George Clinton (vice president)

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This page is for the U.S. Vice President George Clinton. For others of that name see George Clinton.

George Clinton

4th Vice President of the United States
In office March 4, 1805 – April 20, 1812
Preceded by	Aaron Burr
Succeeded by	Elbridge Gerry
President	Thomas Jefferson; James Madison

Born	July 26, 1739 Little Britain, New York
Died	April 20, 1812 Washington, D.C.
Political party	Democratic-Republican
Spouse	Sarah Cornelia Tappen

George Clinton (July 26, 1739 – April 20, 1812) was an American soldier and politician. He was the first, and longest-serving governor of New York State, and was Vice President of the United States under both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

His political interests were inspired by his father, Charles Clinton, who was an Irish immigrant to Little Britain, New York and a member of the New York colonial assembly. George Clinton was the brother of General James Clinton and the uncle of DeWitt Clinton, who served as seventh and ninth Governor of New York.

At 18 he enlisted in the British Army to fight in the French and Indian War. He subsequently studied law, became clerk of the court of common pleas and served in the state assembly. He was elected to the Continental Congress and voted for the Declaration of Independence, but was called to serve George Washington as a brigadier general of militia and had to leave before the signing. He did not support the adoption of the Constitution until the Bill of Rights was added.

He was known for his hatred of Tories [1] and used seizure and sale of Tory estates to help keep taxes down. A supporter and friend of George Washington, he supplied food to the troops at Valley Forge, rode with Washington to the first Inauguration and gave an impressive dinner to celebrate it.

He served as the first Governor of New York from 1777 to 1795, as a member of the State Assembly in 1800 and 1801, and as the third Governor from 1801 to 1804. According to the National Governors Association, with 21 years of service, he was the longest-serving governor of a U.S. state. Herbert Storing attributes to him the Anti-Federalist essays that appeared in New York newspapers under the pseudonym Cato during the Constitutional ratification debates of 1787. However, the authorship of the essays is disputed.

He went on to serve as the fourth Vice President of the United States, first from 1805 to 1809 under Thomas Jefferson, and then from 1809 until his death under James Madison, becoming the first Vice President to die in office.

He was an unwilling candidate for President of the United States in the 1808 election, garnering six electoral votes from a wing of the (Democratic-)Republican Party that disapproved of James Madison. He came in third after Madison and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of the Federalist Party.

Clinton County, New York, Clinton County, Ohio, and Clinton County, Illinois are named after him, and Washington, D.C. has erected a gilded equestrian sculpture of him on Connecticut Avenue. In 1873, the state of New York donated a bronze statue of Clinton to the U.S. Capitol's National Statuary Hall Collection.

Clinton is one of only two United States vice presidents to serve the position under two presidents (John C. Calhoun being the other). He is of no known relation to the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton (Note: William J. Clinton was born William J. Blythe III).

His original burial was in Washington. He was reinterred in Kingston, New York in 1908.

[edit] Marriage and children

On February 7, 1770, Clinton married Sarah Cornelia Tappen. They had five daughters and one son:

Catharine Clinton (November 5, 1770 - January 10, 1811). Married first John Taylor and secondly Pierre van Cortlandt-son of New York Lt. Governor Pierre Van Cortlandt.
Cornelia Tappen Clinton (June 29, 1774 - March 28, 1810). Married Edmond-Charles Genet.
George Washington Clinton (October 18, 1778 - March 27, 1813). Married Anna Floyd, daughter of William Floyd.
Elizabeth Clinton (July 10, 1780 - April 8, 1825). Married Matthias B. Tallmadge.
Martha Washington Clinton (October 12, 1783 - February 20, 1795).
Maria Clinton (October 6, 1785 - April 17, 1829). Married Dr. Stephen D. Beekman.

[edit] See also

Pierre Van Cortlandt

[edit] External links

Preceded by: Governor of the Province of New York	Governor of New York 1777 – 1795	Succeeded by: John Jay
Preceded by: Benjamin Moore	Chancellor of Columbia College 1784 – 1787	Succeeded by: William Samuel Johnson
Preceded by: (none)	Democratic-Republican vice presidential candidate 1792 (lost)^(a)	Succeeded by: Aaron Burr^(a)
Preceded by: John Jay	Governor of New York 1801 – 1804	Succeeded by: Morgan Lewis
Preceded by: Aaron Burr^(a)	Democratic-Republican vice presidential candidate 1804 (won), 1808 (won)	Succeeded by: Elbridge Gerry
Preceded by: Aaron Burr	Vice President of the United States March 4, 1805–April 20, 1812	Succeeded by: Elbridge Gerry
^(a) Clinton was technically a presidential candidate in 1792 and Burr was technically a presidential candidate in 1796 and 1800. Prior to the passage of the Twelfth Amendment in 1804, each presidential elector would cast two ballots; the highest vote-getter would become President and the runner-up would become Vice President. Thus, in 1792, with George Washington as the prohibitive favorite for President, the Republican Party fielded Clinton with the intention that he be elected Vice President. Similarly, in both 1796 and 1800, the Republican Party fielded two candidates, Burr and Thomas Jefferson, with the intention that Jefferson be elected President and Burr be elected Vice President.