Does anyone else remember the first "Got Milk?" commercial, in which a geeky history aficionado was unable to answer the question "Who shot Alexander Hamilton?" because his mouth was full of peanut butter? "Aaawohn Buuuuhw," he croaked. "Aaaahwohn BUHHHH!"
The ad was all the funnier because, after all, who remembers "Aaaahwohn BUHHH!" anyway? It's the murdered Alexander Hamilton whose achievements are still celebrated in social-studies and history classrooms. He was a Founding Father and first Secretary of the Treasury, and his Bank of New York is still in operation.
But Aaron Burr was a senator and vice president of the United States. Shouldn't he be remembered for those achievements? Unfortunately not, because Burr also had delusions of grandeur (his own and his country's; for instance, he believed that once the West seceded, a huge new empire would emerge on the Gulf of Mexico) and committed treason, for which his president prosecuted him. By the time he killed Hamilton in a duel over ad hominem attacks, Burr was a figure of sadness who never regained his peers' esteem.
In American Emperor: Aaron Burr's Challenge to Jefferson's America, historian David O. Stewart shows how Burr's struggles with the nation he was sworn to serve not only affected his legacy, but changed some of the ways that nation governed.
To learn more about the actors in this true-life drama, we've assembled a brief list of biographies of famous men:
Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr by Nancy Isenberg is an intimate and sophisticated look at a man whose status as "founding father" may be in question, but whose support of free speech and equal rights is still remarkable for his time.
Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow delves further into the brilliant statesman's beginnings and personal life than previous biographies. Hamilton forged a singular path from his "Caribbean bastardy" through military service to power.
American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham is a stirring tale, stirringly told--how can it fail when the editor of Newsweek magazine takes on the story of the brave Indian fighter and hero of New Orleans? Oh, and Burr supporter....
Thomas Jefferson: A Life by Willard Sterne Randall stands for many as the best one-volume biography of our third president (Dumas Malone's multi-volume version is still the one to beat), and will provide great background for fans of Stewart's book. --Bethanne Patrick