American Emperor: Aaron Burr's Challenge to Jefferson's America [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

David O. Stewart (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 25, 2011

In this vivid and brilliant biography, David Stewart describes Aaron Burr, the third vice president, as a daring and perhaps deluded figure who shook the nation’s foundations in its earliest, most vulnerable decades.

In 1805, the United States was not twenty years old, an unformed infant. The government consisted of a few hundred people. The immense frontier swallowed up a tiny army of 3,300 soldiers. Following the Louisiana Purchase, no one even knew where the nation’s western border lay. Secessionist sentiment flared in New England and beyond the Appalachians.

Burr had challenged Jefferson, his own running mate, in the presidential election of 1800. Indicted for murder in the dueling death of Alexander Hamilton in 1804, he dreamt huge dreams. He imagined an insurrection in New Orleans, a private invasion of Spanish Mexico and Florida, and a great empire rising on the Gulf of Mexico, which would swell when America’s western lands seceded from the Union. For two years, Burr pursued this audacious dream, enlisting support from the General-in-Chief of the Army, a paid agent of the Spanish king, and from other western leaders, including Andrew Jackson. When the army chief double-crossed Burr, Jefferson finally roused himself and ordered Burr prosecuted for treason.

The trial featured the nation’s finest lawyers before the greatest judge in our history, Chief Justice John Marshall, Jefferson’s distant cousin and determined adversary. It became a contest over the nation’s identity: Should individual rights be sacrificed to punish a political apostate who challenged the nation’s very existence? In a revealing reversal of political philosophies, Jefferson championed government power over individual rights, while Marshall shielded the nation’s most notorious defendant. By concealing evidence, appealing to the rule of law, and exploiting the weaknesses of the government’s case, Burr won his freedom.

Afterwards Burr left for Europe to pursue an equally outrageous scheme to liberate Spain’s American colonies, but finding no European sponsor, he returned to America and lived to an unrepentant old age.

Stewart’s vivid account of Burr’s tumultuous life offers a rare and eye-opening description of the brand-new nation struggling to define itself.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Advance Praise for American Emperor

“A proven storyteller, David O. Stewart takes us on a wonderful journey back to a fascinating chapter of American life: the challenges and controversies embodied in Aaron Burr. American Emperor is a great tale.”

--Jon Meacham, author of American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House

“A luminous portrait of Aaron Burr as well as the first high-definition picture of an endlessly baffling, infuriating, and mesmerizing life.”

--Patricia O’Toole, When Trumpets Call: Theodore Roosevelt after the White House

“Aaron Burr is the American Lucifer, a figure of immense talents and heroic qualities whose voracious ambition thrust him into a position as adversary to the goodness around him. David Stewart captures this tale in all its drama, treachery, and historical dimension. This is a truly absorbing narrative.”

--Robert W. Merry, author of A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War and the Conquest of the American Continent

“The generation of the Founders produced some intriguing characters, but Aaron Burr has to be the most charismatic, quixotic, and mysterious. David Stewart brings the scheming, brilliant Burr to life in this lively but also judicious portrait of grand and unfulfilled ambition.”

--Evan Thomas, author of The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898

“With remarkable evenhandedness and superb pacing, David O. Stewart has given us a real Aaron Burr and a real Thomas Jefferson in a gripping narrative about a political adventure that might have changed the history of the United States and Mexico.”

--Thomas Fleming, author of Duel: Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton and the Future of America

“Stewart’s sympathetic but unapologetic study of the enigmatic Burr…transcends its subject in exposing the frailty of early America’s westward ambitions. Highly recommended for readers of Revolutionary-era biographies and early U.S. history.” –Library Journal

“A fresh, vivid exploration of the exploits and trial of Aaron Burr… Two parts adventure story and one part courtroom thriller… A persuasive, engaging examination of the post-political career of a shadowy and much-maligned figure from the era of the Founders.” –Kirkus Reviews (Starred)

“Great men behaving badly makes for entertaining reading…[this book] will keep [readers] turning the pages of this meticulous, almost day-by-day account of a plot so bizarre that it’s hard to believe it actually happened.” –Publishers Weekly

“Stewart strives admirably to sort through the maze of facts and speculations about the nature of the conspiracy and Burr’s place in it. This is also a personality study of Burr, in whom Stewart sees an extraordinary combination of talent, vision, arrogance, and insatiable ambition….readers should enjoy this account of a dangerous episode that threatened our young republic.” –Booklist

“American Emperor offers a compelling, provocative portrait of Aaron Burr….a skilled historian and a splendid storyteller, Stewart makes the most of the episode and its…cast of characters.” —Kansas City Star

About the Author

David O. Stewart turned to writing after more than a quarter century of law practice in Washington, D.C., defending accused criminals and challenging government actions as unconstitutional. His first book about the writing of the Constitution, The Summer of 1787, grew out of Supreme Court case he was working on. It was aWashington Post bestseller and won the Washington Writing Prize for Best Book of 2007. Impeached had its roots in a judicial impeachment trial Stewart defended before the United States Senate, in 1989, and then argued to the Supreme Court. His most recent book, American Emperor, tells this astonishing tale, which traces Aaron Burr’s descent from made man to political pariah to imperialist adventurer. For more information about the author, go to DavidOStewart.com. 

Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (October 25, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439157189
• ISBN-13: 978-1439157183
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #503,013 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #100 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( J ) > Jefferson, Thomas

More About the Author

David O. Stewart turned to writing after more than a quarter century of law practice in Washington, D.C., defending accused criminals and challenging government actions as unconstitutional. His first book, about the writing of the Constitution (The Summer of 1787), grew out of Supreme Court case he was working on. It was a Washington Post Bestseller and won the Washington Writing Prize for Best Book of 2007. His second book (Impeached), had its roots in a judicial impeachment trial he defended before the United States Senate in 1989, then argued to the Supreme Court. His most recent next book -- American Emperor: Aaron Burr's Challenge to Jefferson's America -- was released in early October 2011. It explores the Burr's astounding Western expedition of 1805-07 and his treason trial before Chief Justice John Marshall. All three books have received starred prepublication reviews from Kirkus or Publishers Weekly.

In September 2013, Stewart will begin a new chapter in his writing life with the release of an historical novel exploring the John Wilkes Booth conspiracy. A short story of his was previously nominated for the Pushcart Prize. He also is working a non-fiction examination of James Madison and the remarkably influential partnerships he formed in his life.

Stewart lives with his wife in Maryland. Visit his website at www.davidostewart.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 35 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Review of American Emperor October 25, 2011

By Eskypades VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Mention Aaron Burr's name and the first thing that comes to a person's mind will most likely be his infamous duel with Alexander Hamilton. What might not be so well known is the path Burr took after he fled New York or the fact that, even during his tenure as vice-president under Jefferson, he was plotting to build his own empire in the western half of the United States. In American Emperor: Aaron Burr's Challenge to Jefferson's America, David O. Stewart masterfully sheds light on this lesser-known portion of Burr's career. While the Burr/Hamilton duel is touched on, it is only briefly and as a backdrop to the animosity many Americans felt towards him at the time. The majority of the book is spent covering Burr's machinations with General James Wilkinson and Harman Blennerhassett along his subsequent trial for treason. Stewart also discusses the dislike Jefferson had for Burr and Jefferson's dead-level best attempts at ensuring Burr was found guilty of treason.

While the book doesn't portray Burr in the most favorable light, I was left with the impression that Stewart gave a fair account of Burr's character as well as his attempts at empire building without necessarily labeling him an outright traitor. Burr isn't painted as a monstrous traitor but neither are the charges of treason completely whitewashed. In the end, Stewart agrees with the "not guilty" verdict based on John Marshall's interpretation of the Constitution and not on whether or not Burr actually schemed against the U.S., which Stewart notes as being completely plausible. The book also includes a copy of the "cipher letter" and the indictment against Burr.

American Emperor is a well-researched, readable account of Aaron Burr's controversial plans.... I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to know more about what happened after the duel.

(Thanks to Simon and Schuster for providing an electronic copy of this book.) Read more ›

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Like an Allen Drury Novel, but better because this is a true tale! October 25, 2011

By James M. Morris

Format:Hardcover

Biography is often an act of rediscovery. David O. Stewart, a distinguished writer of three major works in American history, has done just that with Aaron Burr. In a brilliant and elegantly written (splendidly designed, as well) book, Stewart lays out a tale of political intrigue that rivals an Allen Drury novel except that it is all true and based on copious and careful research.
As readers and critics alike have found, Stewart has an engaging writing style that gives life to events and people of the past. He brings the best of his legal experience to his work as a writer, much as the late Louis Auchincloss did with his novels.
You can't lose to buy this biography about a man who might just have become emperor in the early days of our republic when anything could have gone wrong.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Must-read book on dark moment in American history January 17, 2012

By Darrell Delamaide

Format:Hardcover

David Stewart, who brings the fluency of an accomplished writer and the authority of a practicing lawyer to his works on history, has cast an illuminating spotlight onto one of the darkest figures and one of the most mysterious moments in American history -- Aaron Burr's madcap scheme to create a new American empire in the West.

We all know Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel, even though most of us are hazy on Hamilton's monumental contribution to the founding of this country and forget that Burr was actually vice president. What Stewart skillfully shows in this book is how fluid our young nation was in these early years, when even President Jefferson was kind of all right with the notion that the United States could split in two. It is against this backdrop that Burr, in all his enigmatic genius, connived and conspired to set up a rival country within our current borders.

As he did in his two earlier books, The Summer of 1787, about the writing of the constitution, and Impeachment, about the Senate trial of President Andrew Johnson, Stewart looks again at a key turning point in American history that has received too little examination. He doesn't need to go into the "what if" alternative scenarios for us to realize how lucky this country has been at such moments that its men and institutions were able to rise to the occasion. Once again, he has crafted a must-read book for anyone interested in the drama of this country's rise to greatness.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Driven to Power and Fame December 19, 2011

By P. R. Smith

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a very good discussion of Aaron Burr's life inside the U.S. political system as well as his private efforts outside it. After an electoral tie with Jefferson in the 1800 presidential election, Burr resorted to underhanded tactics to steal the presidency from Jefferson, the intended presidential candidate for the republicans. His betrayal of Jefferson led to Burr, as V.P., being shut out of decision making during the first four years of Jefferson's presidency and being dropped from the ticket in the 1804 election. Burr found himself an outsider in the U.S. political system driven by a desire for power and no doubt revenge against Jefferson, his political party and a country that he likely felt had short changed him (he at times mentioned a coup of Jefferson's presidency). Organizing an expedition to conquer Spanish possessions in North America and possibly U.S. states and territory west of the Applachians is nearly unbelievable, but the author explains that in 1806-07 it was a feasible undertaking. Burr is described as a charismatic flatterer who skillfully felt out recruits to his cause, gaining many along the way. Misreading General Wilkinson was his greatest mistake. One wonders, considering Wilkinson's known duplicity with Spain, how Burr could have placed trust in him for any reason other than desperation (or is this simply a case of 'birds of feather'?). Whether Burr committed treason is a much discussed topic, but there is little doubt had he gained the opportunity he would have done so without hesitation. For me, Burr's obvious willingness to betray Jefferson in the 1800 election and next his country make him guilty of moral failure.... It is expected that politicians relish power but our system of democratically elected government depends on a a certain honor from our elected officials that Burr sorely lacked but was supposedly willing to defend in a duel with Alexander Hamilton. Read more ›