Aaron Burr

Aaron Burr (born February 6, 1756, Newark, New Jersey [U.S.]—died September 14, 1836, Port Richmond, New York, U.S.) was the third vice president of the United States (1801–05), who killed his political rival, Alexander Hamilton, in a duel (1804) and whose turbulent political career ended with his arrest for treason in 1807.

Early years and the American Revolution

Burr, the son of Aaron Burr, Sr., and Esther Edwards, came from a prominent New Jersey family and was a grandson of the theologian Jonathan Edwards. While he was still a young child, both his parents died, and he and his sister, Sarah, were ultimately raised by an uncle. At age 16 Burr graduated from the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University)—his father had served as the school’s second president—and then began studying law. However, Burr halted his studies to fight in the American Revolution (1775–83). He distinguished himself while serving with Benedict Arnold and was promoted to major. He then joined the staff of Gen. George Washington, but both men reportedly developed a mutual dislike for each other, and he was soon transferred. Burr then became an aide to Gen. Israel Putnam and became known for his bravery. He rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel, but in 1779 he resigned, largely because of ill health.

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Political career: U.S. Senate and vice presidency

In 1782 Burr was admitted to the New York state bar, and his law practice in New York City soon flourished. During this time he married a widow, and the couple was together until her death in 1794. In 1784 and 1785 he was elected to the state assembly, and in 1789 he was appointed attorney general by Gov. George Clinton. By 1791 he had built a successful political coalition against Gen. Philip Schuyler, father-in-law of Alexander Hamilton (then secretary of the treasury), and won election to the United States Senate, incurring the enmity of Hamilton. Burr ran for vice president in 1796 but lost. The following year he failed to win reelection to the Senate—losing to Schuyler—and spent the next two years in state politics.

In 1800 Burr won the vice presidential nomination on the Jeffersonian Republican ticket. He carried New York state and thus helped bring about a national victory for his party. Under the electoral college procedures then prevailing, the electors had cast their votes for both Thomas Jefferson and Burr without indicating which should be president and which vice president. Both men had an equal number of electoral votes, and the Federalist-controlled House of Representatives had to break the tie. Although Burr maintained that he would not challenge Jefferson—an assertion that Jefferson did not wholly accept—Hamilton’s determined opposition to Burr was a strong factor in Jefferson’s election after 36 ballots. (In 1804 the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted, requiring electors to cast separate ballots for president and vice president.)

Burr took office, but he was marginalized by Jefferson, who had come to believe that Burr had been engaged in secret dealings to secure the presidency for himself. That and other incidents left Burr deeply unpopular with party leaders, and his renomination as vice president seemed doubtful.

Duel and treason charges

In February 1804 Burr’s friends in the New York legislature nominated him for the governorship. Hamilton contributed to Burr’s defeat by disseminating letters containing derogatory comments about Burr. Shortly thereafter, Governor Clinton replaced him as the Republican vice presidential candidate. Once again Burr felt himself to be the political victim of Hamilton’s animosity, and he challenged him to a duel at Weehawken, New Jersey. (Although duels were illegal in both New York and New Jersey, the penalties were less severe in the latter state.) The two men faced off on July 11, 1804. There are conflicting accounts about what happened. It is uncertain who fired first and whether Hamilton missed on purpose or whether he shot wide after involuntarily discharging his pistol when hit by Burr. In any event, Burr was unhurt, but Hamilton was fatally wounded and died the next day.

Arrest warrants were issued for Burr, whom many now viewed as a murderer, and he fled to Philadelphia, where he contacted his friend Gen. James Wilkinson, a United States Army officer secretly in the pay of Spain and the governor of the northern Louisiana territory. Expecting war to break out between the United States and Spain over boundary disputes, Wilkinson and Burr planned an invasion of Mexico in order to establish an independent government there. Possibly—the record is inconclusive—they also discussed a plan to foment a secessionist movement in the West and, joining it to Mexico, to found an empire on the Napoleonic model. In any event, Wilkinson became alarmed and betrayed Burr to President Jefferson. Trying to escape to Spanish territory, Burr was arrested and returned for trial to Richmond, Virginia, the site of the nearest federal court that could hear a trial for treason. Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court John Marshall presided in his capacity as circuit judge for Virginia. (At that time, circuit courts had original jurisdiction to try treason cases; the Supreme Court has never had that power.) Marshall acquitted Burr on the ground that acts of treason against the United States by definition require the existence of a state of war (Article III, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution).

Although acquitted, Burr remained under a cloud of suspicion and distrust. He soon left for Europe, where he tried in vain to enlist the aid of Napoleon in a plan to conquer Florida. Burr remained abroad for four years, living in customary indebtedness. He returned to New York in 1812 and practiced law. He married a wealthy widow, Elizabeth Brown Jumel, in 1833, but he frittered away much of her fortune within a year. Eventually she sued for divorce on grounds of adultery, and a divorce decree was granted on September 14, 1836, the day Burr died.