Benjamin W. Fortson Jr.

Benjamin Wynn Fortson Jr. (December 19, 1904 – May 19, 1979) was a Secretary of State of Georgia. After being selected by Ellis Arnall, the governor in 1946, Fortson kept his title as secretary until 1979, making him the longest-running secretary in Georgia history.

Background Benjamin Wynn Fortson Jr. was born in 1904 in Wilkes County, Georgia. In 1929, at age 24, he was in a car accident that permanently paralyzed him from the waist down. This accident led him to use his spare time to study politics.

Fortson served two terms in the Georgia House of Representatives. He was elected to the Georgia Senate in 1938 and served until he was appointed secretary of state by Governor Ellis Arnall in February 1946 to fill the unexpired term of John B. Wilson. Fortson was elected in the next election and every four years thereafter.

Secretary of State

In 1946, Fortson was appointed secretary of state. While in office, he was assigned many different jobs that were not originally responsibilities of the office. Fortson was in charge of the preservation of the Capitol and looked after the Confederate cemeteries.

In 1965, Fortson had the Georgia Archives relocated to a building on Capitol Avenue because the archives were too big for its previous location. As Secretary of State, Fortson was in charge of the state seal. No one could do official government actions without this seal, so Fortson hid the seal and refused to tell anyone where it was until the government issue was resolved. This caused the council to take action. The controversy ended with Thompson being declared the governor by the Georgia Supreme Court, setting a precedent in Georgia law.