George Clinton ( vice president ) George Clinton ( April 20 , 1812 ) was an American soldier and statesman , considered one of the Founding Fathers of the United States . He served as Governor of New York from 1777 to 1795 , then again from 1801 to 1804 , then serving as the fourth Vice President of the United States from 1805 to 1812 , serving under Presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison . He is the longest - serving governor in the history of the United States ( at a total of 21 years and six terms in office ) , and he and John C . Calhoun are the only persons to serve as Vice President under two different U . S . Presidents . Early life and participation in the Revolution . His political interests were inspired by his father , Charles Clinton , an Anglo - Irish colonist of Little Britain , New York and a member of the New York colonial assembly . George Clinton was the brother of General James Clinton and the uncle of New York ' s future governor , DeWitt Clinton . At 18 , he enlisted in the British Army to fight in the French and Indian War , eventually rising to the rank of lieutenant . He subsequently studied law , became clerk of the court of common pleas and served in the colonial assembly . He was known for his hatred of Tories and used the seizure and sale of Tory estates to help keep taxes down . A supporter and friend of George Washington , he supplied food to the troops at Valley Forge , rode with Washington to the first Inauguration and gave an impressive dinner to celebrate it . Political career . In 1759 , he was appointed County Clerk for Ulster County , New York , a position he held for the next 52 years . He was a member of the New York Provincial Assembly for Ulster County from 1768 - 76 . On March 25 , 1777 , he was commissioned a brigadier general in the Continental Army . Shortly after , on April 20 , 1777 , he was elected Governor of New York in 1777 , and was re - elected five times , serving until 1795 . Although he had been elected governor , he retained his commission in the Continental Army and commanded forces at Fort Clinton and Fort Montgomery on October 6 , 1777 . He remained in the Continental Army until it was disbanded on November 3 , 1783 . Clinton was probably the only American in history to have served as both a military officer and a state governor concurrently . In 1783 , Clinton became an original member of the New York Society of the Cincinnati and served as its president from 1794 to 1795 . In 1783 , at Dobbs Ferry , Clinton and Washington negotiated with General Sir Guy Carleton for the evacuation of the British troops from their remaining posts in the United States . In 1787 – 88 , Clinton publicly opposed adoption of the new United States Constitution . 20th century historian , Herbert Storing , identifies Clinton as " Cato " , the pseudonymous author of the Anti - Federalist essays which appeared in New York newspapers during the ratification debates . However , the authorship of the essays is disputed . Clinton withdrew his objections after the Bill of Rights was added . In 1792 , he was chosen by the nascent Jeffersonian " Republican " party as their candidate for . While the Republicans joined in the general acclamation of Washington for a second term as President , they objected to the allegedly " monarchical " attitude of Vice President John Adams . Clinton was nominated rather than Thomas Jefferson because the Virginia electors could not vote for Washington and for a second Virginian . Clinton received 50 electoral votes to 77 for Adams . His candidacy was damaged by his anti - Federalist record , and by his narrow and disputed re - election as governor in 1792 . ( He won by only 108 votes , and the substantial anti - Clinton vote of Otsego County was excluded on a technicality . ) He did not run for re - election as governor in 1795 . He held no political office until he was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1800 and 1801 . In 1801 , he was again elected governor , serving until 1804 . With 21 years of service , he was the longest - serving governor of a U . S . state . He was selected as President Jefferson ' s running mate in the 1804 Presidential election , replacing Aaron Burr . He served as the fourth Vice President of the United States , first under Jefferson , from 1805 to 1809 , and then under President James Madison from 1809 until his death of a heart attack in 1812 . He was the first Vice President to die in office . Clinton was the first of two Vice Presidents to serve in the position under two different Presidents . ( John C . Calhoun was the other . ) He is of no known relation to the 42nd President , Bill Clinton , who was born William Jefferson Blythe III but took the surname of his stepfather . Clinton was an unwilling candidate for President in the 1808 election , receiving six electoral votes from a wing of the Democratic - Republican Party that disapproved of James Madison . He came in third after Madison and Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of the Federalist Party . His original burial was in Washington , D . C . He was re - interred in Kingston , New York in 1908 . Marriage and children . On February 7 , 1770 , Clinton married Sarah Cornelia Tappen ( d . 1800 ) ; they had five daughters and one son : Legacy . Clinton County , New York , Clinton County , Missouri , Clinton County , Ohio , and the village of Clinton , Oneida County , New York ( site of Hamilton College ) are all named for him . In Washington , D . C . there is a gilded equestrian sculpture of him on Connecticut Avenue . In 1873 , the state of New York donated a bronze statue of Clinton to the U . S . Capitol ' s National Statuary Hall Collection . In 1787 Clinton was depicted on an unauthorized copper coin minted privately in New York with " EXCELSIOR " on reverse . He was depicted in John Trumbull ' s Declaration of Independence even though he neither signed it nor was present when it was signed . In 1976 the painting appeared on the reverse of the two dollar bill and printed again in series 1995 and 2003 . In 2000 , the State of New York ceremonially renamed the Kingston - Rhinecliff Bridge in honor of Clinton .