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Crawford Martin

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Crawford Martin
Member of the Texas Senate
from the 12th district
In office
1949–1963
Preceded byA. B. Crawford
Succeeded byJ. P. Word
Texas Senate President Pro Tempore
In office
1955–1956
Preceded byDorsey B. Hardeman
Succeeded byNeveille H. Colson
Secretary of State of Texas
In office
1963–1966
GovernorJohn Connally
Preceded byP. Frank Lane
Succeeded byJohn Hill
44th Attorney General of Texas
In office
January 1, 1967 – December 29, 1972
GovernorJohn Connally
Preston Smith
Preceded byWaggoner Carr
Succeeded byJohn Hill
Personal details
Born
Crawford Collins Martin

(1916-03-13)March 13, 1916
Hillsboro, Texas, U.S.
DiedDecember 29, 1972(1972-12-29) (aged 56)
Austin, Texas
Resting placeTexas State Cemetery in Austin
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseMargaret Ann Mash Martin (married 1941–1972, his death)
Residence(s)Hillsboro, Texas, Austin, Texas
Alma materHill College, University of Texas at Austin, Cumberland School of Law
OccupationLawyer, politician
Military service
Allegiance United States
Branch/service United States Coast Guard
Battles/warsWorld War II

Crawford Collins Martin (March 13, 1916 – December 29, 1972) was a Texas State Senator, Texas Secretary of State and Attorney General of Texas from 1967 until his death.

Early life

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Martin was born to Will M. Martin and Daisy (Beavers) Martin at Hillsboro, Texas, on March 13, 1916. He was educated in the public schools, attended Hillsboro Junior College graduating in 1935. He graduated with a law degree from Cumberland University's law school (now the Cumberland Law School at Samford University) in Tennessee after attending the University of Texas at Austin, first. He was admitted to the Texas bar in 1939 and commenced the practice of law with his brother, William, in Hillsboro. Martin married Margaret Ann Mash in 1941. During World War II, Martin enlisted in the United States Coast Guard.[1]

Political career

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Mayor and state senator

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After the war, Martin was elected Mayor of Hillsboro. In 1948, he was elected as a Democrat to the Texas Senate representing district 12, which his father had previously represented. The 12th district comprised all of the counties of Ellis, Hill, Hood, Johnson, Somervell in North Central Texas. During his fourteen-year career in the Senate he served on a number of committees, including Finance. He sponsored legislation in insurance reform and securities regulation, and he was elected president pro tem of the Senate in 1955. In addition, in 1957 he sponsored the state's first law requiring the registration of lobbyists.[2]

Martin served in the Senate from 1949 to 1963, when he ran for Lieutenant Governor of Texas. In that race, he was defeated by Preston Smith in the Democratic primary. The next year, however, Governor John Connally appointed Martin as Secretary of State. Martin served as Secretary of State until 1966 when he ran for and was elected Attorney General of Texas.[2]

Attorney General

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Under Martin's leadership, the attorney general's office added antitrust, consumer protection, crime prevention, and water control divisions to its organization. Martin made drug abuse and organized crime a focus, and he was the first attorney general of any state to file successful litigation against commercial drug manufacturers for fixing the prices of antibiotics. By this action his office was able to recover more than $4,000,000 for Texas consumers. Through litigation, Martin's office established the Sabine River boundary between Texas and Louisiana, "thus preserving for Texas extremely valuable oil rights." Martin's activities as attorney general won him both state and national recognition.[2]

Despite his record, Martin was defeated in the 1972 Texas primary by his successor as Secretary of State, John Hill. Also going down to defeat were Governor Preston Smith, Lieutenant Governor Ben Barnes and others tainted, for real or imaginary reasons, by the infamous Sharpstown scandal. All were defeated by "reform" candidates.[3]

Martin died of a heart attack on December 29, 1972, just three days before he was to leave office. He is buried in the State Cemetery in Austin.[1]

References

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Party political offices
Preceded by Democratic nominee for Texas Attorney General
1966, 1968, 1970
Succeeded by
Texas Senate
Preceded by Texas State Senator
from district 12 (Hillsboro)

1949–1963
Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Secretary of State of Texas
1963–1966
Succeeded by
Legal offices
Preceded by Attorney General of Texas
1967–1972
Succeeded by