Jacob Radcliff
was Mayor of New York City

Mayor of New York City

The Mayor of the City of New York is head of the executive branch of New York City's government. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, and enforces all city and state laws within New York City.The budget overseen by the...

 from 1810 to 1811 and from 1815 to 1818.

Radcliff graduated from Nassau Hall

Nassau Hall

Nassau Hall is the oldest building at Princeton University in the borough of Princeton, New Jersey . At the time it was built in 1754, Nassau Hall was the largest building in colonial New Jersey. Designed originally by Robert Smith, the building was subsequently remodeled by notable American...

, Princeton in 1783 and practiced law under Egbert Benson

Egbert Benson

Egbert Benson was a lawyer, jurist, politician from Upper Red Hook, New York, and a Founding Father of the United States who represented New York in the Continental Congress, Annapolis Convention, and the United States House of Representatives, and who served as a member of the New York State...

, the first Attorney General of New York

New York State Attorney General

The New York State Attorney General is the chief legal officer of the State of New York. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government of New York.The current Attorney General is Eric Schneiderman...

. He was admitted to the bar in 1786, and about the same time, he married Juliana Smith, the daughter of Cotton Mather Smith and granddaughter of Cotton Mather

Cotton Mather

Cotton Mather, FRS was a socially and politically influential New England Puritan minister, prolific author and pamphleteer; he is often remembered for his role in the Salem witch trials...

. While practicing law in Poughkeepsie, he served in the Dutchess County Assembly during the session of 1794 to 1795. He
was appointed Assistant Attorney General on February 23, 1796. On December 27, 1798, he became a justice of the New York Supreme Court. In this position he helped revise the state's laws. He resigned his post in 1804 to practice chancery law in Brooklyn. When the Federalist party gained the majority in 1810, Radcliff was appointed mayor of New York City. When the War of 1812 divided the Federalist party, Radcliff aligned with the Tammany Society

Tammany Hall

Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society...

, which was poised to gain a majority in state politics. Grand Sachem of Tammany Hall John Ferguson

John Ferguson (New York politician)

John Ferguson was Mayor of New York City from March to June 1815. He was also Grand Sachem of Tammany Hall and a political enemy of Dewitt Clinton...

became mayor in 1815 but resigned to take the appointment of Surveyor of the Port of New York. Radcliff was chosen as his replacement.