Voting Station

Gouverneur Morris

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Politician

The Resume

    (January 31, 1752-November 6, 1816)
    Born in Westchester County, New York
    Principal author of the constitution of the state of New York (1777)
    Delegate to the Continental Congress (1778-79)
    Signer of the United States Constitution (1787)
    Minister to France (1792-94)
    US Senator from New York (1800-03)
    Chaired the Erie Canal Commission (1810-13)

Why he might be annoying:

    Rather confusingly, he was never a governor.
    His leg was shattered and had to be amputated and replaced with a wooden pegleg (1780): he claimed he had broken the leg in a carriage accident, but he was rumored to have actually jumped from a window to escape a jealous husband.
    His diaries recorded numerous affairs, with both single and married women.
    He believed only property owners should be allowed to vote.
    He opposed admitting new western states on an equal basis with the existing eastern states, calling them a wilderness that could never produce 'enlightened' statesmen.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was admitted to Columbia University at age 12.
    He was so appalled by conditions at Valley Forge that he became the spokesman for the Continental Army in Congress, successfully pushing for substantial reforms in its training and financing.
    At the Constitutional Convention, he was the only delegate to advocate completely abolishing slavery.
    He was one of the five men who drafted the final language of the Constitution.
    He declared, 'The proudest empire in Europe is but a bubble compared to what America will be, must be, in the course of two centuries, perhaps of one.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 6 Votes: 16.67% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 17 Votes: 58.82% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 20 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 8 Votes: 12.50% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 15 Votes: 73.33% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 24 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 14 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 6 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 12 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying