825 US President House Run-off Lost 16.67% (-37.50%)
  12/01/1824 US President Won 15.71% (-22.22%)
  11/11/1824 US President National Vote Lost 11.24% (-30.08%)
  11/11/1824 NC US President Lost 42.92% (-10.85%)
  11/09/1824 DE US President Won 41.25% (+2.50%)
  11/08/1824 AL US President Lost 12.23% (-57.63%)
  11/01/1824 ME US President Lost 23.68% (-52.04%)
  11/01/1824 MD US President Lost 10.30% (-33.92%)
  11/01/1824 RI US President Lost 8.53% (-82.94%)
  11/01/1824 MS US President Lost 2.33% (-61.59%)
  11/01/1824 MO US President Lost 0.95% (-57.96%)
  11/01/1824 NJ US President Lost 6.03% (-46.06%)
  11/01/1824 NY US President Lost 13.89% (-58.33%)
  11/01/1824 GA US President Won 72.89% (+45.78%)
  11/01/1824 TN US President Lost 1.51% (-95.95%)
  11/01/1824 IL US President Lost 18.13% (-14.32%)
  11/01/1824 VA US President Won 55.33% (+32.61%)
  11/00/1824 CT US President Lost 18.81% (-53.17%)
  10/29/1824 PA US President Lost 8.94% (-66.98%)
  02/14/1824 US President - DR Caucus Won 94.12% (+91.18%)
  10/21/1816 Secretary of Treasury Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  03/16/1816 US President - DR Caucus Lost 45.38% (-9.24%)
  07/31/1815 Secretary of War Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  04/09/1813 US Ambassador to France Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  03/24/1812 President Pro Tempore Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  11/04/1810 GA US Senate Won 100.00% (+100.00%)
  11/01/1807 GA US Senate - Appointment Won 68.60% (+37.21%)
  10/04/1802 GA At-Large Lost 0.36% (-20.74%)
ENDORSEMENTS