He studied law in Albany with attorney George Metcalfe, where he became friendly with his fellow student Martin Van Buren.

He also supported and voted for the act changing the compensation of congressmen from six dollars a day to $1,800 per annum, a course which temporarily clouded his political fortunes.

In 1828, he joined his friend Martin Van Buren's ticket for the gubernatorial election as the Democratic-Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, a step that rendered it necessary for him to resign his judicial office.

He opposed the plan, raising such a vehement opposition to him in the localities through which the proposed canal would pass, that in 1832 he declined to seek a third term.

After spending two years in Paris, he returned to the United States, and resided upon an estate on the banks of Owasco Lake near Auburn.

There is a memorial to him at the Cathedral of All Saints (Albany, New York) (see image on this page) that states in Latin, integer vitae scelerisque purus, which means "upright of life and free from wickedness.