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George Clinton: Yeoman Politician of the New…
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George Clinton: Yeoman Politician of the New Republic (edition 1993)

by John P. Kaminski (Author)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
292809,248 (3.3)2
Rather strongly pro-Clinton biography of a major figure --7 time governor of New York, leading Ant-Federalist/Jeffersnian Republican --candidate for vice president against John Adams in the first seriously contested national election, US Vice President under Jefferson (replacing Burr) and Madison. Kaminski sometimes seems to be reading Clinton's mind based on rather thin evidence --many of his papers were lost in a fire in 1911.
However, it does provide some useful balance to heavily pro-Federalist versions such as The Eleventh Pillar (on New York's ratification of the Constitution). ( )
  antiquary | Jun 6, 2014 |
Showing 2 of 2
This is a hidden gem of a book.

I just finished George Clinton: Yeoman Politician of the New Republic by John P. Kaminski. I came upon the book quite by accident at a public library, one of the few that is actually open for browsing post-pandemic, when I was searching for another book. Though I am a history buff I had heard little about George Clinton.

I pre-read a section about Vermont's formation of an independent republic, one that lasted from 1777 to 1791. Vermont's secession from New York (actually it was claimed by New York and New Hampshire, and there was some contention involvement from Massachusetts) was vigorously opposed by George Clinton, then governor. I decided, on a whim, to take the book out.

Sometimes, a book surprises you. I'd never really focused on George Clinton's role other than his cameo appearance in Ron Chernow's Hamilton, as an opponent of ratification of the constitution. Eventually, George Clinton acquiesced, as a result of the incipient adoption of the amendments that became the Bill of Rights. He was intelligent and skillful enough not to frontally or totally oppose the Constitution. Something like the Constitution was apparently inevitable in view of the implosion of the Articles of Confederation.

The Founding Fathers were quite an illustrious group of people, and some of them have become famous. I suspect that George Clinton was quite famous in his times. His fame has not really survived. His name is not a whole household word to elementary school students in way that George Washington, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay and/or Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr (the latter two being "duel citizens). The book works better as a setting for description of a period of time that as a story of his life. His life, put bluntly, was not thrilling the way Washington's or Hamilton's was.

There will never be a Broadway show called "George Clinton" even if Broadway reopens from the pandemic. Still it earns a solid "four stars" on Goodreads. ( )
  JBGUSA | Jan 2, 2023 |
Rather strongly pro-Clinton biography of a major figure --7 time governor of New York, leading Ant-Federalist/Jeffersnian Republican --candidate for vice president against John Adams in the first seriously contested national election, US Vice President under Jefferson (replacing Burr) and Madison. Kaminski sometimes seems to be reading Clinton's mind based on rather thin evidence --many of his papers were lost in a fire in 1911.
However, it does provide some useful balance to heavily pro-Federalist versions such as The Eleventh Pillar (on New York's ratification of the Constitution). ( )
  antiquary | Jun 6, 2014 |
Showing 2 of 2

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