John J. Crittenden

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John J. Crittenden signature

John Jordan Crittenden (* 10. September 1786 or 1787 in Versailles , Virginia ; † 26. July 1863 in Frankfort , Kentucky ) was an American lawyer, politician, US Senator , Governor of Kentucky and Minister of Justice .

Studies and professional career

Born in what is now Kentucky, the son of John Crittenden , a fighter of the American independence movement , first completed a general education course at the College of William & Mary , from which he graduated in 1806 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) . He then studied law and was admitted to the bar a year later. As such, he opened a law firm in Woodford County . In 1812 he established himself as a lawyer in Russellville . In 1819 he took up a position as a lawyer in Frankfort.

Political career

Officials in Kentucky

As early as 1809, Crittenden was Attorney General of the Illinois Territory for one year . In the British-American War of 1812 , he served as an advisor to Territorial Governor Isaac Shelby . In 1811 he began his political career as a member of the House of Representatives from Kentucky , to which he belonged until 1817 and whose speaker he was from 1815 to 1817. In 1825 he was again briefly a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives. Two years later, he was appointed federal district attorney . In 1828 President John Quincy Adams nominated him as a judge on the United States Supreme Court ; however, the US Senate refused to give its approval, so that the appeal ultimately failed. In 1829 he was also dismissed from his position as federal district attorney by President Andrew Jackson . In the same year, however, he was re-elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives, to which he was a member until 1835. For a short time he also served as Secretary of State of Kentucky.

He was also the governor of Kentucky from 1848 to 1850 . During his tenure, the state's prisons were renovated and the education system improved through a higher budget. Geological surveys of Kentucky were commissioned, and eventually the state constitution was reformed in 1850.

Four-time US Senator

John J. Crittenden (around 1855)

On March 4, 1817, the Democratic Republicans member Crittenden was elected US Senator . As such, he represented the interests of Kentucky in Washington until March 3, 1819 . During that time he also served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee . On March 4, 1835, he returned to the Whigs for the first time for a six-year term back in the Senate. Ready on March 31, 1842, he was reappointed Senator for Kentucky as the successor to the resigned Henry Clay , to complete his beginning term. This time, Crittenden remained in Congress until June 12, 1848 . During this time he was a member of the Military Committee from 1842 to 1845. The last time Crittenden was then from March 4, 1855 to March 3, 1861 US Senator. As such, he was from 1859 to 1861 chairman of the Senate Committee on Revolutionary Claims . Most recently he was a member of the American Party after the Whig Party broke up .

Minister of Justice

On March 5, 1841, US President William Henry Harrison appointed Crittenden as attorney general in his cabinet . He held this office after Harrison's death in April 1841 under his successor John Tyler until September 12, 1841. After his resignation as governor of Kentucky, he was reappointed Attorney General on July 22, 1850 by President Millard Fillmore . He held this office until the end of Fillmore's tenure on March 4, 1853.

Civil war

During the Civil War , his family split: his son Thomas was promoted to general in the Northern States , while his other son, George, served as a general in the Confederate Army . His nephew Thomas Turpin Crittenden was also a general of the Union. In December 1860, Crittenden tried to avoid a division of the United States into northern and southern states. The Crittenden Compromise named after him was ultimately an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the southern states from leaving the Union and thus to prevent the looming civil war, as this compromise was made both in advance by the already elected President Abraham Lincoln and by the majority of Republicans in the Senate was rejected.

Destroyed bridge on Bull Run

The next attempt at pacifying the situation, called Crittenden- Johnson - resolution , was amended by Congress immediately after the crushing first battle of Bull Run adopted on 21 July. 1861 This resolution gave reasons for the reasons for the war. After that, the war of secession was not started because of the conquest or subjugation of the southern states, their reduction to provinces or for interference in slavery in these states by the US government, but rather because of the Union in its existence as well as the constitution and the rights contained therein protect. However, this resolution was repealed in December 1861.

From March 4, 1861 to March 3, 1863, Crittenden was a member of the United States House of Representatives . At the time of his death he was campaigning for re-election. In his honor the city of Crittenden and Crittenden County in Kentucky were named after him. His brother Robert played an important role in the Arkansas Territory in the 1820s , of which he was Territorial Governor for several years.

literature

Web links

Commons : John J. Crittenden  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
  • John J. Crittenden in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kentucky Secretary of State: John Jordan Crittenden (English).
personal data
SURNAME Crittenden, John J.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Crittenden, John Jordan (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American lawyer, politician, Senator, Kentucky governor, and attorney general
DATE OF BIRTH September 10, 1786 or 1787
PLACE OF BIRTH Versailles , Virginia
DATE OF DEATH July 26, 1863
Place of death Frankfort , Kentucky