George William Clinton (April 21, 1807 – September 7, 1885) was a New York lawyer, politician, judge, author, and amateur naturalist.

In 1828, he attended the Litchfield Law School,[4][5] completed his legal studies with Judge Ambrose Spencer (1765–1848), and was admitted to the bar in 1831.

[2] Clinton initially practiced law in Albany with Matthew Henry Webster and then in 1832 formed a partnership with the son of his legal mentor, John Canfield Spencer (1788–1855), who eventually became the 17th United States Secretary of War and 16th United States Secretary of the Treasury in Canandaigua, New York.

[7] Clinton was appointed as United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York under President James K. Polk, and served from 1847 to 1850.

His legal writings included the three volume Digest of the Decisions of the Law and Equity Courts of the State of New York and Phi Beta Kappa oration Union College in 1857.

[10][11] He was an amateur naturalist, and published 1882's Catalogue of the Native and Naturalized Plants of the City of Buffalo and its Vicinity.

He was laid to rest in Forest Lawn Cemetery[15] after a service at St. Paul's Cathedral,[16] still clutching the clover he was holding when he died.