24 Facts About DeWitt Clinton

1.

DeWitt Clinton was an American politician and naturalist.

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2.

DeWitt Clinton was a major candidate for the American presidency in the election of 1812, challenging incumbent James Madison.

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3.

Nephew of two-term U S vice president and New York governor George Clinton, DeWitt Clinton served as his uncle's secretary before launching his own political career.

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4.

DeWitt Clinton was governor of New York from 1817 to 1822 and from 1825 to 1828, and presided over the construction of the Erie Canal.

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5.

DeWitt Clinton believed that infrastructure improvements could transform American life, drive economic growth, and encourage political participation.

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6.

DeWitt Clinton heavily influenced the development of infrastructure both in New York State and in the United States as a whole.

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7.

DeWitt Clinton became the secretary to his uncle George Clinton, who was then governor of New York.

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8.

DeWitt Clinton organized the New-York Historical Society in 1804 and was its president, and he was a leader in launching the Erie Canal.

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9.

DeWitt Clinton helped to reorganize the American Academy of the Fine Arts in 1808 and served as its president between 1813 and 1817.

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10.

DeWitt Clinton was a regent of the University of the State of New York from 1808 to 1825.

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11.

DeWitt Clinton was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1814 and served as its vice president from 1821 to 1828.

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12.

DeWitt Clinton ran for president as a candidate both for the Federalist Party and for a small group of antiwar Democratic-Republicans.

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13.

The gubernatorial election was moved from April to November, but DeWitt Clinton was not renominated by his party to run for re-election in November 1822.

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14.

DeWitt Clinton served another two terms until his sudden death in office.

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15.

DeWitt Clinton was essential in establishing the Grand Encampment of Knights Templar in the United States and served as its first, second, and third grand master from 1816 to 1828.

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16.

DeWitt Clinton's proclamations had no effect and the Masonic fraternity underwent a period of severe decline in many regions of the United States because of criticism set off by the scandal.

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17.

From 1810 to 1824, DeWitt Clinton was a member of the Erie Canal Commission.

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18.

DeWitt Clinton was among its first members, who were appointed in 1810 and planned and surveyed the route to be taken.

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19.

DeWitt Clinton was persuaded by Canal proponent Jesse Hawley to support construction of a canal from the eastern shore of Lake Erie to the upper Hudson River.

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20.

DeWitt Clinton was not related to Bill Clinton, who served as a president from 1993 to 2001.

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21.

In 1813, DeWitt Clinton became a hereditary member of the New York Society of the Cincinnati in succession to his brother, Lieutenant Alexander DeWitt Clinton, who was an original member of the society.

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22.

DeWitt Clinton's widow was completely without funds to purchase a suitable grave site.

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23.

DeWitt Clinton accomplished much as a leader in civic and state affairs, such as improving the New York public school system, encouraging steam navigation, and modifying the laws governing criminals and debtors.

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24.

DeWitt Clinton's portrait appears on many tobacco tax stamps of the late 1800s to early 1900s.

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