"Made of indestructible stuff, the vice president of the United States was not one to be tormented by guilt or unduly disturbed by some bloodshed."
-Ron Chernow on Aaron Burr in Alexander Hamilton
Prior to the hunting accident involving Vice President Dick Cheney and Harry Whittington in Texas this past weekend, you would have to go back over 200 years to find the last time a sitting vice president got into some trouble for discharging a gun into a long-time social and political aquaintance. The previous episode was, or course, the duel between Thomas Jefferson's vice president, Aaron Burr, and Alexander Hamilton, which took place in Weehawken, N.J. in 1804. And you probably have to go back just as far if you are looking for an American politician as ruthless, power-hungry and mistrusted as our current Prince of Darkness. A master at how to screw friends and influence people, Burr wrote the book on blind ambition in American politics. Capable of emasculating and criminalizing his opponents in ways that would give our duck-hunting Dick goosebumps, Burr said of Hamilton at Weehawken, "When he stood up to fire, he caught my eye and quailed under it. He looked like a convicted felon"(1)He cared not one bit on what others thought of him and cared even less as to how history might judge him.
Burr was a handsome man and quite the hit with the ladies, but that is not the major distinction between these two frustrated empire builders: That would be the difference in each man's capacity for physical bravery and willingness to fight and serve the American cause in a time of war. With plenty of 'better things to do,' and over the intense objections of his family, Burr enlisted into the army during the opening days of the Revolutionary War. He fought alongside Benedict Arnold and exhibited great bravery in the battle of Quebec in 1775, establishing himself as one of the very first in a long line of American war heros. Cheney, on the other hand, after managing to avoid the Vietnam War, has risen to become this country's all-time great warmonger and deserves the distinction as this country's most notorious and shameful chickenhawk.
After leaving Hamilton to die, Burr never expressed any regret, nor for the next 32 years of his life did he ever speak of the affair. In a shocking display of bravado that only a few who have sat in that chair under a cloud of controversy can appreciate, Burr returned that November to preside over the next session of congress while under indictment for murder. After finally stepping down from his position the following March, Burr headed out west where he attempted to separate Louisiana and the western states from the Union in order to form his own empire. After his plot failed, he returned east and was tried for treason. I can't wait to see what Cheney decides to do once he gets back out to Wyoming.
(1)Parton, James. The Life and Times of Aaron Burr.New York: Mason Brothers, 1858. p.617.
illustration of Hamilton-Burr duel after the painting by J. Mund; public domain
-Ron Chernow on Aaron Burr in Alexander Hamilton
Prior to the hunting accident involving Vice President Dick Cheney and Harry Whittington in Texas this past weekend, you would have to go back over 200 years to find the last time a sitting vice president got into some trouble for discharging a gun into a long-time social and political aquaintance. The previous episode was, or course, the duel between Thomas Jefferson's vice president, Aaron Burr, and Alexander Hamilton, which took place in Weehawken, N.J. in 1804. And you probably have to go back just as far if you are looking for an American politician as ruthless, power-hungry and mistrusted as our current Prince of Darkness. A master at how to screw friends and influence people, Burr wrote the book on blind ambition in American politics. Capable of emasculating and criminalizing his opponents in ways that would give our duck-hunting Dick goosebumps, Burr said of Hamilton at Weehawken, "When he stood up to fire, he caught my eye and quailed under it. He looked like a convicted felon"(1)He cared not one bit on what others thought of him and cared even less as to how history might judge him.
Burr was a handsome man and quite the hit with the ladies, but that is not the major distinction between these two frustrated empire builders: That would be the difference in each man's capacity for physical bravery and willingness to fight and serve the American cause in a time of war. With plenty of 'better things to do,' and over the intense objections of his family, Burr enlisted into the army during the opening days of the Revolutionary War. He fought alongside Benedict Arnold and exhibited great bravery in the battle of Quebec in 1775, establishing himself as one of the very first in a long line of American war heros. Cheney, on the other hand, after managing to avoid the Vietnam War, has risen to become this country's all-time great warmonger and deserves the distinction as this country's most notorious and shameful chickenhawk.
After leaving Hamilton to die, Burr never expressed any regret, nor for the next 32 years of his life did he ever speak of the affair. In a shocking display of bravado that only a few who have sat in that chair under a cloud of controversy can appreciate, Burr returned that November to preside over the next session of congress while under indictment for murder. After finally stepping down from his position the following March, Burr headed out west where he attempted to separate Louisiana and the western states from the Union in order to form his own empire. After his plot failed, he returned east and was tried for treason. I can't wait to see what Cheney decides to do once he gets back out to Wyoming.
(1)Parton, James. The Life and Times of Aaron Burr.New York: Mason Brothers, 1858. p.617.
illustration of Hamilton-Burr duel after the painting by J. Mund; public domain
4 Comments:
Hi Ed. I must say I am pleasantly surprised reading your earlier missives on the State of the Union, such as it is. You must be watching alot of TV or, to paraphrase Arlen Specter, drinking too much Dutch cleanser.
All kidding aside I really enjoy this. I find little in what you wrote to disagree with and alot to be depressed about, which is why I confine my TV watching these days to reruns of The Sopranos. Tony and Paulie Walnuts may not be everyone's idea of dyed in the wool Democrats but they aren't cowards either. When was the last time a leading Democrat cracked open a few heads ? Did time ? Or paid the ultimate price for a set of principles? As Tony would say: NO BALLS ! Bill Mathews NYC.
www.potatoships.com
Hi Ed,
Of course, there was no love lost between Burr and Pres. Thomas Jefferson, who Burr had tried to do out of the presidency by some cheesy lobbying tricks in Congress (shades of Bush-Kerrey '00!). So I doubt that Jefferson gave his vice president the benefit of an extra 16 hours to get his story straight - or whatever the equivalent of 16 hours would have been in those slower-moving days. Just shows how much more sporting our current crop of national disgarces are!
Eric
PS - Will be catching your blog regularly from now on.
And Hamilton's stabbing in the back of his fellow Federalist, Adams, and throwing all his support to Jefferson, his political nemesis, allowed Jefferson that initial tie with Burr. It would have been like John McCain turning on Bush in '00 and supporting Al Gore. Had McCain done that, you know he never would have accepted any duck hunting invitations from Cheney, or Bush.
There really is something in this Cheney incident which cuts to the quick.
I can't quite put my finger on it. Cheney can't be blamed for shooting his friend. He was just trying to shoot a bird.
I don't like to take cheaps shots. Cheney has had his logevity and is clearly of a man of gravitas.
But why on earth is this country being driven by someone with a heart condition who can't shoot straight....or shoots at the first thing that pops up ? Because it was there?
Seems an awful foolish reason to vote for such a person.
Why doesn't Cheney just go to Oppenheimer's or Citeralla? Is shooting birds in Texas that exciting? Why doesn't he shoot basketballs ? Might teach him something.
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