David M. Shribman: American politics: Where ignorant armies clash

MARBLEHEAD, Mass. — He helped supply the Continental Army during the early days of the American Revolution. He signed the Declaration of Independence. He shaped the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. He was a member of the House of Representatives, a governor of Massachusetts, and vice president.

He lent his name — perhaps the most mis-pronounced name in American history, even more so than Kamala — to the creative shaping of a congressional district we now call “gerrymandering.”

Elbridge Gerry (pronounce it with a hard “G” like “garden”) was perhaps the most famous native of this historic seafaring town, and gerrymandering is once again at the heart of American politics. (I spent years as executive editor of the Post-Gazette failing to persuade a single soul to pronounce that word with