Theodore Frelinghuysen

Theodore Frelinghuysen (March 28, 1787 – April 12, 1862) was an American politician and lawyer who represented New Jersey in the United States Senate from March 4, 1829, to March 3, 1835. He was the Whig vice presidential nominee in the election of 1844, running on a ticket with Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky. Born in Somerset County, New Jersey, Frelinghuysen established a legal practice in Newark, New Jersey, after graduating from the College of New Jersey.

He was the son of Senator Frederick Frelinghuysen and the adoptive father of Secretary of State Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen. He served as the New Jersey Attorney General from 1817 to 1829 and as a United States Senator from 1829 to 1835. In the Senate, Frelinghuysen strongly opposed President Andrew Jackson's policy of Indian removal. After leaving the Senate, he served as the Mayor of Newark from 1837 to 1838.

Frelinghuysen was selected as Clay's running mate at the 1844 Whig National Convention. In the 1844 election, the Whig ticket was narrowly defeated by the Democratic ticket of James K. Polk and George M. Dallas. Frelinghuysen served as president of New York University from 1839 to 1850, and as president of Rutgers College from 1850 to 1862. Upon its incorporation in 1848, Frelinghuysen Township, New Jersey, was named after him.