He was a member of the Pennsylvania constitutional convention in 1837 and played an important role in the establishment of the United States Whig Party in the 1830s.

Soon after Forward took office, he was asked by Millard Fillmore, then chairman of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, to devise a plan to increase the tariff, in response to the serious decrease in revenue caused by the Panic of 1837.

He was also asked to develop plans for a "Board of Exchequer" to receive and disburse customs revenue, since the Independent Treasury System was no longer in effect.

Since constant friction with the new President marred his entire tenure as Secretary of the Treasury, he left Tyler's cabinet on February 28, 1843.

[1] After leaving his Cabinet post, Forward resumed the practice of law in Pittsburgh until 1849, when he was appointed Chargé d'Affaires to Denmark by President Zachary Taylor.