John Sergeant (politician)

John Sergeant
Portrait of Sergeant by Thomas Sully, 1811
Chair of the House Judiciary Committee
In office 1839–1841
Preceded by	Francis Thomas
Succeeded by	Daniel D. Barnard
In office 1822–1823
Preceded by	Hugh Nelson
Succeeded by	Hugh Nelson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
In office March 4, 1837 – September 15, 1841
Preceded by	Joseph Ingersoll
Succeeded by	Joseph Ingersoll
Constituency	2nd district
In office January 14, 1828 – March 3, 1829
Preceded by	Thomas Kittera
Succeeded by	Daniel H. Miller
Constituency	2nd district
In office October 10, 1815 – March 3, 1823
Preceded by	Jonathan Williams
Succeeded by	Samuel Breck
Constituency	1st district, Seat D
Personal details
Born	(1779-12-05)December 5, 1779 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Died	November 23, 1852(1852-11-23) (aged 72) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Resting place	Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Political party	Federalist (Before 1828) National Republican (1828–1834) Whig (1834–1852)
Spouse	Margaretta Watmough ​ ​ (after 1813)​
Relatives	Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant (father)
Education	University of Pennsylvania Princeton University (BA)

John Sergeant (December 5, 1779 – November 23, 1852) was an American politician who represented Pennsylvania in the United States House of Representatives. He was the National Republican Party's vice presidential nominee in the 1832 presidential election, serving on a ticket with Senator Henry Clay.

After graduating from Princeton University, Sergeant served in the Philadelphia government and won election to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. As a member of the Federalist Party, he won election to the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1815 to 1823. In Congress, he supported Clay's American System and opposed the extension of slavery, voting against the Missouri Compromise.

After serving as president of the Pennsylvania Board of Canal Commissioners, Sergeant returned to Congress in 1827. He lost his 1829 re-election campaign and became a legal counsel for the Second Bank of the United States.^[1] In the 1832 presidential election, the ticket of Clay and Sergeant was soundly defeated by the Democratic ticket of Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. After the election, Sergeant joined the Whig Party and again returned to Congress, serving from 1837 to 1841. He was also the president of the Pennsylvania constitutional convention in 1838. He retired from public office in 1841 and resumed his law practice.