Charles Sewell Crookham (March 17, 1923 – October 7, 2004), a native and lifelong resident of the U.S. state of Oregon, was a lawyer, a Republican politician, jurist, and military historian.
[1][2] He was briefly Oregon Attorney General, appointed to serve out David Frohnmayer's uncompleted term,[3] but most of his professional career was spent in the private practice of law and as a judge.
[1][2][5] While in college, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor prompted his enlistment in the United States Army, and during his World War II service he saw combat in Europe earning a Bronze Star.
[5] Appearances in Crookham's court were "short and sweet," according to a quotation in the press by Timothy Wood of the Oregon Department of Justice, who had argued at trial before the judge.
[6] His decision left the field wide open for candidates, and a hotly contested race resulted in both the Republican and Democratic Party of Oregon primaries that year.
Craig Berkman, Oregon Republican chairman at the time, was reported to be disappointed at Crookham's decision not to run.