Editing Aaron Burr (section)

==Vice presidency (1801–1805)==
{{main|Vice presidency of Aaron Burr}}
Jefferson never trusted Burr, so he was effectively shut out of party matters. As vice president, Burr earned praise from some enemies for his even-handedness and his judicial manner as President of the Senate; he fostered some practices for that office that have become time-honored traditions.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=862}} Burr's judicial manner in presiding over the [[Impeachment trial of Samuel Chase|impeachment trial]] of Justice [[Samuel Chase]] has been credited as helping to preserve the principle of judicial independence that was established by ''[[Marbury v. Madison]]'' in 1803.{{sfn|McDonald|1992}} One newspaper wrote that Burr had conducted the proceedings with the "impartiality of an angel, but with the rigor of a devil".{{sfn|Lamb|1921|p=500}}

Burr was not nominated to a second term as Jefferson's running mate in the [[1804 United States presidential election|1804 election]], and Clinton replaced Burr as vice president on March 4, 1805. [[Aaron Burr's farewell address|Burr's farewell speech]] on March 2, 1805,<ref name=":2">{{cite web|title=U.S. Senate: Aaron Burr, 3rd Vice President (1801–1805)|url=https://www.senate.gov/about/officers-staff/vice-president/VP_Aaron_Burr.htm|access-date=October 10, 2020|website=www.senate.gov|archive-date=October 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029205324/https://www.senate.gov/about/officers-staff/vice-president/VP_Aaron_Burr.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> moved some of his harshest critics in the Senate to tears.<ref>{{cite news|date=October 26, 1952|title=that "most uncommon man"|work=The Nashville Tennessean Magazine|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5174206/aaron-burrs-farewell-address-to-the/|access-date=October 10, 2020}}</ref> But the 20-minute speech was [[Lost literary work|never recorded in full]],<ref>{{cite journal |title=Aaron burr's farewell address |first=Gordon L. |last=Thomas |journal=Quarterly Journal of Speech |volume=39 |year=1953 |issue= 3 |pages=273–282 |doi=10.1080/00335635309381878}} "Except for some of his court-room speeches [...] no verbatim reports of his speeches are extant."</ref> and has been preserved only in short quotes and descriptions of the address, which defended the American system of government.<ref name=":2" />

===Duel with Hamilton===
{{Main|Burr–Hamilton duel}}
{{Wikisourcehas|original texts related to|[[s:Hamilton–Burr duel correspondences|Hamilton–Burr duel correspondences]]}}
[[File:Hamilton-burr-duel.jpg|thumb|An early 20th century illustration depicting the [[Burr–Hamilton duel|duel]] between Burr (right) and [[Alexander Hamilton]] (left) on July 11, 1804, in [[Weehawken, New Jersey]]. In the duel, Burr shot Hamilton in his liver and spine, resulting in injuries that later proved fatal]]
When it became clear that Jefferson would drop Burr from his ticket in the 1804 election, Burr ran for [[governor of New York]] instead. He lost the [[1804 New York gubernatorial election|gubernatorial election]] to little known [[Morgan Lewis (governor)|Morgan Lewis]], in what was the most significant margin of loss in the state's history up to that time.{{sfn|Stewart|2011|p=29}} Burr blamed his loss on a personal [[smear campaign]] believed to have been orchestrated by his party rivals, including Clinton.<ref name=pbsnyc1804>{{Cite web|title=The New York Govenor's Race|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/duel-new-york-governors-race|access-date=March 10, 2025|via=[[PBS]]}}</ref> Hamilton also opposed Burr, due to his belief that Burr had entertained a Federalist secession movement in New York.{{sfn|Kerber|1980|p=148}} In April, the ''Albany Register'' published a letter from Dr. [[Charles D. Cooper]] to Senator [[Philip Schuyler]], which relayed Hamilton's judgment that Burr was "a dangerous man and one who ought not to 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".{{sfn|Fleming|1999|p=233}} In June, Burr sent this letter to Hamilton, seeking an affirmation or disavowal of Cooper's characterization of Hamilton's remarks.{{sfn|Fleming|1999|p=284}}

Hamilton replied that Burr should give specifics of his remarks, not Cooper's, and said he could not 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 fifteen years.<ref>{{Cite web|title=To Alexander Hamilton from Aaron Burr|url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-26-02-0001-0207|date=June 21, 1804|access-date=March 10, 2025|via=[[Founders Online]]}}</ref> Hamilton, meaning what he said and wanting to ensure his reputation stayed clean for the future, did not.<ref name=npsduel>{{Cite web|title=Hamilton-Burr Duel|url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/hamilton-burr-duel.htm|date=May 8, 2022|access-date=March 10, 2025|via=[[National Park Service]]}}</ref> According to historian Thomas Fleming, Burr would have immediately published such an apology, and Hamilton's remaining power in the New York's Federalist party would have been diminished.{{sfn|Fleming|1999|pp=287–289}} Burr responded by challenging Hamilton to a duel,<ref>{{Cite web|title=To Alexander Hamilton from Aaron Burr|url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-26-02-0001-0212|date=June 22, 1804|access-date=March 6, 2025|via=[[Founders Online]]}}</ref> personal combat then formalized under rules known as ''[[code duello]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The History of Dueling in America|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/duel-history-dueling-america|access-date=March 6, 2025|via=[[PBS]]}}</ref>

Dueling was outlawed in New York, with bitter punishment awaiting any involved in dueling. It also was illegal in [[New Jersey]], but the criminal ramifications were less severe.<ref name=duelbritannica>{{Cite web|title=Burr—Hamilton Duel|url=https://www.britannica.com/event/Burr-Hamilton-duel|access-date=March 13, 2025|via=[[Encyclopedia Britannica]]}}</ref> On July 11, 1804, the enemies met outside [[Weehawken, New Jersey]], at the same location where Hamilton's oldest son, [[Philip Hamilton]], had been killed in a duel three years earlier. Both men fired, and Hamilton was mortally wounded by a shot just above the hip.<ref name=npsduel/><ref name=duelbritannica/>

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.{{sfn|Ellis|2000|pp=20–47}} Historian William Weir speculated that Hamilton might have been undone by his machinations: secretly setting his [[pistol]]'s trigger to require only a half-pound of pressure as opposed to the usual ten pounds. Weir contends, "There is no evidence that Burr even knew that his pistol had a set trigger."<ref>{{cite book
 |last=Weir
 |first=William
 |date=2003
 |title=Written With Lead: America's most famous and notorious gunfights from the Revolutionary War to today
 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/writtenwithleada0000weir/page/28/mode/2up
 |location=New York
 |publisher=Cooper Square Press
 |chapter=Interview in Weehawken, Mystery in the West
 |page=29
 |isbn=0815412894
}}</ref> [[Louisiana State University]] history professors Nancy Isenberg and Andrew Burstein concur with this, noting that "Hamilton brought the pistols, which had a larger barrel than regular dueling pistols, and a secret [[wiktionary:hair-trigger|hair-trigger]], and were therefore much more deadly,"{{sfn|Isenberg|Burstein|2011}} and conclude that "Hamilton gave himself an unfair advantage in their duel, and got the worst of it anyway."{{sfn|Isenberg|Burstein|2011}} However, other accounts state that Hamilton reportedly responded "not this time" when his second, [[Nathaniel Pendleton]], asked whether he would set the hair-trigger feature.<ref>Winfield, Charles H. (1874). ''History of the County of Hudson, New Jersey from Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time''. New York: Kennard and Hay. Chapter 8, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20070703220610/http://duel2004.weehawkenhistory.org/winfieldch8duels.pdf Duels]." pp.&nbsp;219.</ref><ref name=Brookhiser212>{{cite book |last=Brookhiser |first=Richard |title=Alexander Hamilton, American |page=212 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-43913-545-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KNqw3yCfG5YC&pg=PA212 |via=Google Books }}</ref>

[[David O. Stewart]], in his biography of Burr, ''American Emperor'', notes that the reports of Hamilton's intentionally missing Burr with his shot began to be published in newspaper reports in papers friendly to Hamilton only in the days after his death.{{sfn|Stewart|2011|p=35-38}} However, [[Ron Chernow]], in his 2004 biography ''[[Alexander Hamilton (book)|Alexander Hamilton]]'', states that Hamilton told numerous friends well before the duel of his intention to avoid firing at Burr. Additionally, Hamilton wrote several letters, including a ''Statement on Impending Duel With Aaron Burr''{{sfn|Hamilton|1804a}} and his last missives to his wife dated before the duel,{{sfn|Hamilton|1804b}} which also attest to his intention. The second shot, witnesses reported, followed so soon after the first that witnesses could not agree on who fired first. Before the duel proper, Hamilton took a good deal of time getting used to the feel and weight of the pistol and putting on his glasses to see his opponent more clearly. The [[Duel#Offence and satisfaction|seconds]] placed Hamilton so that Burr would have the rising sun behind him, and during the brief duel, one witness reported, Hamilton seemed to be hindered by this placement as the sun was in his eyes.<ref name="Stewart, 2011">Stewart, (2011).</ref>

Each man took one shot. Burr's shot fatally injured Hamilton. While it is unclear whether Hamilton's was purposely fired into the air, Burr's bullet entered Hamilton's abdomen above his right hip, piercing his [[liver]] and [[human vertebral column|spine]]. Hamilton was evacuated to the [[Manhattan]] residence of his friend, [[William Bayard Jr.]], where he and his family received visitors including [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal]] bishop [[Benjamin Moore (bishop)|Benjamin Moore]], who gave Hamilton [[last rites]]. Burr was charged with multiple crimes, including murder, in New York and New Jersey, but was never tried in either jurisdiction.<ref name="Stewart, 2011"/>

Burr fled to [[South Carolina]], where his daughter lived with her family, but soon returned to [[Philadelphia]] and then to [[Washington, D.C.]] 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 died in New York.<ref name="Stewart, 2011"/>