dewitt clinton
governor of new york

biography
A lawyer and statesman, DeWitt Clinton was born in Little Britain, New York, and as such was educated at Columbia College. Three years after graduating form his college in 1786, Clinton was admitted to the bar, became secretary to his uncle, George Clinton, who was the governor of New York. Soon after, he became a member of the Anti-Federalist party.

He was a member of the New York state legislature from 1797 until 1802, when he became a member of the U.S. Senate. However, he later resigned in 1803 in order to serve as mayor of New York City, and thus he served in that capacity with two brief interruptions until 1815.

In 1812, he ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. presidency against James Madison. One of Clinton’s most lasting accomplishments as a leader in civic and state affairs was the establishment of the New York public school system; actively interested in all scientific and social questions, he encouraged steam navigation, modified the laws governing criminals and debtors, and advocated the building of the Erie Canal.

On the strength of the canal question, which he had made a political issue, Clinton was elected as governor of New York, serving from 1817 to 1823. In the first year of his third term, he opened the canal at Rome, New York for navigation, breaking ground.