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{{short description|American lawyer and politician}}
{{Lead too short|date=August 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name         = Walter Forward
|image        = FORWARD, Walter-Treasury (BEP engraved portrait) (cropped).jpg
|caption      = [[Bureau of Engraving and Printing]] portrait of Forward as Secretary of the Treasury
|office       = [[United States Ambassador to Denmark|United States Minister to Denmark]]
|president    = [[Zachary Taylor]]<br/>[[Millard Fillmore]]
|term_start   = June 15, 1850
|term_end     = September 10, 1851
|predecessor  = [[Robert Flenniken]]
|successor    = [[Miller Grieve]]
|office1      = 15th [[United States Secretary of the Treasury]]
|president1   = [[John Tyler]]
|term_start1  = September 13, 1841
|term_end1    = March 1, 1843
|predecessor1 = [[Thomas Ewing]]
|successor1   = [[John Canfield Spencer|John Spencer]]
|office2      = 1st [[Comptroller of the Treasury]]
|president2   = [[William Henry Harrison]]<br />[[John Tyler]]
|term_start2  = March 6, 1841
|term_end2    = September 13, 1841
|state3       = [[Pennsylvania]]
|constituency3= {{ushr|PA|14|C}} (1822–1823)<br>{{ushr|PA|16|C}} {{small|Seat B}} (1823–1825)
|term_start3  = October 8, 1822
|term_end3    = March 3, 1825
|predecessor3 = [[Henry Baldwin (judge)|Henry Baldwin]]
|successor3   = [[James S. Stevenson]]
|birth_date   = {{birth date|1786|1|24}}
|birth_place  = [[East Granby, Connecticut]], [[United States|U.S.]]
|death_date   = {{death date and age|1852|11|24|1786|1|24}}
|death_place  = [[Pittsburgh]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[United States|U.S.]]
|party        = [[Democratic-Republican Party|Democratic-Republican]] (before 1825)<br/>[[Whig Party (United States)|Whig]] (1834–1852)
|spouse       = Henrietta Barclay
| relations    = [[Oliver Forward]] (brother)<br>[[Chauncey Forward]] (brother)
}}

'''Walter Forward''' (January 24, 1786 – November 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and politician. He was the brother of [[Chauncey Forward]] and [[Oliver Forward]].

==Biography==
Born in [[East Granby, Connecticut]], he attended the [[common schools]]. After moving with his father to [[Aurora, Ohio]], he settled in [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]] in 1803. There he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1806. He practiced in Pittsburgh and also served for more than a year as editor of [[Tree of Liberty (newspaper)|''The Tree of Liberty'']] newspaper. He also served in the [[Pennsylvania General Assembly]].<ref name=Address>{{cite book|title=The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Uo9AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA35|year=1889|publisher=Historical Society of Pennsylvania|pages=35–41}}</ref>

In 1822, he was elected to the [[17th United States Congress|17th Congress]] to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of [[Henry Baldwin (judge)|Henry Baldwin]], and was reelected to the [[18th United States Congress|18th Congress]]. He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1824 to the [[19th United States Congress|19th Congress]]. He was a member of the Pennsylvania [[constitutional convention (political meeting)|constitutional convention]] in 1837 and played an important role in the establishment of the [[United States Whig Party]] in the 1830s.<ref name=Address/>

Forward was an active supporter of the Harrison-Tyler ticket in the [[U.S. presidential election, 1840]]. As a reward, Forward was offered the office of [[United States Attorney]] for the Western District of Pennsylvania. He declined that appointment but on March 6, 1841 was appointed by [[President of the United States|President]] [[William Henry Harrison]] to be [[First Comptroller of the Treasury]]. He served in that post until September 13, 1841, when he was appointed 15th [[U.S. Secretary of the Treasury]] by President [[John Tyler]].<ref name=Address/>

During his tenure as Treasury Secretary, the [[Independent Treasury System]] of 1840 was abolished, and the government's funds were deposited once more with commercial banks. 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. In August 1842 a strongly [[protective tariff]] was passed. 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.<ref name=Address/>

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]].<ref name=Address/> He returned from Denmark in 1851 to serve as presiding judge of the district court of [[Allegheny County, Pennsylvania|Allegheny County]].<ref>[http://news.aol.com/story/_a/black-lawyer-rejected-for-pa-bar-in-1847/n20100504174909990006?ecid=RSS0001 Black lawyer rejected for PA bar in 1847]</ref> He died in [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|Pittsburgh]] and is interred in [[Allegheny Cemetery]].<ref name=Address/>

==Honors==
[[Forward Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania|Forward Township]]<ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=a4NIAAAAIBAJ&pg=2443%2C2320121 | title=Town names carry bit of history | work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette | date=May 10, 1984 | access-date=October 31, 2015 | author=Ackerman, Jan | pages=1}}</ref> in Allegheny County is named for Walter Forward, as is the Coast Guard Cutter USCGC Forward (WMEC-911).

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{CongBio|F000291}} Retrieved on 2009-5-20
*{{Find a Grave|12760379|access-date=May 20, 2009}}

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{{US House succession box
| state=Pennsylvania
| district=14
| before=[[Henry Baldwin (judge)|Henry Baldwin]]
| after=[[Andrew Stewart (1791-1872)|Andrew Stewart]]
| years=1822–1823
}}
{{US House succession box
| state=Pennsylvania
| district=16
| before= District created
| after=[[James S. Stevenson]] and [[Robert Orr, Jr.]]
| years=1823–1825 <br> alongside: [[James Allison, Jr.]]
}}
{{s-off}}
{{U.S. Cabinet official box
| before= [[Thomas Ewing|Thomas Ewing, Sr.]]
| after= [[John Canfield Spencer|John C. Spencer]]
| years= 1841–1843
| president= [[John Tyler]]
| department= Secretary of the Treasury}}
{{s-dip}}
{{succession box
| title=[[United States Ambassador to Denmark|U.S. Ambassador to Denmark]]
| before=[[Robert P. Flenniken]]
| after=[[Andrew J. Ogle]]
| years=1850–1851<br />As ''Chargé d'Affaires''
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Whig Party (United States)}}
{{USSecTreas}}
{{US Ambassadors to Denmark}}
{{Tyler cabinet}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forward, Walter}}
[[Category:1786 births]]
[[Category:1852 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century American diplomats]]
[[Category:19th-century American newspaper editors]]
[[Category:People from Hartford County, Connecticut]]
[[Category:United States secretaries of the treasury]]
[[Category:Politicians from Pittsburgh]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the United States to Denmark]]
[[Category:Pennsylvania Whigs]]
[[Category:Tyler administration cabinet members]]
[[Category:People from Aurora, Ohio]]
[[Category:Democratic-Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Burials at Allegheny Cemetery]]
[[Category:19th-century United States representatives]]