Gordon attended the Southern Convention in [[Nashville, Tennessee]] in 1850 as a delegate.<ref name="bio"/> He served as a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]].<ref name="obit">{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/90037546/death-of-gen-wm-f-gordon-27-jul-1858/ |title=Death of Gen. Wm. F. Gordon |date=1858-07-27 |page=1 |newspaper=[[Richmond Examiner|Richmond Enquirer]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=2021-12-04}}{{Open access}}</ref>
===Planter and Slavery ===
After failing to win reelection in 1835, Gordon returned to farming and his legal practice. Gordon lived in a planter economy largely dependent upon slavery, and as a landholder, used slave labor for his household and plantation.The plantation operated with enslaved labor.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Weil |first1=Julie Zauzmer |last2=Blanco |first2=Adrian |last3=Dominguez |first3=Leo |title=More than 1,700 congressmen once enslaved Black people. This is who they were, and how they shaped the nation. |language=en |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/interactive/2022/congress-slaveowners-names-list/ |access-date=2022-01-29}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=Congress slaveowners |date=2022-01-27 |url=https://github.com/washingtonpost/data-congress-slaveowners |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=2022-01-29}}</ref> He owned 29 slaves in Albemarle County in 1820,<ref>1820 U.S. Federal Census for Albemarle County, Virginia, p. 5 of 27</ref> 44 slaves in the 1830 federal census.<ref>1830 U.S. Federal Census for Albemarle County, Virginia, p. 53 of 150</ref> In both the 1840 federal census.<ref>1840 U.S. Federal Census for Frederickville, Albemarle County, Virginia, pp. 41-42 of 84</ref> and the 1850 federal census, Gordon owned 54 slaves.<ref>1850 U.S. Federal Census for Albemarle County, Virginia, p. 31 of 149</ref>
