Crozer honored, proud to serve in Trump White House

Jan. 30—THOMASVILLE — William Crozer was dining at a Thomasville restaurant midday Wednesday when he learned a tornado had touched down near Tallahassee.

His first inclination was to contact Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey to let him know the White House was aware of the situation and opening lines of communication.

For more than two and a half years, Thomasville native Crozer was special assistant to former President Donald Trump and deputy director of the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. The office was the primary liaison between the White House and more than 500,000 state, local and tribal leaders.

Working with stakeholders on issues important to their states and communities and on administration shared priorities, such as disaster response and recovery, urban revitalization and rural prosperity, and trade expansion through the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, for example, also came under the domain of the office located in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in the White House complex.

Crozer described Nov. 3, 2020, election night as "interesting."

He was at a White House election night party chatting with Newt Gingrich, former Georgia congressman and speaker of the U.S House of Representatives, who has Thomasville ties.

"We shared some stories," Crozer said.

It became clear the election would not be called that night.

"There's a lot of anticipation of what's going to happen," Crozer said. "If your boss loses, it's the end of the road for the administration and you."

The same was true for other White House employees and political appointees across the entire federal government.

Regardless of presidential vote numbers and results, the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs continued to coordinate with state, local, and tribal leaders on pressing priorities, such as battling the COVID-19 pandemic. Crozer noted that from February 2020 to the end of the administration in January 2020, the office organized 49 governors-only COVID-19 briefing calls with the vice president and 33 national briefing calls reaching close to 100,000 state, local and tribal officials nationwide.

Meanwhile, with several states' vote numbers still outstanding, it appeared there were pathways for Trump to be re-elected. A handful of states' electoral votes had not been called.

Concerns mounted about election integrity, Crozer said, noting that the Georgia General Assembly is looking at several election reform measures.

Crozer recalled the pre-pandemic period of February 2020.

"The president was well on the way to re-election," he said.

The economy was healthy, with the unemployment rate across multiple demographic groups at record lows before the pandemic changed the landscape in the entire world.

"The president's America First policies were clearly working," Crozer said.

His last official trip was with the president to Charlotte, North Carolina, in February 2020 — a trip to highlight the administration's good work to date, what was being addressed at the time and what the future would hold.

"All of a sudden, you get hit with a global pandemic," the 36-year-old Crozer said. "This was something that no one could have predicted."

Trump showed resiliency in his ability to overcome situations his entire life, Crozer said, and losing the election is another obstacle. He thinks Trump will continue to be involved in Republican politics, pointing out the former president has opened an office at his Florida residence.

At the time a barrage of Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Crozer was in his office hosting one of the 1 p.m. bi-weekly COVID-19 national briefing calls with stakeholders nationwide.

"It was business as usual. We were in the middle of one of our regularly-scheduled COVID coordination calls," he said.

After the turmoil on Capitol Hill, Crozer posted the following on Facebook:

"I have served in the Administration for over 2 1/2 years working with State, Local, and Tribal officials across this great country. It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve these stakeholders — including law enforcement — work on issues important to their communities and to advance shared priorities, like law and order.

The violence at the Capitol today is not reflective of these partnerships or work of the President and Administration on so many issues important to the country. I reiterate the words of the Vice President that while peaceful protest is foundational to our Democracy and the right of every American, violence and destruction cannot, should not, and will not be tolerated."

In the aftermath of the events on Jan. 6, work did not stop for Crozer and the White House Intergovernmental Affairs team or elsewhere in the federal government.

"We continued to inform and work with our stakeholders across the country on key issues and priorities. We owed it to them to continue to work," he said.

He and fellow White House employees continued to work on priorities and toward a smooth transition to the new team that would occupy his office.

Crozer, who is proud and honored to have served in the Trump administration, authored the transition memo for his office.

His last official duty was to arrange for Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to address the Georgia Municipal Association.

Prior to the election, Crozer had planned to transition out of the Trump administration — "win, lose or draw." He said the average tenure of White House political appointees is about a year and a half.

"It was an honor and a privilege to serve the president and his administration," he said.

Before the White House position, Crozer was employed at BGR Group, a Washington, D.C.-based government relations firm founded by Haley Barbour, former Mississippi governor and former chairman of the Republican National Committee.

When asked about thrilling experiences in his White House position, Crozer recalled several and highlighted two: Flying three times on Air Force One and suddenly finding himself alone with the president in the Oval Office.

The accomplishment of which he is most proud? "Taking the intergovernmental partnership with state, local and tribal officials to the next level and leaving our office in a better position than we found it," he said.

Crozer, son of Tali Flowers Crozer and the late Bob Crozer, returned to Thomasville four days before the Jan. 20 inauguration of the new president.

He and his wife, Arden, are discussing whether to stay in Washington or to return to Georgia.

Until a decision is made, Crozer is relaxing with family and friends, fishing and hunting in the place he loves more than any other.

Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820

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