When a Traitor Almost Became President

A One-Vote Oddity
We Almost Elected a Man Accused of Treason!

What would America be like if one of the early Presidents in our history was a traitor? Fortunately, that did not happen, but it almost did in the year 1800.

In 1800, the Electoral College met to cast their votes for the President and Vice President of the United States. At that time, the U.S. Constitution gave the presidency to the candidate receiving the most electoral votes and the vice presidency to the candidate coming in second. When the votes were tabulated, both Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr had received exactly 73 electoral votes.

You probably know a great deal about Jefferson, but Burr is more enigmatic. Burr had a sterling pedigree. Born in New Jersey in 1756, he was the grandson of Jonathan Edwards. (His mother Esther, was the daughter of the great Calvinist theologian.) At the age of 16, he graduated from the College of New Jersey (later renamed Princeton University) as a student of theology. Two years later, he switched his career path and took up the study of law.

When war broke out, he served as a volunteer, first with Benedict Arnold and later with George Washington. His tenure with General Washington was short lived, however. Biographers tell us that Washington never trusted him. Apparently, Washington was on to something.

Burr was handsome and apparently “irresistible to women.” He was once quoted as saying that if a woman claimed him as the father of her child, “even if it were false it would be a compliment to me.” He married twice, both wives being widows when he married them. His first wife died after 12 years. His second wife divorced him after less than a year because of his unfruitful land speculation with her inheritance. Burr was known to be kind, generous to his friends, and pleasing in manners. But he could be unscrupulous, insincere, amoral, prone to anger and driven by impulsive ambition.

(The rest of the story will continue Friday)