GPO Director Celebrates 50 Years on the Job

John Crawford

On Tuesday, John Crawford, managing director of plant operations for the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), marked 50 years of service to GPO.

“John is part of the very foundation of GPO. His enthusiasm and commitment to the work we do for Congress and the Federal Government is something we all embrace,” praised GPO Director Davita Vance-Cooks.

Crawford began his career at GPO on May 10, 1966, as a journeyman bookbinder on the night shift. Just six weeks into his new job, he and his wife had a son, and he contemplated resigned from GPO to seek a day shift job elsewhere. Faced with the prospect of losing him, the foreman took Crawford in to talk with the superintendent of binding.

“He said, ‘Report to days on Monday,’ ” Crawford recalls, in a 2015 IPG profile. “I think it was because I came from the outside, and my output was double, because I was used to that type of environment.”

A half century later, Crawford manages 800 employees in the agency’s plant operations business unit. He is responsible for the production of some of the nation’s most important documents, including The Congressional Record, The Federal Register, The Code of Federal Regulations and legislative bills, hearings and reports. Throughout his years of service, Crawford has worked on secure projects, including the implementation of the electronic passport and coordinating inaugural materials for presidential inaugurations, and contributed to the agency’s transition into the digital age.

One of his first jobs in the late 1960s was producing secure test forms for the U.S. Air Force. Crawford was promoted to his first management position in 1972 and was responsible for coordinating and overseeing the production of President Richard Nixon’s inaugural materials. In the 1980s, Crawford led the team to automate the passport binding process, which was previously done by hand. As technology has advanced and GPO’s workforce has decreased, Crawford has worked with GPO management to combine and reorganize plant departments to maintain efficiency and to continue to meet the needs of Congress, Federal agencies, and the public.

Crawford is one of three generations of his family to work at GPO. His grandfather worked at GPO in the early 1900s.

Read the full IPG story on Crawford's impressive career here.