George Clinton served as Vice President for Jefferson’s second term. He was reelected and continued to serve when Madison became president. 

He was born in 1739 in Little Britain (now Orange) county New York. His father was a member of the New York colonial legislature.

Young George Clinton had been a good student and was able to pass the bar exam for the Colony of New York when he was only 16 years old. 

He enlisted in the British army at the out break of the French and Indian war. 

He earned the respect of his commanders and was placed in charge of the rangers during the battle of Ft. Frontenac. The military skills he learned would later make him a valuable officer in the Continental army. 

After the war he returned home, and in 1759 he became a court clerk. In 1765 his legal skills caught the attention of the local colonial leaders and he was appointed to the office of District Attorney. 

When the Committee of Correspondence was organized, so that the colonies could share and discuss their mutual problems with the mother country, George Clinton became the delegate from New York. In 1774 he became New York’s delegate to the Continental Congress. 

In July of 1776 delegate George Clinton was not there to sign the Declaration of Independence. He was serving as a brigadier general leading a militia against the British. Clinton was an experienced outdoorsman and was able to use his friendship with the Indians to his military advantage. 

He was the first governor of the state of New York serving from 1777 to 1795. During this time Clinton supplied troops and much needed food and supplies to General Washington at Valley Forge. 

After the war George Clinton and George Washington became very good friends. Clinton named his two children George and Martha in honor of Washington and his wife. 

When the delegates met at the Constitutional convention Clinton, who was an advocate of states rights, originally opposed the ratification of the US constitution because it did not contain a bill of rights. Later, after the Bill of Rights was approved, he become a staunch defender of the Constitution. 

In the election of 1800 Clinton sided with the Republicans against the Federalist and was again elected governor of New york. As governor he urged the building of the Erie Canal, which would eventually be built during the governorship of his nephew DeWitt Clinton.

In the election of 1800 Clinton had been a strong supporter of fellow New Yorker Aaron Burr, but when Vice President Burr ran for governor of New York in 1804 Clinton did not want him to be elected. Burr’s loss led to the infamous duel with Alexander Hamilton. 

Clinton was elected Vice President in 1804 making Jefferson the first President to have two vice presidents. 

When James Madison was elected in 1808 Clinton was reelected as Vice President, making him the first Vice President to serve under two different presidents. 

Vice President Clinton’s time as President of the Senate was for the most part uneventful. The only time he was called upon to break a tie vote in the senate was in 1811 when he voted against rechartering the Bank of the United States. 

He died in 1812, making him the first Vice President to die in office. 

George Clinton’s aid and support of George Washington’s army during their dark days at Valley Forge was no doubt a major factor in helping the United States gain its independence, but his place in history has been so overshadowed that only those who take the time will know who he was or what he did.