Political Career
Woodson was appointed secretary of the Kansas Territory by President Franklin Pierce on June 29, 1854 and took the oath of office in Washington, DC on September 28th, drawing an annual salary of $2,000. Because he was fully sympathetic to those who wanted to make Kansas a slave state, he agreed with the wishes of the proslavery forces in the territory.
While Governor Andrew Reeder was away from the territory, Woodson became acting governor, signing the first laws passed by the territorial legislature. Even though this first territorial legislature was accepted by the federal government, free staters called the laws "bogus laws".
Altogether, Woodson served as acting governor for a little more than five months during the absences of governors Andrew Reeder, Wilson Shannon, and John W. Geary.
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