Jul 15

Jul 15 Vice President Daniel D. Tompkins Drinks Himself to Death

Updated 7/13/21

Daniel D. Tompkins was the sixth Vice President of the United States.

Daniel D. Tompkins

Daniel D. Tompkins was a brilliant young lawyer.

At just 30-years-old, Tompkins was chosen for both the US House of Representatives and the New York State Supreme Court. He decided to pass on the House and take the Judicial position.

Three years later, Daniel was elected Governor of New York.

Governor

Tompkins held the highest office in New York for a full decade.

During this time, he withstood challenges from revolutionary luminaries such as Rufus King and Stephen Van Rensselaer.

Daniel served through the War of 1812 where New York’s lengthy Canadian border made it an important battleground.

Tompkins gained national fame leading the soldiers from New York in this war. Additionally, he sacrificed gigantic sums of his own money to pay for military operations.

Vice President

In 1817, Daniel D. Tompkins, now 43 years young, was selected to run for Vice President on the ticket with James Monroe.

The pair won easily and Daniel was suddenly stationed in the second highest office in the land.

Unfortunately, he was never fully repaid for his expensive in the war and fell into financial ruin.

This was during the Era of Good Feelings and his responsibilities were limited, so he decided to again run for Governor of New York...while Vice President!

Strange Records

Curiously, this was the second time in 16 years this happened. Aaron Burr had done the same thing just two Presidents earlier. The difference was that after Tompkins lost the election, he continued as Vice President of the United States.

Also interesting is the fact that Daniel was the only Vice President in the 19th century to serve two full terms.

Unfortunately, the disappointment of losing the election coupled with his money troubles led Tompkins to the bottle.

He fell into alcoholism and passed away in 1825. This helped Tompkins set another peculiar record...he lived a shorter post-VP life than anyone else to hold the position.

Daniel died just 99 days after his term expired.

Here are some other Founders who went bankrupt:

John Vining - Delaware’s Lonely Representative

James Callender Reveals All the Founders’ Secrets

The Era of Good Feelings is one of the most overlooked periods of American History.

The George Dangerfield is one of the definitive books on this subject, it is a must read.

If you’d like a copy you can get one through the Amazon affiliate link below (you’ll support this site, but don’t worry, Amazon pays me while your price stays the same).