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Aaron Burr Kills Alexander Hamilton in a Duel Vice President Aaron Burr was replaced on the Republican ticket in 1804 with George Clinton, the New York political boss. Burr's power base rested in a delicate balancing act between the parties. Since he was neither a confirmed Republican nor completely opposed to all Federalist policies, Burr never built the kind of following he needed in either party to assure further success.
Because the influential politician Alexander Hamilton failed to oust Burr through his influence with the Federalists, he was thrown into despair. "What can I do better than withdraw from the scene?" Hamilton pouted, "Every day proves to me more and more that this American world was not made for me." For Hamilton, Burr was a modern Caesar, whose defects cut him off from the principles of the Republic as Hamilton understood them. The truth was that both men had lost their credibility through political machinations not in step with the reigning political etiquette of the day. John Adams described Hamilton as the "most restless, impatient, artful, indefatigable and unprincipled intriguer in the United States." Many also felt the same about Burr. Burr's behavior antagonized both parties.
Burr ran for governor of New York in 1804 with some Federalist support, as well as that of Tammany Hall, but nevertheless lost the campaign, primarily due to the Clinton and Livingston factions. Burr's loss sealed his political doom. At a political dinner for the Federalist Party held in New York, Alexander Hamilton voiced a despicable slur upon the name and reputation of Aaron Burr. What Hamilton exactly said was not printed at the time, but rumors and newspaper reports reached Burr, who wrote Hamilton and demanded an apology. Hamilton waffled in his response, Burr protested in another letter, and after receiving no satisfaction challenged Hamilton to a duel. When Burr and Hamilton met on the dueling grounds of Weehawken, New Jersey on July 11, 1804 Burr shot Hamilton, who fired into the air either as a reflex after being shot or purposely to avoid shooting Burr. Hamilton was rowed back across the river to New York City, where he lingered until the next day and died in great pain. Burr was indicted for murder in New York State, but never prosecuted. After completing his duties as Vice President in 1805, Burr entered into a conspiracy to wrest the lands west of the Mississippi River from Spain; these intrigues included the Louisiana Purchase.
Jefferson saw Burr as a clear and present danger, and began a campaign to ruin his reputation, noting that "I never thought him an honest, frank-dealing man, but considered him as a crooked gun, or other perverted machine, whose aim or shot you could never be sure of." Jefferson penned perhaps the most devastating comment of all when he added that "A great man in little things, he is really small in great ones."
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