(Listen on your favorite podcast player: iTunes, Spotify, Overcast, HeartRadio, Amazon Music)RYAN: The town of Clinton, New Jersey is named after a political figure. Not President Bill Clinton, not even Brigadier General George Clinton (who also served as the country’s 4th Vice President) But the 19th century Governor of New York - DeWitt Clinton. A man you might have never heard of.Historian Stephen Jaffee used to work at the Museum of the City of New York on Fifth Avenue. And to help us understand who DeWitt Clinton was, he sent my producer Katie on a little mission.SXF - NYC STREETSSTEPHEN: As I said I worked at the Museum of the City of New York, and if you go to the façade of that building there are two, like, niches, and there are two bronze statues.KATIE ON SCENE: So I'm here to see the two statues. There's the first one, it's right here.STEPHEN: One is Alexander Hamilton…KATIE ON SCENE: Pretty handsome guy. Honestly, even for a bronze statue.STEPHEN: I mean, the thing about Hamilton, apart from the fact that, you know, a big hit sexy musical was done about him is that he really was the mastermind of the federal government's financial structure and one of the major architects of the rise of the banking system in the country.KATIE ON SCENE: Okay, I'm going to walk to the other side to see if I can find the other guy. Here he is…STEPHEN: …and the other is DeWitt Clinton.KATIE:. …DeWitt Clinton. 1769 to 1828.STEPHEN: And I mean, once the musical started, we had people, like, coming up and doing stuff with this statue, of Hamilton that is, and people are kind of like, oh, who's this guy over here, you know?KATIE ON SCENE: The two icons of New York. Um, okay, just being honest here, he's a lot less handsome than the Alexander Hamilton one.MUSIC ENDRYAN: When we learned about the town of Clinton’s namesake we had a lot of questions. Why would a small town in rural New Jersey name itself after a New York political figure? A governor who was known in his day for building a massive transportation project across New York State?Why were Hunts Mills residents obsessed with this guy? Who was he? And why have we mostly forgotten about him?INTRO THEMERYAN: Welcome to Hometown History, a series about the iconic places and events that make a town someplace people call home - stories that people can tell to their friends old and new about the place they live, did live, or will live. The town of Hunts Mills changed its name to honor New York State Governor DeWitt Clinton - a man it seems it had no association with. Until you look at who DeWitt Clinton was and what he represented to this little milling town.THEME ENDSTEPHEN: DeWitt Clinton is like the best kept secret of the revolutionary era.RYAN: That’s historian Stephen Jaffee, who you heard from at the top of the episode.STEPHEN: Clinton is a New Yorker and whatever national ambitions he has, he's much more a local or a state, a statist, for lack of a better term. All of his political connections come out of being a New Yorker.RYAN: Clinton isn’t usually mentioned alongside founding figures like Hamilton, Madison, Jefferson and Adams for one pretty good reason. He kind of just missed all the important stuff.MUSIC - FIFE AND DRUMSRYAN: DeWitt was only ten years old when the revolution got going. He graduated from King’s College one year before the Constitution was signed. He got his first job in politics not because he fought on the battlefield or attended the Constitutional Convention, but because he had family connections. His first job was secretary to the Governor of New York State - his uncle George Clinton.MUSIC ENDRYAN: From inside New York’s political machine, DeWitt Clinton moved up the ranks quickly. In 1797 he was elected to the state assembly, and then to the State Senate. A few years later he became a three term Mayor of New York City. By then the Clintons had a strong grip on New York politics.STEPHEN: In New York, the Clinton clan, are creating a political base for themselves. So you have a political dynasty around a family, sort of think a little bit like the Kennedys.RYAN: Owning and running New York State politics was a strategic move for the Clintons. In the early 1800s New York and Virigina were the two most powerful states in the union. Three of the first four presidents of the United States came from Virginia (John Adams was the exception). And three of the first four Vice Presidents came from New York (again, except Adams). This wasn’t a coincidence. Candidates from Virginia and New York routinely ran together to ensure the most votes. But eventually New York State grew tired of playing second fiddle.STEPHEN: Dewitt Clinton ran for president in 1812 against James Madison and got pretty close.MUSICRYAN: So why did we never have a President DeWitt Clinton? By all accounts DeWitt was an intelligent and savvy student of politics, his political education was top notch, and he came from an extremely well connected ...
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Jun 25 202525 m