welcome to the fourth episode of our vices a short program about the office of the vice presidency specifically focusing on each vice president's time in office in three short questions question number one how did George Clinton become vice president born in 1739 in New York Clinton's father was a military man who took George and his brother James on campaign during the French and Indian War George in his service earned the rank of Lieutenant after the war George returned to his law studies and began practicing in 1764 rising to the job of district attorney the next year in the period leading up to the revolution the entire Clinton family moved closer and closer to the Patriot cause originally George's father migrated to New York in 1729 to escape persecution in Ireland from English Authorities on religious matters and so the family never truly cared for the government of the United Kingdom proper and so naturally they fell into the group of people resisting the overreach of that government in 1770 George Clinton provided legal representation in defense of an imprisoned member of the Sons of Liberty and politically became to line with the anti-british Livingston faction of New York provincial politics which helped him become an assemblyman in the colonial legislature where in 1775 he introduced legislation to approve the resolutions of the First Continental Congress with his allegiances never in doubt George Clinton was appointed to the delegation representing New York during the second continental congress voting in favor of pendants he was unable to sign the Declaration of Independence as he was needed in New York where he served as Brigadier General of the New York militia by 1777 he also became the first governor of the state of New York serving in both roles concurrently bravely defending his state in battle while also governing his effective Administration during the most trying of times maintaining a revolutionary government even when the British occupied large portions of the state earned him re-election to the office of Governor until he decided to retire in 1795. under his leadership he developed the clintonian faction in New York Politics rivaling the livingstons the clintonians were considered less aristocratic and more salt of the earth types than the Livingston's he also supported the career of his nephew the up-and-coming Dewitt Clinton George became an anti-federalist opposing the new Constitution and until an agreed-upon Bill of Rights could be drafted to ensure individual civil liberties are protected he further came to distrust the federal government when a congressional committee recommended the Republic of Vermont enter the Union as a state and not a portion of New York as Clinton and New Yorkers had long claimed nationally in the very first presidential election George Clinton received three electoral votes from his supporters in a bid for the vice presidency a far cry from John Adams however in the 1792 election Clinton received the backing of the emerging Democratic Republican party at this early day commonly referred to as the anti-administration party as their main candidate for Vice President Clinton was a northerner like Adams and an old friend of Southerner George Washington and so he appeared to be a natural vice president for President Washington Adams did not consider Clinton as equal nor a threat but in the 1792 election Clinton received 50 electoral votes to Adams 77 still a loss but a far greater showing than the four votes he received in 88. in a warning signed Adams and the Federalists that the opposition party was on the rise a warning sign Adams ignored by the time of the 1790 sixth election George Clinton was enjoying his retirement which cleared the field for Thomas Jefferson to consolidate much of the Republican vote in his Direction finishing second to John Adams Jefferson became the first Democratic Republican vice president in the lead-up to the election of 1800 Jefferson again planned to run against Adams intending to become president as his running mate the party turned again to Clinton who on encouragement from nephew DeWitt was seeking to end his retirement and would eventually run for governor of New York once again instead Clinton suggested the up-and-coming Aaron Burr another New York politician in arrival of dewitts the promotion of Vice President would remove burr from his power base in New York George Clinton became Governor once more while Aaron Burr in his single term as VP torpedoed his own political career from the start Jefferson did not trust his motives after he failed to yield their electoral tie Jefferson oh yeah and then Aaron Burr murders Alexander Hamilton in a duel sensing Birds crumbling fortunes Dewitt Clinton began a series of correspondences with Virginia jeffersonians advocating for his Uncle George to replace Burr as vice president for Jefferson's second term this would preserve the New York Virginia political Alliance and the North and South pattern for presidents and vice presidents that began with Washington Adams for DeWitt it would give his Uncle George an end of career position worthy of his service further distinguished the family name and get his old Uncle out of the way for his eventual run for governor and so in 1803 George Clinton let it be known that he would not seek another term as Governor and was open to the Democratic Republican nomination for VP for Clinton he knew the position would be a great accomplishment but also less work than being governor of a state and so a fine position for an elder Statesman Jefferson liked Clinton for the job as George would bring all the benefits fellow New Yorker Burr had to the ticket but was Far older and thus unlikely to run for president against his chosen successor James Madison Jefferson knew the Virginia New York Alliance was essential to the Electoral power of his party but wanted The Virginian end of the alliance to be in the driver's seat Burr's vice presidency necessitated the 12th Amendment which among other things meant that electoral votes would be marked for either president or vice president instead of both positions being elected from the same pool in the old system the second place candidate became vice president now the person who received the majority of vice presidential electoral votes would become vice president this allowed for a party team ticket that didn't have to technically run against one another in the 1804 elections the Democratic Republicans won in a landslide George Clinton won 162 of the vice presidential electoral votes he only needed 89 to win his competitor Rufus King also of New York only received 14. with this George Clinton became the fourth Vice President of the United States which brings us to question number two what did George Clinton accomplish during his time as vice president Clinton took office in March of 1805 and it immediately became clear that old George had difficulty serving as the presiding officer of the Senate spending so many years as the executive of New York he had little legislative experience and was not well versed in parliamentary procedure something his predecessor Burr was praised for additionally Clinton never really fit in with the High Society of DC that was heavily Southern in nature having been a New Yorker all his life Clinton found any excuse at all to return to his home state Jefferson essentially used the vice presidential position to sideline Clinton much as Clinton had done to Burr Jefferson never sought advice from Clinton nor asked for any recommendations to appointed offices in this way his party could still include a powerful northerner without ever giving him any real clout again Paving the way for his secretary of state James Madison to become the next president in New York the new governor Morgan Lewis ascended to power over the wave of his own faction the Lewis sites now rivaling the clintonians and diminishing the influence of George and DeWitt Jefferson rightfully so also saw DeWitt as a potential future rival to Madison which he would be in 1812. Jefferson offered DeWitt the position of governor of the Mississippi Territory which would remove the younger Clinton from his own power Base by sending him to the edge of the nation in a supposed promotion DeWitt wisely declined this all seems like a lot of infighting and maneuvering for a functional political party but at this point in time parties like the Democratic Republicans function more like a confederation of State parties and the very real north-south divide created sharp differences of priorities even within the party George Clinton presided over the Senate only when he really wanted to if he knew he could potentially be the tie-breaking vote on a matter he valued he made an appearance such was the case in the nomination of his friend John Armstrong to the position of commissioner to Spain Clinton broke the 15 to 15 tie in favor of Armstrong in time Clinton grew disillusioned with Jefferson who he viewed as indecisive on Foreign Affairs believing that a war with France or Britain would be inevitable Clinton thought the President should be doing more to prepare for a future war that would be especially harmful to the great port cities of the north and their shipping vessels in 1807 the clintonians asked George to run again for governor of New York which he declined as the election of 1808 might prove promising for his own presidential aspirations his main competition within the party once again was James Madison Clinton supporters wanted a Northerners president demonstrating the fair balance of the Union Clinton also had years on Madison and was clearly Madison Senior Clinton's folks argued that while Madison participated in the revolution with his pen in ink Clinton actually fought in the revolution shading Clinton as a northern George Washington Clinton also had an electoral history of growing success going back to 1788. Madison was a cabinet appointee Madison himself faced competition within his own State party James Monroe and his supporters flirted with the idea of Monroe running for vice president with Clinton at the front of the ticket as their Presidential nominee but Clinton coming up on his 69th birthday was considered by many too old for the responsibility of the presidency in his time as vice president did little to Foster additional enthusiasm in the end Clinton was re-nominated to be the party's vice presidential candidate to serve under a Madison Pres residency Clinton viewed this nomination as an insult as he viewed himself as Jefferson's natural successor as such he neither accepted nor declined the VP nomination in the general election he received just six electoral votes for president but again swept the vice presidential vote Clinton would accept the second term as vice president but didn't bother to show up at Madison's inauguration this made Clinton the first vice president to serve under two different presidents in his second term Clinton actively opposed president Madison's initiatives when they conflicted with his own views in 1811 he cast a tie-breaking vote in the Senate killing the First Bank of the United States against the wishes of Madison demonstrating that unlike many Democratic Republicans of the day that until the very end Clinton remained true to the party's original small government beliefs and I do mean the end because come April 20th 1812 with the nation on the evil war with Britain George Clinton died of a heart attack at the age of 72. Clinton became the first politician to lie in state in Washington DC which brings us to our final question what Legacy did Clinton create during his vice presidency this is a difficult question to answer as the job of VP for Clinton was almost like a working retirement and Clinton's massive influence was already in the books before taking this particular office also much of the result of his vice presidency was a continuation of Trends from his predecessors the Virginia New York Alliance the continued sidelining of the vice president the use of the position to negate a politician's influence the exclusion from the presidential cabinet however it is worth noting that as VP Clinton cast 14 tie-breaking votes in the Senate after his death Dewitt Clinton reeling from the mistreatment Madison showed his family became the Federalist candidate to oppose Madison in the 1812 election losing to Madison DeWitt would go on to distinguish himself as governor of New York the Erie Canal being his most impactful project and honestly Dewitt's career would have been more or less the same if Uncle George was vice president or not but let's not get ahead of ourselves the nation now had no vice president nor was there anything in the Constitution about replacing a vice president and so the office would remain vacant until the next election