Official White House photo by Shealah CraigheadWilliam Crozer (seated far left) attends a White House meeting with President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Cabinet officials and senior White House staff.  

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Perusing the White House list of major players, one sees President Donald Trump at the top of the roster, followed by Vice President Mike Pence, Kellyanne Conway — and Thomasville native William Crozer.

Crozer is a special assistant to the president and deputy director in the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. His responsibilities include local officials — mayors, city councils and county executives — as well as tribal leaders and select statewide officials, primarily attorneys general and secretaries of state. 

“And all things Georgia,” he added.

Previously, Crozer was vice president at Washington, D.C.-based BGR Group, a government relations firm.

Crozer is a son of Tali Flowers Crozer, of Thomasville, and the late Bob Crozer. A 2003 Brookwood School graduate, Crozer graduated from the University of Virginia and earned a juris doctor degree at the University of Georgia School of Law. 

Before joining BGR, Crozer served former Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal and worked on 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s campaign as Georgia political coordinator. He also worked in the Republican National Committee’s finance department during the 2008 election cycle.

Crozer said he had “a lot of good experiences” working with the late Arizona U.S. Sen. John McCain’s presidential campaign in 2008, while employed by the GOP national committee.

“Our office is the primary liaison between the White House and state and local elected officials,” Crozer said. “In that capacity, we are proactive in terms of building support among state and local elected officials around shared priorities, like combatting the opioid epidemic, and reactive where state and local officials reach out to us with various issues with a federal nexus, such as federal permitting and other matters pertinent to their community.” 

Crozer said his position is a political, commissioned appointment. He is the primary liaison between the White House and state and local elected officials.

“We manage those relationships for the White House,” Crozer explained. “We’re that clearinghouse for state and local.

“We’re bipartisan,” he added. “We are not political in our office.”

When Hurricane Michael ravaged the southwest Georgia in October 2018, Crozer traveled with the president on Air Force One to tour damaged areas in Georgia and Florida. Crozer reached out to county commission chairmen ito help direct communities to the proper source for help.

District 11 State Sen. Dean Burke (R-Bainbridge) said Crozer contacted him the day of the hurricane and many times in the following weeks to be sure this area had needed resources and to ask how the White House and federal agencies could help in response efforts.

“We have had frequent contact on other issues of mutual concern including agriculture, trade and health care,” Burke said. ‘I have also been invited by William to an opioid summit last fall when the president’s staff unveiled their partnership with state and local officials to help fight the crisis.

“He is very accessible and understands the challenges in rural Georgia.”

When a tornado caused heavy damage in Cairo earlier this month, Crozer immediately contacted a local official to learn recovery needs.

In a day’s work, 34-year-old Crozer might be in touch with county commissioners in North Dakota, California, upstate New York — or Thomasville.

His wife, Arden, a certified public account, is employed by Northrop Grumman, a Washington, D.C., defense contractor.

Trump is up for re-election in 2020.

When asked what a Trump defeat would mean to his White House position, Crozer said, “Well, that means I am out of a job,” 

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