“I leave to my actions to speak for themselves and to my character to confound the fictions of slander,” Aaron Burr once said those words. Aaron Burr was born on February 6, 1756 and served as the 3rd Vice President of United States of America between 1800 and 1805 thus becoming one of the most prominent figures during 19th century period who shaped American social and political history. Burr served during the first term of President Thomas Jefferson. Burr was also known to have been a very successful attorney when he relocated to New York in 1783 and practices together with Alexander Hamilton. His earlier attempts to gain a political seat were marked by failures and his success came at last when he was named Attorney General in 1789. In 1791, Burr was elected in a senatorial position where he served for a period of six years and later managed to win an elective seat in state legislature when he did not succeed to clinch the senatorial seat for the another time (Parton, 13). Burr is dead but his marks in the history of the superpower nation cannot escape to be noticed having made both positive and negative contribution to the country social, economic and political landmark.
Burr's early life was marked by a great service in the military. During revolutionary war, Burr saved a whole brigade from being captured by British landing in Manhattan. When his heroic act was not recognized, an estrangement ensued between him and Washington. In 1777, he assumed a leadership role in the military when he became a lieutenant general. Due to ill health and renewed zeal to study law, he resigned from military in 1779 (Parton, 27).
Due to his massive influence in opposition to Hamiltonian Federalists and New York, Burr was requested by Madison and Jefferson to give a hand in 1800 election. His stupendous efforts saw him sponsoring a bill through to New York Assembly which later created the Manhattan Company, a water company whose deed paved way for creation of bank managed by Jefferson federalists. On the same note, Burr went down in history books as the father and pioneer of contemporary political campaigning having enlisted the assistance of members of a social club known as Tammany Hall in winning the votes for Electoral College delegates' election.
A lasting result of Burr's involvement in 1800 election is evidenced by 20th amendment to US constitution which completely changed the manner in which choosing of Vice Presidents was done. As it was the norm even in 1800 election, the same situation could easily come about where the working relationship between the president and the vice president (the defeated presidential candidate) was strained with the duo having been political enemies. The amendment stipulated that the votes cast had to be separate from that of the president and vice president.
Despite his great legacy, a dwell with Alexander Hamilton never worked well in his favor. The foundation of this was Hamilton's judgment that he was, “a dangerous man, and one who ought not to be trusted with the reins of government.” Dueling was prohibited in New York with punishment being death as well as in New Jersey. This ended up in Hamilton shooting him. His involvement in dark conspiracies to overthrown Spanish0 power in South west also saw him on trial but was thrown out for lack of evidence (Fleming, 45).
In conclusion, Burr's behavior both in private and public was labeled as gracious and considerate even by his enemies. He received great commendation as a great listener. Despite the fact that a lot transpired in his life, most people only get tickled by the deadly duel that happened with Hamilton. Nevertheless, his establishment of rules and important guides employed in impeachment of first senate set a high moral bar for procedures to followed in the chamber as well as behavior most of which are still followed to date. Burr refusal to defend himself and silence especially in the light of political critics either in the press or legislature left an air of mystery surrounding his reputation.