Elbridge Gerry was an influential American politician, diplomat, merchant and a Founding Father who served as the fifth vice president of the United States under President James Madison from 1813 until his death in 1814. Gerry graduated from Harvard University in 1762 with a degree in commerce and entered politics in 1773, winning a seat in the Massachusetts Legislature and attending the Provincial Congress in 1774. He went on to serve on the Continental Congress, where he worked on commercial and naval issues. Although he attended the Constitutional Convention in 1787, he opposed the new Federal Constitution and declined to sign it since it did not include a Bill of Rights. Gerry was elected to the first two Congresses from Massachusetts and later served as an envoy to France in 1797. He was also elected governor of Massachusetts in 1810 and 1811, but came under scrutiny for redistricting the state to benefit his party, which led to the creation of the term "gerrymandering." In 1812, Gerry was elected Vice President of the United States.
