De Witt Clinton
De Witt Clinton was a state legislator, U.S. senator, and governor of New York who was largely responsible for the creation of the Erie Canal, which Jefferson greatly admired.
De Witt Clinton (1769-1828) was a state legislator, U.S. senator, and governor of New York. He ran for president in 1812, but lost to James Madison. As governor (1817-1821, 1825-1828), he oversaw the construction of the Erie Canal, promoted public school reform, and opposed Tammany Hall.
Thomas Jefferson and De Witt Clinton exchanged a number of letters and even gifts between 1802 and 1825. Jefferson admired the Erie Canal project greatly, writing that "N. York has anticipated by a full century the ordinary progress of improvement."1
Further Sources
- Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Clinton-Jefferson Correspondence. Transcriptions available at Founders Online.
- Cornog, Evan. The Birth of Empire: De Witt Clinton and the American Experience, 1769-1828. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Footnotes
- Jefferson to Clinton, December 12, 1822, Thomas Jefferson Papers, Library of Congress. Transcription available at Founders Online.