Forget Richard Nixon- Aaron Burr has held the dubious honor of being the most scandal-ridden politician in American History. As Thomas Jefferson’s vice presidential candidate, he attempted a political coup against Jefferson after a fluke electoral college tie between the two men, and despite Burr’s prior agreement that his candidacy was limited to the vice presidential role. Burr forced 36 separate votes of the House of Representatives over the course of weeks to break the tie, which eventually favored Jefferson. The conflict resulted in the Twelfth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requiring electors to cast separate votes for Presidency and Vice-Presidency, and the loss of Jefferson’s confidence.
Burr served his four year term as a marginalized and forgotten vice-president, but before his term was over he challenged Alexander Hamilton to a duel. Burr subsequently won the duel by shooting and killing Hamilton, and incurred criminal charges for having done so. Nevertheless, Burr finished his term as VP, then tried to conquer Mexico as a private citizen. That failed, and Burr spent the remainder of his life spinning slowly down the proverbial drain before dying in a communal living house on Staten Island.
From all outward appearances, Hillary Clinton may be on a similar trajectory after having lost the 2008 Democratic primary to a comparatively unknown Barack Obama, and then lost the 2016 presidential election to Donald Trump. Her recent attempts to resurrect her presidential candidacy, heralded just last month by the Wall Street Journal, among others, appears to have been derailed already with bombshell allegations about her role in the 2016 falsified reports of Trump’s involvement with Russia. With prosecutor John Durham blazing a trail into the inner workings of her 2016 campaign organization, Hillary may be in for a historic scandal – and Burr’s reign as American political boogeyman may be over.