Elbridge Gerry
In the early days of the United States under the Constitution the public did not vote for Senators from their state. Senators were elected by the state legislatures and approved by the state’s governors. This indirect election of the Upper Chamber of Congress was largely due to the political motives and maneuvers of one of the lesser known of the Founders, Elbridge Gerry. Today his name is remembered for the word coined from it – gerrymandering – which refers to the redrawing of electoral districts to gain party advantage. Gerry was the first Vice President to die in office, and the only one of the Founding Fathers buried in Washington DC.
The term gerrymandering implies that Gerry was the developer of the process by which a political party can enhance its power. He was not. He was serving as governor of Massachusetts in 1812 when the legislature, then controlled by Republicans, redrew the electoral districts to enhance their ability to retain control of both state and federal offices, some of which resulted in highly contrived and odd shapes for many districts. Gerry was displeased with the results and despite finding it to be, “…highly disagreeable” he signed the legislation. A commentator later compared the shape of one district to a salamander, calling the new creature a gerrymander and the label stuck.
Although Gerry was instrumental in developing the Constitution during the Convention he refused to vote for it being presented to the people for ratification by the states, and argued strenuously against it in the public debate which followed. Gerry was disturbed by the centralized government which the Constitution created, and by the lack of the document’s definition of civil liberties. Gerry also wanted the President to be elected either by the governors of the states or their legislatures, not trusting the people to be able to make an informed choice.
Gerry made himself wealthy during the Revolutionary War, by trading with France and other nations for supplies sold to Congress for the use of the Continental Army. He also supported some privateering ventures. During his political career following the war and throughout the first decade of the nineteenth century he lost most of his wealth through the mismanagement of some of his ventures by hired assistants and friends. He lent money which was not repaid. Much of his wealth was in land in the west, still not generating income due to the Indian threat. When James Madison prepared to run for his second term as President, Gerry asked to be his running mate because he needed the money the job paid.
Gerry also knew that the job would not be too taxing on his by then fading health. He did not keep the Vice Presidency very long. In November 1814, he collapsed while visiting the Treasury Department and was taken to his residence a few blocks from the White House. He died there on November 23, 1814. Gerry was one of three members of the Constitutional Convention who did not vote for or sign the resulting document, the others being George Mason and Edmund Randolph. The Constitution contained no instructions on replacing a Vice President who died in office, and the office remained unfilled until the inauguration of James Monroe and Daniel Tompkins in 1817.