Walter Forward
Walter Forward ( born January 24, 1786 in East Granby, Hartford County, Connecticut, † November 24, 1852 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) was an American politician who belonged to the cabinet of U.S. President John Tyler as Minister of Finance.
Studies, career and family
After his family had settled in 1803 in Pittsburgh, Forward graduated in law at the University of Pittsburgh. After admission to the bar in 1806, he opened a law firm in Pittsburgh. Some years he was also editor of the democratic magazine " Tree of Liberty".
His younger brother Chauncey Forward was also for several years a congressman.
Political career
Congressman
On October 8, 1822 Forward was elected as a deputy of the Democratic Republicans in the House of Representatives of the United States, where he followed the retiring Henry Baldwin. There he represented until 1823, first the interests of the 14th Congressional District of Pennsylvania and then subsequently to 3 March 1825, the newly created 16th electoral district. In 1824 he joined unsuccessfully for re-election.
He was in 1833 one of the leading founders of the United States Whig Party and was their representative in 1837 as a member of the Constitutional Convention of Pennsylvania.
After his resignation as Minister of Finance in February 1843, he resumed his career as a lawyer in Pittsburgh again. Then he was appointed President of the District Court in Allegheny County in October 1851.
Treasury under President Tyler and ambassador to Denmark
Later, he was also a supporter of the election tickets of William Henry Harrison and John Tyler in the presidential election of 1840. For this reason him the office of District Attorney of Western Pennsylvania was offered after the successful election, but he refused. Instead, President Harrison appointed him on March 6, 1841 First Controller of Finance ( First Comptroller of the Treasury).
On September 13, 1841, he was appointed by Harrison's successor as president, John Tyler, as finance minister in his cabinet, replacing in this office Thomas Ewing. As finance minister, he raised the introduced until 1840 under Levi Woodbury independent financial system back on and put the government behind fortunes with commercial banks. Shortly after taking office, he was the then Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means of the House, Millard Fillmore, asked to create a plan to raise taxes in order to secure the state budget in crisis situations such as 1837. At the same time asked him to Fillmore to a development plan for a Treasury for collection and payment of customs revenue. In August 1842, a strong protective tariff was adopted.
Due to disagreements with Tyler on the financial policy, he resigned on February 28, 1843 from his office as Minister of Finance and was subsequently replaced by John Canfield Spencer.
On November 8, 1849 President Zachary Taylor appointed him charge d'affaires in Denmark. But from that post he resigned after less than two years on 10 October 1851, returned to Pennsylvania.
To him, the village of Forward Township was named in honor of Allegheny County.