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A committed Democrat, Clinton was a delegate to the Second Continental Congress, and although he voted for separation from Great Britain, militia duties as a brigadier-general prevented his signing the Declaration of Independence. Charged with the defense of the Hudson River valley, Clinton was not successful as a military leader. He found his true metier in 1777 when to the surprise of the ruling faction, he was elected the first state governor, the beginning of six consecutive terms of office. Clinton was effective in dealing with the tangled revolutionary period finances and in suppressing the Loyalists. He created a powerful political machine, noted for corruption and patronage that kept him in power until he was finally ousted in the Federalist surge of 1795. In 1800 he was re-elected governor on the coattails of Jefferson's popularity. He went on to become vice-president in 1804 under Jefferson and 1808 under Madison, dying in office in 1812.
Exhibition History“‘If Elected...’ Unsuccessful Candidates for the Presidency 1796-1968,” National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., April 14 – September 4, 1972.
BibliographyDunlap, William, History of the Rise and Progress of the Arts of Design in the United States (Boston, MA: C. E. Goodspeed & Co., 1918), p. 258.
Bolton, Theodore and Irwin F. Cortelyou, Ezra Ames of Albany, Portrait Painter, Craftsman, Royal Arch Mason, Banker, 1768 – 1836, and a Catalog of his Works (New York, NY: The New York Historical Society, 1955), n.p.
Gaines, Edith, “The Clintons of New York,” in Antiques Magazine, Vol. 79 (May, 1961), pp. 463-465.
Artist
Ezra Ames
(1768 - 1836)
George Clinton
Datec. 1812
MediumOil
DimensionsSight: 30 × 24 1/8 in. (76.2 × 61.3 cm)
Object numberN0353.1955
Credit LineCollection of the Fenimore Art Museum. Gift of Stephen C. Clark
Photograph by Richard Walker
Label TextThis is one of several bust-length copies of the full-length portrait that Ames exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy in 1812. The copies were commissioned by Clinton admirers, a common practice that allowed the artist added income and gave the patron an original but relatively inexpensive portrait.
Clinton was a revolutionary officer and a successful politician who was seven times the governor of New York and was twice elected vice-president of the United States. His father organized and emigrated with a group of colonists from Ireland to settle Little Britain in Ulster county. In 1768 he was elected to the Provincial Assembly and became a rival of Philip Schuyler for the leadership of the revolutionary faction.
A committed Democrat, Clinton was a delegate to the Second Continental Congress, and although he voted for separation from Great Britain, militia duties as a brigadier-general prevented his signing the Declaration of Independence. Charged with the defense of the Hudson River valley, Clinton was not successful as a military leader. He found his true metier in 1777 when to the surprise of the ruling faction, he was elected the first state governor, the beginning of six consecutive terms of office. Clinton was effective in dealing with the tangled revolutionary period finances and in suppressing the Loyalists. He created a powerful political machine, noted for corruption and patronage that kept him in power until he was finally ousted in the Federalist surge of 1795. In 1800 he was re-elected governor on the coattails of Jefferson's popularity. He went on to become vice-president in 1804 under Jefferson and 1808 under Madison, dying in office in 1812.
Exhibition History“‘If Elected...’ Unsuccessful Candidates for the Presidency 1796-1968,” National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., April 14 – September 4, 1972.
BibliographyDunlap, William, History of the Rise and Progress of the Arts of Design in the United States (Boston, MA: C. E. Goodspeed & Co., 1918), p. 258.
Bolton, Theodore and Irwin F. Cortelyou, Ezra Ames of Albany, Portrait Painter, Craftsman, Royal Arch Mason, Banker, 1768 – 1836, and a Catalog of his Works (New York, NY: The New York Historical Society, 1955), n.p.
Gaines, Edith, “The Clintons of New York,” in Antiques Magazine, Vol. 79 (May, 1961), pp. 463-465.
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