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DE WITT See also: American See also: political See also: leader, was See also: born on the 2nd of See also: March 1769 at Little Britain, Orange county, New
See also: York
.
His See also: father, See also: James
See also: Clinton (1736-1812), served as a captain of provincial troops in the French and See also: Indian War, and as a brigadier-general in the American army in the War of Independence, taking See also: part in See also: Montgomery's attack upon See also: Quebec in 1775, unsuccessfully resisting at Fort Montgomery, along the Hudson, in 1777 the advance of See also: Sir See also: Henry Clinton, accompanying General
See also: John
See also: Sullivan in 1779 in his expedition against the See also: Iroquois in western New York, and in 1781 taking part in the siege of See also: Yorktown, Virginia
.
De Witt Clinton graduated at See also: Columbia See also: College in 1786, and in 1790 was admitted to the See also: bar
.
From 1790 to 1795 he was the private secretary of his See also: uncle, See also: George Clinton, governor of New York and a leader of the Republican party
.
He was a member of the New York See also: assembly from See also: January to See also: April 1798, and in See also: August of that See also: year entered the See also: state senate, serving until April 1802
.
He at once became a dominant factor in New York politics, and for the next quarter of a century he played a leading role in the See also: history of the See also: common-See also: wealth
.
From 1801 to 1802 and from 18o6 to 1807 he was a member of the Council of See also: Appointment, and realizing the power this See also: body possessed through its influence over the selection of a vast number of state, county and municipal See also: officers, he secured in 18o,, while his uncle was governor, the removal of a number of Federalist office-holders, in See also: order to strengthen the Republican organization by new appointments
.
On this account Clinton has generally been regarded as the originator of the " spoils See also: system " in New York; but he was really opposed to the wholesale proscription of opponents that became such a feature of American politics in later years
.
It was his See also: plan to fill the more important offices with Republicans, as they had been excluded from appointive office during the Federalist ascendancy, and to See also: divide the smaller places between the parties somewhat in accordance with their relative strength?' In counties where the Federalists had a majority very few removals were made
.
In 1802 Clinton became a member of the See also: United States Senate, but resigned in the following year to become mayor of New York city, an office he held from 1803 to 1807, from 18o8 to 181o, and from 1811 to 1815
.
During his mayoralty he also held other offices, being a member of the state senate from 18o6 to 1811 and See also: lieutenant-governor from 1811 to 1813
.
In 1812, after a congressional See also: caucus at See also: Washington had nominated See also: Madison for a second See also: term, the Republicans of New York, desiring to break up the so-called Virginia dynasty as well as the system of congressional nominations, nominated Clinton for the See also: presidency by a legislative caucus
.
Opponents of a second war with See also: Great Britain had revived the Federalist organization, and Federalists from eleven states met in New York and agreed to support Clinton, not on account of his war views, which were not in See also: accord with their own, but as a protest against the policy of Madison
.
In the election Clinton received 89 electoral votes and Madison 128
.
As a member of the legislature Clinton was active in securing
1 In 18o1 a state See also: convention adopted an amendment to the constitution giving the council an equal See also: voice with the governor in the See also: matter of appointments; but Clinton, who is often represented as the father of this See also: movement, though chosen as a member of the convention, did not attend its meetings.the abolition of See also: slavery and of imprisonment for See also: debt, and in perfecting a system of See also: free public See also: schools
.
In 1810 he was a member of a commission to explore a route for a canal between Lake See also: Erie and the Hudson See also: river, and in 1811 he and Gouverneur 11 See also: iris were sent to Washington to secure Federal aid for the .mdertaking, but were unsuccessful
.
The second war with Great Britain prevented any immediate See also: action by the state, but in 1816 Clinton was active in reviving the project, and a new commission was appointed, of which he became president
.
His connexion with this See also: work so enhanced his popularity that he was chosen governor by an overwhelming majority and served for two triennial terms (1817-1823)
.
As governor he devoted his energies to the construction of the canal, but the opposition to his administration, led by See also: Martin
See also: Van Buren and Tammany See also: Hall, became so formidable by 1822 that he declined to seek a third term
.
His successful opponents, however, overreached themselves when in 1824 they removed him from the office of canal
See also: commissioner
.
This See also: partisan action aroused such indignation that at the next election he was again chosen governor, by a large majority, and s,erved from 1825 until his See also: death
.
As governor he took part in the formal ceremony of admitting the See also: waters of Lake Erie into the canal in See also: October 1825, and thus witnessed the completion of a work which owed more to him than to any other See also: man
.
Clinton died at Albany, N.Y., on the lrthof See also: February 1828
.
In addition to his See also: interest in politics and public improvements, he devoted much study to the natural sciences; among his published See also: works are a Memoir on the Antiquities of Western New York (1818), and Letters on the Natural History and See also: Internal Resources of New York (1822)
.
See J . See also: Renwick's See also: Life of De Witt Clinton (New York, 1845) ; D
.
Hosack's Memoir of De Witt Clinton (New York, 1829) W
.
W
.
See also: Campbell's Life and Writings of De Witt Clinton (New York, 1849) ; and H
.
L
.
McBain's De Will Clinton and the Origin of the Spoils System in New York (New York, 1907)
.
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