amused
Jefferson and Burr actually began on the same side, as Republicans fighting the Federalist John Adams in his bid for re-election. Adams had problems because his own party was divided, with Alexander Hamilton leading the hardcore faction and Adams the more moderate wing of the party.
Even without the close election, Burr is quite an interesting story by himself. He was the Karl Rove or James Carville of his day, knowing how to strategize to win elections. Because of his influence in New York and opposition to the Hamiltonian Federalists, Burr was asked by Jefferson and James Madison to help them in the election of 1800 by winning the state of New York for the Republicans and in turn tipping the balance of the election. Burr engineered the Republican victory brilliantly. He guided a bill through the New York Assembly that established the Manhattan Company, a water utility company whose charter also allowed creation of a bank controlled by Jeffersonians. This greatly diminished the influence of Alexander Hamilton in the state. Burr was also able to secure the election of his slate of greater New York City area Electors, defeating the Federalist slate backed by Alexander Hamilton. Burr is considered by some to be the father of modern political campaigning. He enlisted the help of members of Tammany Hall, a social club, to win the voting for selection of Electoral College delegates. He was then placed on the Democratic-Republican presidential ticket in the 1800 election with Jefferson. At the time, most states' legislatures chose the members of the U.S. Electoral College, and New York was crucial to Jefferson.
Although Burr initially helped Jefferson win New York, a problem, arose when the two men tied for the presidency with 73 electoral votes each. It had been clearly understood going into the election that the party intended that Jefferson should be president and Burr vice president, but the responsibility for the final choice belonged to the House of Representatives. Burr, considered by many to be unscrupulous, saw the opportunity to get the big chair for himself. He enlisted the attempt of a powerful faction among the Federalists to try and secure his election, as president, playing on their antagonism for Jefferson.
Burr failed in this attempt, partly due to opposition by Alexander Hamilton and partly due to Burr himself. Burr wrote to Jefferson underscoring his promise to be vice president, but it took 36 ballots before James A. Bayard, a Delaware Federalist, submitted a blank vote to decide the election in Jefferson's favor. Hamilton disliked both Burr and Jefferson, but he considered Jefferson to be the more principled of the two, and encouraged his supporters to back Jefferson.
When Burr became Vice President he was never trusted by Jefferson and was effectively shut out of party matters. However, Burr's judicial manner as President of the Senate were praised even by some of his enemies. Historian Forrest MacDonald even-handed manner in presiding over the impeachment trial of Justice Samuel Chase with helping to preserve the principle of judicial independence that was established by Marbury v. Madison in 1803.
In 1804, the last full year of his single term as Vice President, Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in a famous duel. Burr was never tried for the illegal duel, but the death of Hamilton ended Burr's political career. President Jefferson dropped him from the ticket for the 1804 presidential election, and Burr never held office again.
After leaving Washington, Burr traveled west seeking new opportunities, both economic and political. His activities eventually led to his arrest on charges of treason in 1807. Although the subsequent trial resulted in an acquittal, Burr's western schemes had left him with large debts and few influential friends. He left the United States for Europe. He remained overseas until 1812, when he returned to the United States and to the practice of law in New York City. There he spent the remainder of his life in relative obscurity. Burr suffered a debilitating stroke in 1834, and on September 14, 1836, Burr died on Staten Island in the village of Port Richmond at the age of 80. He was buried near his father in Princeton, New Jersey.
Burr is not completely forgotten. In 2005 the musical comedy group Lonely Island remembered him in their song Lazy Sunday in which a character in the song spends a lot of ten dollar bills (which have Alexander Hamilton's picture on them) and the character sings "you can call me Aaron Burr from the way I'm dropping Hamiltons."