was a strong backer of Henry Clay's American System and the Second Bank of the United States in Congress, and even traveled to Europe to negotiate loans to the Bank. He was also a strong opponent of slavery who voted against the Missouri Compromise. He then retired, albeit temporarily, from Congress. In 1813, Sergeant was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society. In 1825, he was president of the Pennsylvania Board of Canal Commissioners. The following year, he was an envoy to the Panama Congress of 1826 but arrived after the Congress had concluded its discussions. He returned to the U.S. House of Representatives for the term starting March 4, 1827. He failed re-election to the following term and left Congress for the second time on March 3, 1829. He then became legal counsel to the Bank of the United States. Vice Presidential Candidate Sergeant was Henry Clay's running mate on the National Republican ticket during the 1832 presidential election but lost to Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren in a landslide and again retreated from public life. After his vice presidential candidacy, he returned as president of the Pennsylvania constitutional convention in 1838, and then was elected as a Whig to the U.S. House of Representatives. He served this last time from March 4, 1837, until he resigned on September 15, 1841, and again was chair of the Committee on the Judiciary for the 1837 – 1839 term. He returned to his law practice, declining offers of a cabinet or diplomatic position from the new Whig administration. In 1844 he was considered for the Whig vice presidential nomination, to once again run with Clay, but the convention eventually selected Theodore Frelinghuysen. Personal life On June 23, 1813, he married Margaretta Watmough, daughter of James Horatio Watmough and Anna (née Carmick) Watmough. With Margaretta he fathered ten children, all but one surviving infancy. Among his children were: Margaretta Sergeant (1814–1886), who married Major General George Meade, Commander of the Union Army of the Potomac from the Battle of Gettysburg until the end of the Civil War. Sarah Sergeant (1817–1850), who married Henry A. Wise, the 33rd Governor of Virginia. Katherine Sergeant (1825–1910), who married Harry Augustus Cram (parents of John Sergeant Cram). William Sergeant (1829–1865), who served in the Civil War and was mortally wounded at the Battle of White Oak Road. Sergeant died in Philadelphia on November 23,