America's Worst Vice Presidents

A veritable Zelig of early American history, Elbridge Gerry signed the Declaration of Independence, hobnobbed with the likes of John Adams and John Hancock and served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention (where he refused to sign the Constitution because he did not like the way it was written). As governor of Massachusetts, he had the unfortunate honor of inspiring the term "gerrymandering," after redrawing congressional districts to his own advantage. Sadly, when it came to being the Republican party's vice-presidential candidate, Gerry didn't rate higher than third string: DeWitt Clinton and John Langdon, its first and second choices, declined the position. The party offered it to Gerry, who accepted. He might have been better off refusing: after serving 20 insignificant months under James Madison, he suffered a hemorrhage of the lungs while riding in a carriage and died.