George Walker Crawford (December 22, 1798 – July 27, 1872) was a licensed attorney turned politician from Columbia County, Georgia.

Crawford also served five years in the General Assembly's lower house as a representative of Richmond County on a platform of states' rights.

[1] Crawford's time in President Zachary Taylor's cabinet was marred by speculation regarding a probate claim he settled for George Galphin's heirs.

When President Taylor unexpectedly died while in office, Crawford resigned his position as Secretary of War and entered political retirement.

In 1861, however, Crawford was elected a delegate from Richmond County to the state's Secession Convention which brought him out of retirement to answer the call of his constituents.

Peter's uncle Joel fathered William H. Crawford, soon becoming a politician renowned locally for his political service to the state and for two presidential bids – running in 1816, and then again in 1824.

Peter Crawford also entered Georgia politics himself – beginning as Columbia County's first clerk of courts and becoming a 10-term representative in the state legislature.

George W. Crawford embarked on his political career the following year, accepting a gubernatorial appointment to become Georgia's attorney general.

When George Crawford read the anonymous letter to the editor published in The Augusta Chronicle he was incensed by the prose – sharply criticizing the political views of his father, then declining in health.

Dueling had already been outlawed in Georgia so the two belligerents, with their seconds, traveled together by train to Fort Mitchell, Alabama where the practice was still legal – to finish what by then had become a "well-publicized fight".

[10] Thomas E. Burnside was interred in the private burial ground of Colonel John Crowell, renowned for his participation in the War of 1812.

The Colonel lived near the site where the duel had taken place and personally ensured every protocol of respect was accorded at Burnside's burial.

[6] Besides implementing sound budget policy, Crawford was able to expand educational opportunities in the state and hasten construction of the state-owned Western and Atlantic Railroad.

[12] Crawford's administration established the Supreme Court of Georgia as well, which had failed to be institutionalized for decades of previous effort.

The delegates signed the document in celebratory fashion two days later in the public square in front of the statehouse in Milledgeville where the convention was assembled.

Crawford survived to witness the consequences of enacting the ordinance, lamenting its cost in the shed blood of Georgia citizens rallied by the convention's call.

Crawford was to be tried for inciting a rebellion due to his role in presiding over the state's secession and was excluded from eligibility for both Lincoln's and Johnson's amnesty proclamations because of his leadership status.

[6] Robert Toombs spoke well of Crawford, Saying, "There are but few abler and no purer men in America, and he has administrative qualities of an unusually high order.