George Clinton (politician)

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George Clinton (1814)
George Clinton's signature

George Clinton (born July 26, 1739 in Little Britain , Province of New York , † April 20, 1812 in Washington, DC ) was an American soldier, politician, first governor of New York from 1777 to 1795 (again 1801 to 1804) and fourth Vice President of the United States from 1805 until his death .

family

His father Charles Clinton came from County Longford in Ireland . The family emigrated to the Thirteen Colonies in 1729 and settled in Little Britain (later Orange County , New York ). At 18, he joined the British Army and participated in the Seven Years' War in North America in part ( English French and Indian War ). He later studied law and became a member of New York State Parliament .

American War of Independence

Clinton was elected to the Continental Congress and, following the ideas of the Enlightenment , voted for the American Declaration of Independence . Before signing, he left Congress to take part in the War of Independence as a brigadier general of the militia . His brother James Clinton was major-general in the Continental Army at the same time . The Enlightenment did not support the adoption of the United States Constitution until it was supplemented by the Bill of Rights .

Governor of New York

From 1777 to 1795 he was the first governor of New York after the American declaration of independence. From 1800 to 1801 he was a member of the New York State Assembly and from 1801 to 1804 he served another term as governor. His nephew DeWitt Clinton took over the governorship for the first time in 1817. He was known to be extremely hostile to the so-called loyalists . He used the confiscation of their property to keep taxes low. Clinton was a friend of George Washington and provided supplies to his troops at Valley Forge . He gave a large banquet for the inauguration of Washington as US President .

With 21 years in office, Clinton held the record for the longest term of office of any American governor since retiring in late 2015. It has since been overtaken by Iowa Governor Terry E. Branstad (1983 to 1999 and since 2011).

Vice President of the USA

Bust of Clinton as Vice President

After there were strong differences between him or his party and Vice President Aaron Burr during the first term of office of President Thomas Jefferson , it was considered impossible in 1804 that Jefferson Burr would nominate again as a candidate for vice presidency. In addition, because of his duel with Alexander Hamilton , Burr was wanted in some states for murder. As an alternative, they agreed on George Clinton. After the successful election, he became the fourth US Vice President. Between 1805 and 1809 he held this office as deputy to President Jefferson. In 1808 he was confirmed as vice president. From March 4, 1809, he served under Jefferson's successor, James Madison . He is one of only two Vice Presidents of the United States (besides John C. Calhoun ) who have held this office under two different presidents. As a result of a heart attack , he died on April 20, 1812 as the first vice-president in office. Clinton was originally buried in Washington, DC , and in 1908 his body was transferred to Kingston, New York .

Trivia

  • The Clinton Counties in New York and Ohio are named after him.
  • An equestrian statue was erected in his honor on Connecticut Avenue in Washington, DC .
  • In 1873, New York State had a bronze statue made of him, which was placed in the Capitol (each state is represented by two statues in this collection).

literature

  • Jules Witcover: The American Vice Presidency: From Irrelevance to Power. Smithsonian Books, Washington, D. C. 2014, ISBN 978-1-5883-4471-7 , pp. 41-49 (= 4. George Clinton of New York ).
  • John K. Lee: George Clinton: Master Builder of the Empire State. Syracuse University Press, Syracuse 2010, ISBN 978-0-8156-8153-3 .
  • John P. Kaminski: George Clinton: Yeoman Politician of the New Republic. Madison House, Madison 1993, ISBN 0-9456-1217-6 .

Web links

Commons : George Clinton  album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Peter Cashwell: alongthoselines: the boundaries did create our world , First Paul Dry Books edition. Edition, Paul Dry Books, Philadelphia 2014, ISBN 978-1-58988-092-4 , p. 59.