Aaron Burr Aaron Burr , Jr . ( February 6 , 1756 – September 14 , 1836 ) was the third Vice President of the United States ( 1801 – 1805 ) ; he served during President Thomas Jefferson ' s first term . After serving as a Continental Army officer in the Revolutionary War , Burr became a successful lawyer and politician . He was elected twice to the New York State Assembly ( 1784 – 1785 , 1798 – 1799 ) , was appointed New York State Attorney General ( 1789 – 1791 ) , was chosen as a United States Senator ( 1791 – 1797 ) from the state of New York , and reached the apex of his career as Vice President . The highlight of Burr ' s tenure as President of the Senate ( one of his few official duties as Vice President ) was the Senate ' s first impeachment trial , of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase . In 1804 , the last full year of his single term as Vice President , Burr killed his political rival Alexander Hamilton in a famous duel . Burr was never tried for the illegal duel , and all charges against him were eventually dropped . The death of Hamilton , however , ended Burr ' s political career . President Jefferson dropped him from the ticket for the 1804 presidential election , and he never held office again . After leaving Washington , Burr traveled west seeking new opportunities , both economic and political . His activities eventually led to his arrest on charges of treason in 1807 . Although the subsequent trial resulted in acquittal , Burr ' s western schemes left him with large debts and few influential friends . In a final quest for grand opportunities , he left the United States for Europe . He remained overseas until 1812 , when he returned to the United States to practice law in New York City . There he spent the remainder of his long life in relative obscurity . Early life . Burr was born in Newark , New Jersey , to the Reverend Aaron Burr , Sr . , a Presbyterian minister and second president of the College of New Jersey in Newark ( which moved in 1756 to Princeton and later became Princeton University ) . His mother , Esther Edwards , was the daughter of Jonathan Edwards , the famous Calvinist theologian , making Burr Edwards ' s grandson . The elder Burrs also had a daughter , Sarah ( " Sally " ) , who married Tapping Reeve , founder of the Litchfield Law School in Litchfield , Connecticut . Aaron Burr ' s father died in 1757 , and his mother the following year , leaving him orphaned at the age of two . Grandfather Edwards and his wife Sarah also died that year ; young Aaron and his sister Sally went to live with the William Shippen family in Philadelphia . In 1759 , the children ' s guardianship was assumed by 21 - year - old uncle Timothy Edwards . The next year , Edwards married Rhoda Ogden and moved to Elizabeth , New Jersey . Rhoda ' s younger brothers Aaron and Matthias became the boy ' s playmates . The three boys , along with Jonathan Dayton , their neighbor , formed the group that lasted the boys ’ lifetimes . After being rejected once , Aaron Burr was admitted to the College of New Jersey ( now known as Princeton University ) at the age of 13 . Aside from being occupied with intensive studies , he was a part of the American Whig Society and Cliosophic Society , the 2 clubs the college had to offer at the time . He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1772 . He then studied theology for an additional year , before rigorous theological training with Joseph Bellamy , a Presbyterian . Yet again , he changed his career path two years later and began the study of law with his brother - in - law Reeve . When , in 1775 , news reached Litchfield of the clashes with British troops at Lexington and Concord , Burr ' s studies were put on hold while he went to join the Continental Army . Military service . During the Revolutionary War , Burr took part in Colonel Benedict Arnold ' s expedition to Quebec , an arduous trek of over through the wilderness of what is now Maine . Upon arriving before the city of Quebec , Burr was sent up the Saint Lawrence River to reach General Richard Montgomery , who had taken Montreal , and escorted him to Quebec . Montgomery promoted Burr to captain and made him an aide - de - camp . Burr distinguished himself during the Battle of Quebec , earning him a place on Washington ' s staff in Manhattan . However , he quit within two weeks , desiring to return to the battlefield . General Israel Putnam took Burr under his wing ; by his vigilance in the retreat from lower Manhattan to Harlem , Burr saved an entire brigade ( including Alexander Hamilton , who was one of its officers ) from capture after the British landing on Manhattan . In a stark departure from common practice , Washington failed to commend Burr ' s actions in the next day ' s General Orders ( the fastest way to obtain a promotion in rank ) . Although Burr was already a nationally known hero , he never received a commendation . According to Burr ' s stepbrother Mathias Ogden , Burr was infuriated by the incident , which may have led to the eventual estrangement between him and Washington . On becoming a lieutenant colonel in July 1777 , Burr assumed virtual leadership of Malcolm ' s Additional Continental Regiment . There were approximately 300 men under Colonel William Malcolm ' s nominal command . The regiment successfully fought off many nighttime raids into central New Jersey by British troops sailing over from Manhattan . Later that year , during the harsh winter encampment at Valley Forge , Burr was put in charge of a small contingent guarding " the Gulf " , an isolated pass commanding one approach to the camp . Burr imposed discipline there , defeating an attempted mutiny by some of the troops . On June 28 , 1778 , at the Battle of Monmouth , Burr ' s regiment was devastated by British artillery , and in the day ' s heat , Burr suffered heat stroke . In January 1779 Burr , in command of Malcolm ' s Regiment , was assigned to Westchester County , a region between the British post at Kingsbridge and that of the Americans about to the north . In this district , part of the larger command of General Alexander McDougall , there was much turbulence and plundering by lawless bands of both patriot and Loyalist sympathizers , and by raiding parties of ill - disciplined soldiers from both armies . . He resigned from the Continental Army in March 1779 due to his continuing bad health and renewed his study of law . Though technically no longer in the service , he remained active in the war : he was assigned by General Washington to perform occasional intelligence missions for Continental generals such as Arthur St . Clair , and on July 5 , 1779 , he rallied a group of Yale students at New Haven along with Capt . James Hillhouse and the Second Connecticut Governors Foot Guard , in a skirmish with the British at the West River . The British advance was repulsed , forcing them to enter New Haven from Hamden . Despite these activities , Burr was able to finish his studies and was admitted to the bar at Albany in 1782 . He began to practice in New York City after the British evacuated the city the following year . The Burrs lived , for the next several years , in a house on Wall Street . Marriage and family . In 1782 , Aaron Burr married Theodosia Bartow Prevost ( 1746 - 1794 ) , a widow with five children who was ten years his senior . Her first husband had been Jacques Marcus Prevost ( see The Hermitage ) , a British Army officer of Swiss origin , who died in the West Indies during the Revolutionary War . The Burrs moved to New York City , where his reputation as a brilliant trial lawyer grew . Twelve years later , Mrs . Burr died from stomach cancer . They had one child together who survived birth , a daughter named Theodosia , after her mother . Burr believed in equality of the sexes ; and he prescribed education for his daughter in the Classics , language , horsemanship and music . Born in 1783 , Theodosia became widely known for her education and accomplishments . In 1801 , she married Joseph Alston of South Carolina and bore a son , who died of fever at ten years of age . During the winter of 1812 – 1813 , she disappeared with the schooner " Patriot " off The Carolinas , either murdered by pirates or shipwreck ed in a storm . The Aaron Burr Association has acknowledged the possibility that Burr had two illegitimate children — Louisa Charlotte ( born 1788 ) and John Pierre Burr ( born 1792 ) — with his servant Mary Emmons , not wanting to delay pending proof of the claims of Emmons ' elderly descendant . Burr was still married to Theodosia then , but most of his time was spent in Albany , serving in the State Assembly . DNA testing , which might verify these claims , is not possible because there is no known legitimate male descendant . A historian who has written extensively on Burr stated that the claims were " plausible " . Politics . Legal and early political career . Burr served in the New York State Assembly from 1784 to 1785 , but became seriously involved in politics in 1789 , when George Clinton appointed him New York State Attorney General . He was also Commissioner of Revolutionary War Claims in 1791 . In 1791 , he was elected a U . S . Senator from New York , defeating the incumbent , General Philip Schuyler , and served there until 1797 . He ran for Vice President in the 1796 election , coming in fourth with 30 votes behind John Adams , Thomas Jefferson , and Thomas Pinckney . ( At the time members of the electoral college cast two ballots but did not specify an office . The first place finisher became President and the runner up Vice President . ) This came as shock to Burr as he was convinced that he had arranged with Jefferson ' s supporters for them to vote for Jefferson and Burr , in exchange for Burr working to obtain New York ' s electoral votes for Jefferson . But instead , many Democratic - Republican electors voted for Jefferson and no one else , or for Jefferson and a candidate other than Burr . These circumstances may have factored into Burr ' s conduct during the next presidential election . In 1800 Jefferson and Burr were again candidates for President and Vice President , and Jefferson ran with Burr in exchange for Burr working to obtain New York ' s electoral votes for Jefferson . Burr was also active in various Democratic clubs and societies . “ Aaron Burr defended the democratic clubs and was listed as a member of the New York Democratic Society in 1798 . " Although Alexander Hamilton and Burr had long been on good personal terms , often dining with one another ( Lomask , vol . 1 ) , Burr ' s defeat of General Schuyler , Hamilton ' s father - in - law , probably drove the first major wedge into their friendship . Nevertheless , their relationship took a decade to reach a status of enmity . More details of their relationship may be found in the Burr – Hamilton duel article . After being appointed commanding general of U . S . forces by President John Adams in 1798 , Washington turned down Burr ' s application for a brigadier general ' s commission during the Quasi - War with France . Washington wrote , " By all that I have known and heard , Colonel Burr is a brave and able officer , but the question is whether he has not equal talents at intrigue . " ( Lomask vol . 1 ) John Adams , whose enmity towards Alexander Hamilton was legendary , later wrote in 1815 that Washington ' s response was startling given his promotion of Hamilton , " the most restless , impatient , artful , indefatigable , and unprincipled intriguer in the United States , if not in the world , to be second in command under himself , and now [ Washington ] dreaded an intriguer in a poor brigadier . " Bored with the inactivity of the new U . S . Senate ( Lomask vol . 1 ) , Burr ran for and was elected to the New York State Assembly , serving from 1798 through 1799 . It was during this time he cooperated with the Holland Land Company in obtaining a law to permit aliens to hold and convey lands . During John Adams ' term as President , national parties became clearly defined . Burr loosely associated himself with the Democratic - Republicans , though he had moderate Federalist allies , such as Sen . Jonathan Dayton of New Jersey . Burr quickly became a key player in New York politics , more powerful in time than Hamilton , largely because of the Tammany Society , later to become the infamous Tammany Hall , which Burr converted from a social club into a political machine to help Jefferson reach the presidency . In 1799 , Burr founded the Bank of the Manhattan Company , which in later years was absorbed into the Chase Manhattan Bank , which in turn became part of JPMorgan Chase . In September , 1799 Burr fought a duel with John Barker Church , whose wife was the sister of Hamilton ' s wife , after Church said that Burr had taken a bribe from the Holland Company in exchange for using his political influence on its behalf . Burr and Church fired at each other and missed , and afterwards Church acknowledged that he was wrong to have accused Burr without having proof . Burr accepted this as an apology , and the two men shook hands and ended the dispute . The enmity between Hamilton and Burr may have stemmed from the details of the founding of the bank . Burr solicited Hamilton and other Federalists ' support under the guise he was establishing a badly - needed water company for Manhattan . However , Burr secretly changed the charter to include banking ; shortly after approval , Burr dropped any pretense of founding the water company . Hamilton and other supporters believed Burr acted dishonorably in deceiving them . Further , the affair resulted in a delay in constructing a safe water system for Manhattan , which may have contributed to additional deaths during a subsequent malaria epidemic . In 1800 , New York presidential electors were to be chosen by the state legislature as they had been in 1796 ( for John Adams ) . The State Assembly was controlled by the Federalists going into the April 1800 legislative elections . In the city of New York , assembly members were to be selected on an at - large basis . Burr and Hamilton were the key campaigners for their respective parties . Burr ' s Republican slate of assemblymen for New York City was elected , gaining control of the legislature and in due course giving New York ' s electoral votes to Jefferson and helping to win the 1800 presidential election for him . This drove another wedge between Hamilton and Burr . Burr became Vice President during Jefferson ' s first term ( 1801 – 1805 ) . Vice Presidency . Because of his influence in New York and opposition to the Hamiltonian Federalists , Burr was asked by Jefferson and Madison to help them in the election of 1800 . Burr sponsored a bill through the New York Assembly that established the Manhattan Company , a water utility company whose charter also allowed creation of a bank controlled by Jeffersonians . Another crucial move was Burr ' s success in securing the election of his slate of greater New York City area Electors , defeating the Federalist slate backed by Alexander Hamilton . This event only served to increase the antagonism between the former friends . Burr is known as the father of modern political campaigning . He enlisted the help of members of Tammany Hall , a social club , to win the voting for selection of Electoral College delegates . He was then placed on the Democratic - Republican presidential ticket in the 1800 election with Jefferson . At the time , most states ' legislatures chose the members of the U . S . Electoral College , and New York was crucial to Jefferson . Though Jefferson did win New York , he and Burr tied for the presidency with 73 electoral votes each . It was well understood that the party intended that Jefferson should be president and Burr vice president , but the responsibility for the final choice belonged to the House of Representatives . The attempts of a powerful faction among the Federalists to secure the election of Burr failed , partly due to opposition by Alexander Hamilton . As Thomas Baker asserts in his piece , " An Attack Well Directed , " William P . Van Ness , now believed to be in cahoots with Aaron Burr , had a scheme that was explained in a letter from Edward Livingston , a Democratic - Republican Representative . Van Ness had a plan to swing the election in Burr ’ s favor by first having Livingston or another colleague vote for Burr on the first ballot , deadlocking New York . On the second ballot , Livingston would swing three House Republicans from the vulnerable states of New York , New Jersey , and Vermont to vote for Burr . Livingston may have been planning on writing Burr ’ s name but he changed his mind on his way to Washington . This was likely due to a strong belief that some Federalists would vote for Jefferson as to avoid a hung election . Despite Livingston ' s last minute renege , Jefferson still lost the first ballot due because Burr ' s supporters scrambled to keep Maryland voters on the side of the Federalists . Even with the loss on the first ballot , there was little instability on the Democratic - Republican side of the ticket on the second ballot . Ultimately , it took 36 ballots before James A . Bayard , a Delaware Federalist , and several of his Federalist colleagues submitted blank votes to decide the election in Jefferson ' s favor . Mudslinging was heavily used to ( attempt to ) cast the candidates in a biased light , specifically Burr . As a result , the public went at each other ' s throats so to defend the candidate thought best qualified to lead the country . While Van Ness and Burr had their own plans to turn the election in their favor , James Cheetham , a supporter of Clinton , had his own plan to discredit Burr . Cheetham released Van Ness ’ letter . Burr gave another opening for Cheetham and DeWitt Clinton to amplify accusations when he showed interest in certain Federalists . They accused Burr of , “ tampering with New York ’ s electors ; blathering about Jefferson buying off wavering Republicans to ensure his election ; actively intriguing with Federalists to capture the chief magistracy in 1804 ” . Cheetham and Clintonians released a series of letters in American Citizen . These eight letters were meant to expose the supposed conspiracy of Burr , Van Ness , Ogden and Livingston . Many Republicans were persuaded by these letters and the arguments Burrites tried to defend themselves with led to more admissions . When it came to the 9th letter in this series , Livingston was the key to the details to take down Burr . Cheetham pushed for details from Livingston on interactions with Ogden and Van Ness . Livingston would not give in and Cheetham sent him letters explaining his already expansive knowledge of the contents of the letter with Van Ness and threats such as , “ We stand upon the best ground . We know Mr . Burr is guilty . You have in fact , and I may say in express term , committed his guilt to me ” . Livingston ’ s resistance of James Cheetham ’ s push for information on Van Ness ’ original letter for that 9th letter in American Citizen was what saved Burr from exposure , at least temporarily . In reality , Burr dragged out the drama and uncertainty of the election of 1800 for the purpose of manipulating it to his will . Burr ’ s actions had results throughout the nation of general instability . Upon confirmation of Jefferson ’ s election , Burr became Vice President of the United States , but despite his letters and his shunning of any political activity during the balloting ( he never left Albany ) he was never trusted by Jefferson and was effectively shut out of party matters . Jefferson was tight - lipped in private about Burr , so his reasons are still not entirely clear . However , Burr ' s even - handed fairness and his judicial manner as President of the Senate were praised even by some of his enemies , and he fostered some time - honored traditions regarding that office . Historian Forrest MacDonald credited Burr ' s judicial manner in presiding over the impeachment trial of Justice Samuel Chase with helping to preserve the principle of judicial independence that was established by " Marbury v . Madison " in 1803 . It was written by one Senator that Burr had conducted the proceedings with the " impartiality of an angel and the rigor of a devil . " Burr ' s farewell in March 1805 moved some of his harshest critics in the Senate to tears . However , except for short quotes and descriptions of the address , which defended America ' s system of government , it was never recorded in full . Duel with Alexander Hamilton . When it became clear that Jefferson would drop Burr from his ticket in the 1804 election , the Vice President ran for the governorship of New York instead . Burr lost the election to little known Morgan Lewis , in what was the largest margin of loss in New York ' s history at that time ( Stewart 29 ) . Burr blamed his loss on a personal smear campaign believed to have been orchestrated by his own party rivals , including New York governor George Clinton . Hamilton also opposed Burr , due to his belief that Burr had entertained a Federalist secession movement in New York . In April , the " Albany Register " published a letter from Dr . Charles D . Cooper to Philip Schuyler which relayed Hamilton ' s judgement that Burr was " a dangerous man , and one who ought not be trusted with the reins of government , " and claiming to know of " a still more despicable opinion which General Hamilton has expressed of Mr . Burr . " In June , Burr sent this letter to Hamilton , seeking an affirmation or disavowal of Cooper ' s characterization of Hamilton ' s remarks . Instead Hamilton responded that Burr should give specifics of Hamilton ' s remarks , not Cooper ' s . He said he couldn ' t answer regarding Cooper ' s interpretation . A few more letters followed , in which the exchange escalated to Burr ' s demanding that Hamilton recant or deny any statement disparaging Burr ’ s honor over the past 15 years , but Hamilton , having already been disgraced by the Maria Reynolds adultery scandal and ever mindful of his own reputation and honor , did not . According to Thomas Fleming , the apology Burr was asking for would have been immediately published . Hamilton ' s remaining power in the New York Federalist party would have been impaired . Burr responded by challenging Hamilton to personal combat under the " code duello " , the formalized rules of dueling . Hamilton ' s eldest son , Philip , had died in a duel in 1801 . Although still quite common , dueling had been outlawed in New York , and the punishment for conviction of dueling was death . It was illegal in New Jersey as well , but the consequences were less severe . On July 11 , 1804 , the enemies met outside of Weehawken , New Jersey , at the same spot where Hamilton ' s son had died . Both men fired , and Hamilton was mortally wounded by a shot right above the hip . The observers disagreed on who fired first . They did agree that there was a three - to - four second interval between the first and the second shot , raising difficult questions in evaluating the two camps ' versions . Historian William Weir speculates that Hamilton might have been undone by his own machinations : secretly setting his pistol ' s trigger to require only a half pound of pressure as opposed to the usual 10 pounds . Burr , Weir contends , most likely had no idea that the gun ' s trigger pressure could be reset . Louisiana State University history professors Andrew Burstein and Nancy Isenberg concur in this view . They note that " Hamilton brought the pistols , which had a larger barrel than regular dueling pistols , and a secret hair - trigger , and were therefore much more deadly , " and conclude that " Hamilton gave himself an unfair advantage in their duel , and got the worst of it anyway . " However , this is a minority view among historians . David O . Stewart , in his biography of Burr , " American Emperor " , notes that the reports of Hamilton ' s intentionally missing Burr with his shot only began to appear in newspaper reports published in papers friendly to Hamilton in the days after his death . However Ron Chernow , in his biography , " Alexander Hamilton " , states Hamilton told numerous friends of his intention to avoid firing at Burr well before the duel . Additionally , according to Chernow , Hamilton wrote a number of letters dated before the duel that also attest to this intention . The two shots , witnesses reported , followed one another in close succession , and none of those witnesses could agree as to who fired first . Prior to the duel proper , Hamilton took a good deal of time getting used to the feel and weight of the pistol ( which , incidentally , had been used in a duel in which his own 19 - year - old son had been killed on the same Weehawken site ) , as well as putting on his eyeglasses in order to see his opponent more clearly . His seconds placed him so that Burr would have the rising sun behind him , though during the duel itself , one witness reported , Hamilton seemed to be hindered by this placement as the sun was in his eyes . In any event , Hamilton ' s shot missed Burr , but Burr ' s shot was fatal . The bullet entered Hamilton ' s abdomen above his right hip , piercing Hamilton ' s liver and spine . Hamilton was evacuated to Manhattan where he lay in the house of a friend , receiving visitors including different clergymen in an attempt to receive baptism before he died the following day . Burr was charged with multiple crimes , including murder , in New York and New Jersey , but was never tried in either jurisdiction . He fled to South Carolina , where his daughter lived with her family , but soon returned to Philadelphia and then on to Washington to complete his term as Vice President . He avoided New York and New Jersey for a time , but all the charges against him were eventually dropped . In the case of New Jersey , the indictment was thrown out on the basis that , although Hamilton was shot in New Jersey , he actually died in New York . Conspiracy and trial . After Burr left the Vice - Presidency at the end of his term in 1805 , he journeyed into what was then the Western frontier , areas west of the Allegheny Mountains and down the Ohio River Valley eventually reaching the lands acquired in the Louisiana Purchase . Starting in Pittsburgh and then proceeding to Beaver , Pennsylvania and Wheeling , Virginia and onward he drummed up support for his plans . Burr had leased 40 , 000 acres ( 160 km² ) of land ( this was known as the Bastrop Tract ) along the Ouachita River , in what is now Louisiana , from the Spanish government . His most important contact was General James Wilkinson , Commander - in - Chief of the U . S . Army at New Orleans and Governor of the Louisiana Territory . Others included Harman Blennerhassett , who offered the use of his private island for training and outfitting Burr ' s expedition . Wilkinson was later proved to be a bad choice . Burr saw war with Spain as a distinct possibility . In case of a war declaration , Andrew Jackson stood ready to help Burr , who would be in position to immediately join in . Burr ' s expedition of about eighty men carried modest arms for hunting , and no " materiel " was ever revealed , even when Blennerhassett Island was seized by Ohio militia . His " conspiracy " , he always avowed , was that if he settled there with a large group of ( armed ) " farmers " and war broke out , he would have an army with which to fight and claim land for himself , thus recouping his fortunes . However , the 1819 Adams - Onís Treaty secured Florida for the United States without a fight , and war in Texas didn ' t occur until 1836 , the year of Burr ' s death . After a near - incident with Spanish forces at Natchitoches , Wilkinson decided he could best serve his conflicting interests by betraying Burr ' s plans to President Jefferson and to his Spanish paymasters . Jefferson issued an order for Burr ' s arrest , declaring him a traitor even before an indictment . Burr read this in a newspaper in the Territory of Orleans on January 10 , 1807 . Jefferson ' s warrant put Federal agents on his trail . He turned himself in to the Federal authorities twice . Two judges found his actions legal and released him . Jefferson ' s warrant , however , followed Burr , who then fled toward Spanish Florida ; he was intercepted at Wakefield , in Mississippi Territory ( now in the state of Alabama ) on February 19 , 1807 , and confined to Fort Stoddert after being arrested on charges of treason . Burr was treated well at Fort Stoddert . For example , in the evening of February 20 , 1807 , Burr appeared at the dinner table , and was introduced to Frances Gaines , the wife of the commandant , Edmund P . Gaines and the daughter of Judge Harry Toulmin , the man responsible for the legal arrest of Burr . Mrs . Gaines and Burr played chess that evening and continued this entertainment during his confinement at the fort . Burr ' s secret correspondence with Anthony Merry and the Marquis of Casa Yrujo , the British and Spanish ministers at Washington , was eventually revealed . It had been to secure money and to conceal his real designs , which were to help Mexico to overthrow Spanish power in the Southwest , and to found a dynasty in what would have become former Mexican territory . This was a misdemeanor , based on the Neutrality Act of 1794 passed to block filibuster expeditions like those questionable enterprises of George Rogers Clark and William Blount . Jefferson , however , sought the highest charges against Burr . In 1807 , on a charge of treason , Burr was brought to trial before the United States Circuit Court at Richmond , Virginia . His defense lawyers included Edmund Randolph , John Wickham , Luther Martin and Benjamin Gaines Botts . Burr was arraigned four times for treason before a grand jury indicted him . This was surprising since the only physical evidence presented to the Grand Jury was Wilkinson ' s so - called letter from Burr which proposed the idea of stealing land in the Louisiana Purchase . During the Jury ' s examination it was discovered that the letter was written in Wilkinson ' s own handwriting – a " copy , " he said , because he had " lost " the original . The Grand Jury threw the letter out , and the news made a laughingstock of the General for the rest of the proceedings . The trial , presided over by Chief Justice of the United States John Marshall , began on August 3 . The trial was a major test of the Constitution . It was a carefully watched drama ( Henry Adams gives a full account in " The History of the United States of America ( 1801 - 1817 ) " ) as Thomas Jefferson wanted a conviction . He challenged the authority of the Supreme Court and its Chief Justice John Marshall – an Adams appointee who clashed with Jefferson over John Adams ' last - minute judicial appointments . Thomas Jefferson believed that Aaron Burr ' s treason was obvious . Burr sent a letter to Jefferson in which he stated that he could do Jefferson much harm . Thus , Jefferson warranted a conviction . The actual case hinged on whether Aaron Burr was present at certain events at certain times and in certain capacities . Thomas Jefferson used all of his influence to get Marshall to move to conviction , but Marshall was not swayed . Historians Andrew Burstein and Nancy Isenberg write that Burr " was not guilty of treason , nor was he ever convicted , because there was no evidence , not one credible piece of testimony , and the star witness for the prosecution had to admit that he had doctored a letter implicating Burr . " David Stewart , on the other hand , insists that while Burr was not explicitly guilty of treason according to Marshall ’ s definition , evidence exists that links him to treasonous crimes . For example , Bollman admitted to Jefferson during an interrogation that Burr planned to raise an army and invade Mexico because Burr felt that he should be Mexico ’ s monarch , as a republican government was not right for the Mexican people ( Stewart , American Emperor , 213 - 14 ) . Many historians believe the extent of Burr ' s involvement may never be known . Later life and death . By this point all of Burr ' s hopes for a political comeback had been dashed , and he fled America and his creditors for Europe , where he tried to regain his fortunes . He lived abroad from 1808 to 1812 , passing most of his time in England where he occupied a house on Craven Street in London . He became a good friend , even confidant , of the English Utilitarian philosopher , Jeremy Bentham , even living at Bentham ' s home on occasion . He also spent time in Scotland , Denmark , Sweden , Germany , and France . Ever hopeful , he solicited funding for renewing his plans for a conquest of Mexico , but was rebuffed . He was ordered out of England and Napoleon Bonaparte refused to receive him — although one of his ministers held an interview concerning Burr ' s aims for Spanish Florida or British possessions in the Caribbean . After returning from Europe , Burr used the surname " Edwards , " his mother ' s maiden name , for a while to avoid creditors . With help from old friends Samuel Swartwout and Matthew L . Davis , Burr was able to return to New York and his law practice . Later on he helped the heirs of the Eden family on a financial lawsuit , which transitioned into a personal meaning because the remaining members of the household soon became a second family to him . He also adopted two sons named Aaron Burr Columbe and Charles Burdett and he lived the remainder of his life in relative peace . In 1833 , at age 77 , Burr married again , this time to Eliza Jumel , a wealthy widow . Soon , however , she realized her fortune was dwindling due to her husband ' s land speculation losses . She separated from Burr after only four months ; the divorce was completed on September 14 , 1836 , the day of Burr ' s death . The home of Eliza Jumel and Aaron Burr , the Morris - Jumel Mansion in Manhattan , is now open to the public . Burr suffered a debilitating stroke in 1834 , which rendered him immobile . In 1836 , Burr died on Staten Island in the village of Port Richmond in a boardinghouse which later became the St . James Hotel . He was buried near his father in Princeton , New Jersey . Character . Aaron Burr made many friends , but also many powerful enemies , and is still perhaps the most controversial of the Founding Fathers of the United States . He was indicted for murder after the death of Hamilton , but never prosecuted ; arrested and prosecuted for treason by Jefferson , but acquitted . To his friends and family , and often to complete strangers , he could be kind and generous . In her " Autobiography of Jane Fairfield " , the wife of the struggling poet Sumner Lincoln Fairfield relates how their friend Burr saved the lives of her two children , who were left with their grandmother in New York while the parents were in Boston . The grandmother was unable to provide adequate food or heat for the children and was in fear for their very lives . She sought out Burr , as the only one that might be able and willing to help her . Burr " wept and replied , ' Though I am poor and have not a dollar , the children of such a mother shall not suffer while I have a watch . ' He hastened on this errand , and quickly returned , having pawned the article for twenty dollars , which he gave to make comfortable my precious babies . " In his later years in New York , he provided money and education for several children , earning their lifelong affection . However , contemporaries were often suspicious of Burr ' s motives and many viewed him as untrustworthy , as typified by his role in the founding of the Bank of Manhattan ( discussed above ) . Burr was reported by acquaintances to be curiously unmoved by Hamilton ' s death , expressing no regret for his role in the result . Burr believed women to be intellectually equal to men , and hung a portrait of Mary Wollstonecraft over his mantel . The Burrs ' daughter , Theodosia , was taught dance , music , several languages , and learned to shoot from horseback . Until her death at sea in 1813 , she remained devoted to her father . Not only did Burr advocate education for women , upon his election to the New York State Legislature , he submitted a bill to allow women to vote . However , not all women were on good terms with Burr . Burr was a notorious womanizer . In Burr ' s later years , he married Madame Jumel , the richest woman in America . Just one year later , she divorced him for his infidelity . He also stole thirteen thousand dollars ' worth of her fortune , which he quickly spent . Burr was an avid patron of prostitutes during various episodes of his life . He recorded with great detail , in his own personal journal , encounters in Europe with dozens of women which he paid to have sex with him . Often he described " sexual release as the only remedy for his restlessness and irritability " . In 1784 as a New York state assemblyman , he unsuccessfully sought to immediately end slavery in that state . John Quincy Adams ( who was a great admirer of Jefferson ) said after the former vice president ' s death , " Burr ' s life , take it all together , was such as in any country of sound morals his friends would be desirous of burying in quiet oblivion . " His father , President John Adams , was an enemy of Hamilton but a frequent defender of Burr . John Adams wrote that Burr " had served in the army , and came out of it with the character of a knight without fear and an able officer . " Gordon S . Wood , a leading scholar of the Revolutionary period , holds that it was Burr ’ s character that put him at odds with the rest of the “ founding fathers , ” especially Madison , Jefferson , and Hamilton , leading to his personal and political defeats and , ultimately , to his place outside the golden circle of revered revolutionary figures . Because of his habit of placing self - interest above the good of the whole , those men felt Burr represented a serious threat to the very ideals for which they had fought the Revolution . Their ideal , as particularly embodied in Washington and Jefferson , was that of “ disinterested politics , ” a government led by educated gentlemen who would fulfill their duties in a spirit of public virtue and without regard to personal interests or pursuits . This was the core of an Enlightenment gentleman , and Burr , his political enemies felt , lacked that essential core . Indeed , it was Hamilton ’ s belief that Burr ’ s self - serving nature made him unfit to hold office — especially the presidency . Jefferson , though one of Hamilton ’ s bitterest enemies , was at least a man of public virtue . This belief led Hamilton to launch his unrelenting campaign in the House of Representatives to prevent Burr ’ s election to the presidency , favoring his erstwhile enemy Jefferson instead . Hamilton teamed up with his enemies in the rival party : Jefferson , Madison , and Adams , in order to prevent Burr from obtaining the presidency . Hamilton characterized Burr as greatly immoral , " unprincipled . . . voluptuary , " and deemed his political quest as one for " permanent power . " He predicted that if in power , Burr ' s contributions to the Constitution would be solely for personal gain , compared to Jefferson who was committed to its standing structure . Despite this , later in Burr ’ s life , Jefferson would in turn go so far as to push the boundaries of the Constitution in his attempt — in the charging and trying of Burr for treason — to eliminate Burr . Though Burr ’ s sentiments today seem prosaic , even hackneyed , his magnetic presence and precise delivery , combined with the occasion and the youthfulness of the nation , gave a powerful resonance to his twenty - minute speech . Legacy . A lasting consequence of Burr ' s role in the election of 1800 was the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution , which changed the way in which vice presidents were chosen . As was obvious from the 1800 election , the situation could easily arise where the vice - president , as the defeated presidential candidate , could not work well with the president . The Twelfth Amendment required that votes be cast separately for president and vice president . In public and in private , Burr ' s behavior , even by his political foes , was labelled as considerate and gracious and he was often commended as a great listener . Although much took place in Burr ' s life , he is remembered by many only for the deadly duel with Hamilton . However , his establishment of guides and rules for the first Senate impeachment trial set a high moral bar for behavior and procedures in that chamber , many of which are followed today . His silence and refusal to engage in defending himself from his political critics either in legislatures or in the press , plus the fact that most of his personal papers disappeared with his daughter ' s death at sea and with his biographer , Matthew Davis , has left an air of mystery over his reputation . Burr in literature and popular culture . Burr appears as a character epitomizing worldly sophistication in Harriet Beecher Stowe ' s 1859 historical romance " The Minister ' s Wooing " . Edward Everett Hale ' s 1863 story " The Man Without a Country " is about a fictional co - conspirator of Burr ' s , who is exiled for his crimes . " The Aaron Burr Story " , a second season ( 1965 ) episode of the television series " Daniel Boone " , starred Leif Erickson as ex - Vice President Aaron Burr attempting to set up an army to take over the western states . In the show , Burr ' s attempt to hire one of Daniel Boone ' s young impressionable friends as a wilderness guide is ultimately thwarted by Boone when a proclamation is published for Burr ' s arrest for treason against the United States . The historical novel " Burr " , written in 1973 , is the first ( in historical chronology ) volume in Gore Vidal ' s " Narratives of Empire " series . " A Friend to Alexander " , in James Thurber ' s " My World and Welcome To It " , transported the Burr – Hamilton rivalry into the twentieth century . Eudora Welty wrote a story about the romance of Burr ' s Western expedition , " First Love " , which appears in " Selected Stories of Eudora Welty " ( Modern Library 1992 ) . In the comic book " The Flash " , a 1975 backup story featuring Green Lantern stars Burr . " The Man of Destiny " , written by Dennis O ' Neil and drawn by Dick Dillin , reveals that Burr was recruited by aliens to act as a leader for an interplanetary society in chaos . ( The alliance cloned Burr , sending the clone back to earth to duel with Hamilton and live out of the rest of " Burrs life on earth ) . In Michael Kurland ' s " The Whenabouts of Burr " ( DAW , 1975 ) the protagonists chase across various alternate universes , trying to recover the Constitution of the United States , which has been stolen and replaced by an alternate signed by Aaron Burr instead of Alexander Hamilton . In Orson Scott Card ' s alternate history / fantasy novel " Seventh Son " ( 1987 ) , a character states that " . . . Aaron Burr got to be governor of Suskwahenny , before Daniel Boone shot him dead in ninety - nine . " A famous 1993 " Got Milk ? " commercial directed by Michael Bay features a historian obsessed with the study of Aaron Burr — he owns the guns and the bullet from the duel . He is called by a radio station and offered a prize if he can name the person who killed Alexander Hamilton in the duel , but he has peanut butter in his mouth and is out of milk , and cannot manage to say " Aaron Burr " clearly enough to be heard before his time runs out . In Alexander C . Irvine ' s 2002 novel " A Scattering of Jades " , Burr takes part in a plot to bring an ancient Aztec deity into power , explaining his interest in Mexico . The Lonely Island ' s " Lazy Sunday " quotes the line " you can call us Aaron Burr from the way we ' re dropping Hamiltons " , referring to the large number of ten dollar bills being spent and the duel between Burr and Alexander Hamilton referring to how Aaron Burr killed or " dropped " him . In the alternate history short story " The War of ' 07 " by Jayge Carr , contained in the collection " Alternate Presidents " , Burr is elected President in 1800 , establishing an alliance with Napoleon Bonaparte and creates a family dictatorship . Upon his death in 1836 , he is succeeded by his grandson Aaron Burr Alston , who previously served as his Vice President . A 2011 short film re - tells the story of Burr ' s life as one having become " a casualty of history " . It was a selection at the 2011 New York Film Festival as well numerous other US festivals .