Editing DeWitt Clinton (section)

===Governor of New York===
[[File:DWClinton.png|thumb|right|Gubernatorial portrait of Clinton]]
After the resignation of [[Daniel D. Tompkins]], who had been elected vice president, he won a [[1817 New York gubernatorial election|special gubernatorial election]] in which he was the only candidate; 1,479 votes were cast for [[Peter Buell Porter]] against Clinton's 43,310, because the [[Tammany Hall|Tammany]] organization, which fiercely hated Clinton, had printed ballots with Porter's name on them and distributed them among the Tammany followers in New York City. On July 1, 1817, Clinton took office as governor of New York. He was re-elected in 1820, defeating Vice President Tompkins in a narrow race—DeWitt Clinton received 47,447 votes, as opposed to Tompkins's 45,900—and served until December 31, 1822.{{sfn|''The Encyclopedia of New York State''|pages=348-349}}

During his second term, the [[New York State Constitutional Convention]] of 1821 shortened the gubernatorial term to two years and moved the beginning of the term from July 1 to January 1, which cut off the last six months of his three-year term. The gubernatorial election was also moved from April to November, but Clinton was not renominated by his party to run for re-election in November 1822. Even so, he kept his post as president of the [[Erie Canal Commission]]. In April 1824, most of his political opponents, the [[Bucktails]], voted in the New York State legislature for his removal from the Canal Commission, which caused such a wave of indignation among the electorate that he was nominated for governor by the People's Party and was re-elected governor, defeating the official candidate of the Democratic-Republican Party, his fellow Canal Commissioner [[Samuel Young (New York politician)|Samuel Young]]. He served another two terms until his sudden death in office.{{sfn|''The Encyclopedia of New York State''|pages=348-349}}