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==Politics==

==Politics==

Burr became the leader of the [[Democratic-Republican Party]] in New York, and built a formidable political machine in opposition to the [[Federalist Party]] that Hamilton ran.  The party nominated him as Vice president in 1796 and 1800. A master of the nuts and bolts of the political game, his brilliantly managed campaign in New York City during the presidential election of 1800 proved decisive in defeating the reelection bid of President [[John Adams]].

Burr became the leader of the [[Democratic-Republican Party]] in New York, and built a formidable political machine in opposition to the [[Federalist Party]] that Hamilton ran.  The party nominated him as [[Vice President]] in 1796 and 1800. A master of the nuts and bolts of the political game, his brilliantly managed campaign in New York City during [[United States presidential election, 1800|the presidential election of 1800]] proved decisive in defeating the reelection bid of President [[John Adams]].

In the 1800 election, Burr received the same number of electoral votes as did Jefferson, and refused to concede the presidential race to Jefferson, thus forcing the election into the [[House of Representatives]]. While Burr's refusal to concede may have been in part due to the Constitution not clearly saying whether he would become vice president or have to drop out of the race completely (meaning third-placed [[John Adams]] would have become vice president instead), Burr's own lust for power and glory has generally been regarded by historians as the reason why he tried to snatch the presidency away from Jefferson. It was due to [[Alexander Hamilton]]'s opposition that Jefferson became president and Burr vice-president. Burr served as the [[vice president]] of [[Thomas Jefferson]] from 1801 to 1805.  

Since this was before the [[Twelfth Amendment]], Burr was technically running for President as well.  The normal practice was for one elector to vote for Jefferson but not Burr, which would have caused Burr to come in second and be Vice-President; however, no elector did so in 1800, so Burr and Jefferson tied.  According to the [[Full_Text_of_the_United_States_Constitution#Article._II.|Constitution]], the [[lame duck]] Federalist House would break the tie. Jefferson pressed Burr to promise not to serve; however, he did not do so.  Burr himself never explained why.  It may have been in part due to the Constitution not clearly saying whether he would become vice president or have to drop out of the race completely (meaning third-placed [[John Adams]] would have become vice president instead), or it may have been because the Constitution did not specify what would happen if the Federalist-controlled House failed to break the tie before Inauguration Day,<ref>Indeed, one Congressman proposed a bill specifying that a Federalist-controlled committee could then elect whatever candidate they wanted as President.  (''America Afire: Jefferson, Adams, and the Revolutionary Election of 1800.'' Bernard A. Weisberger.)</ref> or Burr may have wanted to snatch the presidency away from Jefferson. Nonetheless, even when someone told Burr that some Congressmen would vote for him if he arrived at Washington in person, he did not do so.  Eventually, [[Alexander Hamilton]]'s opposition to Burr and minor concessions from Jefferson moved a majority of the House to vote for Jefferson.  Jefferson became President, and Burr served as the [[vice president]] of [[Thomas Jefferson]] from 1801 to 1805.  

Jeffersonian Republicans now deeply distrusted Burr, convinced that he had tried to cut a deal with Federalists to place himself in the presidency at the expense of Jefferson and against the very strong will of the party.  Jefferson was his enemy now. His law business had also fallen off and his enemies had ousted him from a the board of a major bank, so return to private practice was not an attractive alternative. By 1803 Burr was desperate to restore his political standing. The national party caucus renominated Jefferson for president in 1804 but unanimously dropped Burr. Despite the collapse of his political support Burr decided to run for governor of New York in 1804. He lost, with 30,829 votes for his opponent Morgan Lewis and only 22,139 for Burr--by far the largest majority in state history and a complete humiliation for Burr.

Jefferson was now Burr's enemy.  Jeffersonian Republicans now deeply distrusted Burr, convinced that he had tried to cut a deal with Federalists to place himself in the presidency at the expense of Jefferson and against the very strong will of the party.  His law business had also fallen off and his enemies had ousted him from the board of a major bank, so return to private practice was not an attractive alternative. By 1803, Burr was desperate to restore his political standing. The national party caucus renominated Jefferson for president in 1804 but unanimously dropped Burr. Despite the collapse of his political support Burr decided to run for governor of New York in 1804. He lost, with 30,829 votes for his opponent Morgan Lewis and only 22,139 for Burr--by far the largest majority in state history and a complete humiliation for Burr.

==Duel with Hamilton==

==Duel with Hamilton==