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Benjamin Fortson was a former 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. At twenty four, he was in a car accident that permanently paralyzed him from the waist down. Before he was secretary of state, he worked two terms in the state senate. After serving many years in office, Ben Fortson died on May 19, 1979, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was buried in Wilkes County in Rest Haven Cemetary.

Secretary of State
In 1946, Fortson was given the postion of Secretary of State. While he was in office, he was given many different jobs that were not originally responsibilities of the Georgia Secretary of State. Fortson was in charge of the preservation of the Capitol and looked after the Conferderate cemetaries. In 1965, Ben Fortson had the Georgia Archives relocated to a building on Capitol Avenue because the archives were too big for its previous location. "Fortson often said this was his proudest accomplishment". The building was later renamed for him. Another accomplishment Fortson had while he was in office was the custom of giving information on Georgia history to teachers and allowing children to visit the Capitol. At one point there was a report that he was going to move up in office until he stated that "Secretary of state is a fascinating job, not like being governor," revealing that he was running for another reelection.

Three Governors Controversy
The Three Governors Controversy took place from 1946 to 1947. Eugene Talmadge was elected to be the next governor of Georgia, but he fell ill and died before he was inagurated. Because of this, the General Assembly decided to elect Herman Talmadge, the son of Eugene Talmadge, to be the new governor of Georgia. However, two other people wanted the position. Ellis Arnall, the governor who was about to leave office, decided to stay governor and refused to leave his office. The other man was Melvin Thompson, the just elected lieutenant governor. Ben Fortson, who was secretary of state at this time, was in charge of the state seal. Neither man 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. After the dispute ended, he revealed the location of the hidden seal. Fortson had put the seal under a cushion in his wheelchair and had been sitting on it during the dispute. Fortson later quoted that he was "sitting on it like a setting of duck eggs."