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George Clinton (vice president)

 
George Clinton (vice President)

 
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George Clinton (July 26, 1739 April 20, 1812) was an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 soldier
Soldier

A soldier is a general English term that refers to a land component of national armed forces.In most societies of the world, "soldier" is also a general term for any member of the land forces including Commissioned officer and non-commissioned officers....
 and politician
Politician

A politician is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making through the influence of politics or a person who influences the way a society is governed....
. He was the first Governor of New York, and then the Vice President of the United States
Vice President of the United States

The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office in the United States of America created by the Constitution of the United States....
 under Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States , the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence , and one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States for his promotion of the ideals of republicanism in the United States....
 and James Madison
James Madison

James Madison was an American politician and political philosopher who served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States , and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States....
.

political interests were inspired by his father, Charles Clinton
Charles Clinton

Charles Clinton was a French and Indian War Colonel, the father of American Revolutionary War General James Clinton and U.S. Vice President George Clinton , and the grandfather of New York Governor DeWitt Clinton....
, who was an Irish
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
 immigrant to Little Britain, New York
Little Britain, New York

Little Britain, New York is an area in Orange County, New York, first settled in 1729 by Peter Mulliner, a devout Anglican, who named his farm Little Britain....
 and a member of the New York colonial assembly. George Clinton was the brother of General
General

A General officer is an Officer of high military rank. The term or equivalent is used by nearly every country in the world. General can be used as a generic term for all grades of general officer, or it can specifically refer to a single rank that is just called general....
 James Clinton
James Clinton

James Clinton was an American Revolutionary War soldier who obtained the rank of major general.He was born in Ulster County, New York in the colony of New York, in a location now part of Orange County, New York....
 and the uncle of New York's future governor, DeWitt Clinton
DeWitt Clinton

DeWitt Clinton was an early American politician who served as United States Senator and Governor of New York. In this last capacity he was largely responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal....
.

At 18, he enlisted in the British Army
British Army

The British Army is the Army branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707....
 to fight in the French and Indian War
French and Indian War

The French and Indian War was the North American chapter of the Seven Years' War, known in Canada as the War of the Conquest. The name refers to the two main enemies of the British: the royal French forces and the various Indigenous peoples of the Americas forces allied with them....
, eventually rising to the rank of lieutenant
Lieutenant

Lieutenant is a military, naval, paramilitary, fire service, emergency medical services or police commissioned officer military rank.Lieutenant may also appear as part of a title used in various other organisations with a codified command structure....
.






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George Clinton (July 26, 1739 April 20, 1812) was an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 soldier
Soldier

A soldier is a general English term that refers to a land component of national armed forces.In most societies of the world, "soldier" is also a general term for any member of the land forces including Commissioned officer and non-commissioned officers....
 and politician
Politician

A politician is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making through the influence of politics or a person who influences the way a society is governed....
. He was the first Governor of New York, and then the Vice President of the United States
Vice President of the United States

The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office in the United States of America created by the Constitution of the United States....
 under Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States , the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence , and one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States for his promotion of the ideals of republicanism in the United States....
 and James Madison
James Madison

James Madison was an American politician and political philosopher who served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States , and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States....
.

Early life and participation in the Revolution

His political interests were inspired by his father, Charles Clinton
Charles Clinton

Charles Clinton was a French and Indian War Colonel, the father of American Revolutionary War General James Clinton and U.S. Vice President George Clinton , and the grandfather of New York Governor DeWitt Clinton....
, who was an Irish
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
 immigrant to Little Britain, New York
Little Britain, New York

Little Britain, New York is an area in Orange County, New York, first settled in 1729 by Peter Mulliner, a devout Anglican, who named his farm Little Britain....
 and a member of the New York colonial assembly. George Clinton was the brother of General
General

A General officer is an Officer of high military rank. The term or equivalent is used by nearly every country in the world. General can be used as a generic term for all grades of general officer, or it can specifically refer to a single rank that is just called general....
 James Clinton
James Clinton

James Clinton was an American Revolutionary War soldier who obtained the rank of major general.He was born in Ulster County, New York in the colony of New York, in a location now part of Orange County, New York....
 and the uncle of New York's future governor, DeWitt Clinton
DeWitt Clinton

DeWitt Clinton was an early American politician who served as United States Senator and Governor of New York. In this last capacity he was largely responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal....
.

At 18, he enlisted in the British Army
British Army

The British Army is the Army branch of the British Armed Forces. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdoms of Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707....
 to fight in the French and Indian War
French and Indian War

The French and Indian War was the North American chapter of the Seven Years' War, known in Canada as the War of the Conquest. The name refers to the two main enemies of the British: the royal French forces and the various Indigenous peoples of the Americas forces allied with them....
, eventually rising to the rank of lieutenant
Lieutenant

Lieutenant is a military, naval, paramilitary, fire service, emergency medical services or police commissioned officer military rank.Lieutenant may also appear as part of a title used in various other organisations with a codified command structure....
. He subsequently studied law, became clerk of the court of common pleas and served in the colonial assembly. He was elected to the Continental Congress
Continental Congress

The Continental Congress was a convention of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that became the governing body of the United States during the American Revolution....
 and voted for the Declaration of Independence
United States Declaration of Independence

The United States Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, which announced that the Thirteen Colonies then at war with Kingdom of Great Britain were now independent states, and thus no longer a part of the British Empire....
, but was called to serve George Washington
George Washington

George Washington was the leader of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States of the United States of Americas ....
 as a brigadier general of militia and had to leave before the signing.

He was known for his hatred of Tories
Loyalist (American Revolution)

Loyalists were Thirteen Colonies who remained loyal to the Kingdom of Great Britain during and after the American Revolutionary War. They were often referred to as Tories, Royalists, or King's Men by the Patriot , those that supported the American cause....
 and used seizure and sale of Tory estates to help keep taxes down. A supporter and friend of George Washington
George Washington

George Washington was the leader of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States of the United States of Americas ....
, he supplied food to the troops at Valley Forge
Valley Forge

Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, was the site of the camp of the American Continental Army over the winter of 1777–1778 in the American Revolutionary War....
, rode with Washington to the first Inauguration and gave an impressive dinner to celebrate it.

Political career

In 1759 he was appointed County Clerk for Ulster County, New York
Ulster County, New York

Ulster County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York, USA. It sits in the state's Mid-Hudson Region of the Hudson Valley. As of the United States Census 2000, the population was 177,749....
, a position he held for the next fifty-two years. He was a member of the New York Provincial Assembly for Ulster County from 1768 to 1776. He became the first elected Governor of New York in 1777, and was re-elected six times, serving until 1795.

In 1783, at Dobbs Ferry, Clinton and Washington negotiated with General Sir Guy Carleton for the evacuation of the British troops from their remaining posts in the United States.

In 1787-1788, Clinton publicly opposed adoption of the new United States Constitution
United States Constitution

The Constitution of the United States of America is the supreme law of the United States. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of the United States of America; the Federal Government of the United States; and all the State & local governments and Territorial Administrative bodies contained therein....
. Herbert Storing
Herbert Storing

Herbert J. Storing was a noted professor of Constitutional History and Law, the Federalist Papers, and, most notably, the Anti-Federalists. Prior to his death at the age of 49 he had completed most of his annotated seven volume collection of Anti-Federalist writings, The Complete Anti-Federalist....
 identifies Clinton as "Cato", the pseudonym
Pseudonym

A pseudonym, , is a fictitious alternative to a person's legal name. In some cases, pseudonyms are adopted because it is part of a cultural or organizational tradition, as in the case of Religious names used by members of some religious orders and "cadre names" used by Communist party leaders such as Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin....
ous author of the Anti-Federalist essays which appeared in New York newspapers during the ratification debates. However, the authorship of the essays is disputed. Clinton withdrew his objections after the Bill of Rights
United States Bill of Rights

In the United States, the Bill of Rights is the name by which the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution are known. They were introduced by James Madison to the First United States Congress in 1789 as a series of constitutional amendments, and came into effect on December 15, 1791, when they had been United_States_Constitution...
 was added.

In 1792, he was chosen by the nascent Jeffersonian "Republican" party as their candidate for Vice President
Vice President of the United States

The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office in the United States of America created by the Constitution of the United States....
. While the Republicans joined in the general acclamation of Washington for a second term as President
President of the United States

The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition....
, they objected to the allegedly "monarchical" attitude of Vice President John Adams
John Adams

John Adams was an Politics of the United States and the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States , after being the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States for two terms....
. Clinton was nominated rather than Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson was the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States , the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence , and one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States for his promotion of the ideals of republicanism in the United States....
 because the Virginia
Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia is an United States U.S. state on the East Coast of the United States of the Southern United States. The state is known as the "Old Dominion" and sometimes as "Mother of Presidents", because it is the birthplace of Lists of United States Presidents by place of birth#By state....
 electors could not vote for Washington and also for a second Virginian. Clinton received 50 electoral votes to 77 for Adams. His candidacy was damaged by his anti-Federalist record, and by his narrow and disputed re-election as governor in 1792. (He won by only 108 votes, and the substantial anti-Clinton vote of Otsego County
Otsego County

Otsego County is the name of several counties in the United States:* Otsego County, Michigan* Otsego County, New York...
 was excluded on a technicality.)

He did not run for re-election as governor in 1795. He held no political office until he was elected to the New York State Assembly
New York State Assembly

The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York. The Assembly is composed of 150 members representing an equal amount of districts, with each district having an average population of 128,652....
 in 1800 and 1801. In 1801 he was once again elected governor, serving until 1804. With 21 years of service, he was the longest-serving governor of a U.S. state.

He was picked to be Jefferson's running mate in the 1804 Presidential election, replacing Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr

Aaron Burr, Jr. was an United States politician, American Revolutionary War hero, and adventurer. He served as the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States , under Thomas Jefferson....
. He served as the fourth Vice President of the United States
Vice President of the United States

The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office in the United States of America created by the Constitution of the United States....
, first under Jefferson, from 1805 to 1809, and then under James Madison
James Madison

James Madison was an American politician and political philosopher who served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States , and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States....
 from 1809 until his death of a heart attack in 1812. He was the first Vice President to die in office.

Clinton was one of only two Vice Presidents to serve in the position under two different Presidents. (John C. Calhoun
John C. Calhoun

John Caldwell Calhoun was the List of Vice Presidents of the United States Vice President of the United States. He was a leading United States Southern politician from South Carolina during the first half of the 19th century....
 was the other.) He is of no known relation to the 42nd President, Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton

William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton served as the List of Presidents of the United States President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He was the fifteenth Democrat elected to that office....
, who was born William Jefferson Blythe III.

Clinton was an unwilling candidate for President in the 1808 election, receiving 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
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney

Charles Cotesworth Pinckney , was an early American statesman of South Carolina, Revolutionary War veteran, and delegate to the Constitutional Convention....
 of the Federalist Party
Federalist Party (United States)

The Federalist Party was an American political party in the period 1792 to 1816, with remnants lasting into the 1820s. The Federalists controlled the federal government until 1801....
.

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

Kingston is a city in Ulster County, New York, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany, New York along the Hudson River....
 in 1908.

Marriage and children


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

  1. Catharine Clinton (November 5, 1770 - January 10, 1811). Married first John Taylor and secondly Pierre Van Cortlandt, Jr.
    Pierre Van Cortlandt, Jr.

    Pierre Van Cortlandt, Jr. was a United States Representative from NYCongDel. A member of New York's Van Cortlandt family, he was the son of Pierre Van Cortlandt, an early New York political figure, and brother of Philip Van Cortlandt, who was also a U.S....
    -son of New York Lt. Governor Pierre Van Cortlandt
    Pierre Van Cortlandt

    Pierre Van Cortlandt was the first Lieutenant Governor of the New York.He was born in New York, the son of Philip Van Cortlandt and Catherine DePeyster ....
    .
  2. Cornelia Tappen Clinton (June 29, 1774 - March 28, 1810). Married Edmond-Charles Genet
    Edmond-Charles Genęt

    Edmond-Charles Gen?t , also known as Citizen Gen?t, was a France ambassador to the United States during the French Revolution....
    .
  3. George Washington Clinton (October 18, 1778 - March 27, 1813). Married Anna Floyd, daughter of William Floyd
    William Floyd

    William Floyd , was a signer of the United States United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of New York.He was born in Brookhaven, New York, Long Island, Province of New York into a family of Welsh origin and took over the family farm when his father died....
    . (A brother-in-law was Congressman Benjamin Tallmadge
    Benjamin Tallmadge

    Benjamin Tallmadge was a member of the United States House of Representatives.Tallmadge may have been born in Setauket, New York, or Brookhaven, New York a town on Long Island....
    )
  4. Elizabeth Clinton (July 10, 1780 - April 8, 1825). Married Matthias B. Tallmadge.
  5. Martha Washington Clinton (October 12, 1783 - February 20, 1795).
  6. Maria Clinton (October 6, 1785 - April 17, 1829). Married Dr. Stephen D. Beekman—a grandson of Pierre Van Cortlandt
    Pierre Van Cortlandt

    Pierre Van Cortlandt was the first Lieutenant Governor of the New York.He was born in New York, the son of Philip Van Cortlandt and Catherine DePeyster ....
     and Joanna Livingston.


Legacy

Clinton County, New York
Clinton County, New York

Clinton County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the United States Census 2000, the population was 79,894. Its name is in honor of the first Governor of New York as a state, George Clinton ....
, Clinton County, Missouri
Clinton County, Missouri

Clinton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of 2000, the population was 18,979. Its county seat is Plattsburg, Missouri....
, Clinton County, Ohio
Clinton County, Ohio

Clinton County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio, United States. As of 2000, the population was 40,543. It is List of Ohio county name etymologies for former Vice President of the United States George Clinton ....
 and the village of Clinton, N.Y.
Clinton, Oneida County, New York

Clinton is a village in Oneida County, New York, New York, United States. The population was 1,952 at the 2000 census. It was named for George Clinton , the first governor of the state of New York....
, site of Hamilton College
Hamilton College

Hamilton College is a private, independent, Liberal arts colleges in the United States located in Clinton, Oneida County, New York, New York. In 2007, U.S....
, are named after him. Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the Capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790....
 has erected a gilded equestrian sculpture
Equestrian sculpture

An equestrian statue is a statue of a horse-mounted rider. The term is from the Latin "eques," meaning "knight". A statue of an unmounted horse is strictly an "equine statue"....
 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
National Statuary Hall Collection

The National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol comprises statues donated by individual states to honor persons notable in their history....
.

The bridge between Rhinecliff and Kingston New York was named the George Clinton bridge.

See also

  • Pierre Van Cortlandt
    Pierre Van Cortlandt

    Pierre Van Cortlandt was the first Lieutenant Governor of the New York.He was born in New York, the son of Philip Van Cortlandt and Catherine DePeyster ....
    , Clinton's Lieutenant Governor and brother-in-law


Bibliography

  • Kaminski, John P. George Clinton: Yeoman Politician of the New Republic. Madison House, 1993.


External links

  • *