Aaron Ogden (December 3, 1756 – April 19, 1839) was an American soldier, lawyer, United States Senator and the fifth governor of New Jersey.

[5] Ogden, a Presbyterian, graduated from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1773, and served as a grammar school tutor from 1773 to 1775.

[7] In 1778, he visited the house occupied by the family of diarist Sally Wister, who described him as "a genteel young fellow, with an aquiline nose.

He was elected as a Federalist to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of James Schureman and served from February 28, 1801, to March 3, 1803.

[1] Ogden ran several times for New Jersey's at-large congressional district, finishing 6th in 1800 (with the top 5 winning),[13] and also running in 1803,[14] 1804,[15] 1806,[16] 1808 (both in the regular and special elections),[17][18] and 1810.

Ogden was elected trustee of the College of New Jersey (later to become Princeton University) in 1803, a post in which he served until his death.

[1] In 1812, Ogden was elected as Governor of New Jersey in a wave of Federalist victories across the state due to opposition to the War of 1812.

[3] Ogden had been nominated by his Federalist colleagues as governor many times before, but the Republicans held the majority in the Assembly and elected their choice from 1803 to 1812.

"[20] After running unsuccessfully for re-election, the Federalists lost their majority in the Assembly and Ogden retired from political life.