John Jordan Crittenden | Biography

John Jordan Crittenden served as U.S. attorney general in 1841 under President William Henry Harrison and again in 1850 under President Millard Fillmore. Crittenden spent over forty years in public office, serving for many years in various Kentucky state offices as well as in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

Crittenden was born on September 10, 1787, in Woodford County, Kentucky. He attended William and Mary College, graduating in 1807. Crittenden set up a law practice in Kentucky but moved to the Illinois Territory in 1809 to serve as the territory's attorney general. He later served as a volunteer in the War of 1812. Prior to the outbreak of hostilities, however, Crittenden was elected to the Kentucky state legislature. His political fortunes continued to rise, and in 1816, he was elected to the U.S. Senate. Despite achieving this political plum, Crittenden did not like national politics. He quit his office and returned to Kentucky and reentered the state legislature. In 1827, he was appointed U.S. district attorney but was removed by President Andrew Jackson in 1829 for publicly disagreeing with Jackson's financial policies.

In 1835, Crittenden reentered the political arena and was again elected to the U.S. Senate. Following his reelection he gave up his seat to accept the post of U.S. attorney general but his service was brief. President William Henry Harrison caught a chill at his inauguration, developed pneumonia, and died a few weeks into his presidency. Crittenden and other members of Harrison's cabinet resigned in September of 1841 because they could not support the new president, John Tyler.

Crittenden wasted little time in getting back to the Senate. He was appointed in 1842 to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of Henry Clay. Crittenden finished the term and was reelected. However, in 1848 Crittenden was elected governor of Kentucky while still a senator. He resigned from the Senate to accept the state position.

In 1850, President Millard Fillmore appointed Crittenden attorney general. It was during this period that his pro-slavery views became more prominent. He issued an advisory opinion upholding the constitutionality of federal fugitive slave laws. These laws gave slave owners the right to use the federal courts to reclaim runaway slaves. When he returned to the Senate in 1855, the Whig Party was self-destructing over the question of whether slavery should be permitted in the western territories. Crittenden sided with those who favored the expansion of slavery. Instead of joining the Democratic Party, Crittenden opted to join the American or Know-Nothing party. In 1858 he left that group to join the Constitutional Union party. After Abraham Lincoln's election as president in November of 1860, the southern states began to talk of secession. Crittenden tried to find a compromise that would avoid secession and a civil war. He put together a constitutional amendment, but it was rejected because he insisted on allowing slavery in the new territories. Despite his pro-slavery bias, he ultimately decided to remain loyal to the Union when war was declared in March of 1861.

Crittenden died on July 26, 1863, near Frankfurt, Kentucky.