Colin Evans Great Feuds in History, Ten of the Liveliest Disputes Ever (2001)

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all manner of unlikely allies, Monroe and Madison included, but
through it all Burr s fancy political footwork never let him down.
Not only did he survive Hamilton s covert onslaught; he pros-
pered, garnering the support of many Federalists as well as
Democratic-Republicans.
From the published correspondence of both men it appears
as though Burr was largely unaware of Hamilton s vicious hos-
tility; but it should be remembered that Burr was crafty down
to his bootstraps. There was little profit to be gained by bad-
mouthing Hamilton in print; besides, it is entirely possible, even
likely, that his literary reticence masked a full awareness of what
was going on, as subsequent events would demonstrate.
Hamilton, meanwhile, still had Washington s ear, even more
so after 1793, when Jefferson, exasperated beyond endurance
by Hamilton s insufferable arrogance, resigned from the cabinet.
As Hamilton s star soared, Burr suffered a jolting setback.
The death of his wife in 1794, although not unexpected, shook
him to the marrow. What part his countless extramarital affairs
played in her decline must remain a matter for conjecture, but
judging from the depth of his grief, one can detect a heavy tinge
of guilt in Burr s devastation. The most immediate outcome was
to draw him even closer to his beloved daughter, also named
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56 GREAT FEUDS IN HISTORY
Theodosia, with whom he enjoyed an unusually close relation-
ship. While Burr wrestled with personal tragedy, Hamilton went
from strength to strength. As the fulcrum of Washington s cab-
inet, he reached the pinnacle of his power and influence, advis-
ing on and directing a wide range of foreign and domestic policy.
But the knives were being sharpened. In the press he was
depicted as a monster, a nascent Caesar intent on overthrowing
the republic and establishing a monarchy, with himself as sov-
ereign ruler. Even more ominously, the Democratic-Republicans
pursued allegations that Hamilton and his Federalist cronies had
used the Treasury Department and the Bank of the United States
for personal gain. They demanded access to financial records,
which Hamilton provided; although they did show certain
sketchy dealings, the smoking gun that would prove outright
fraud was absent, and Hamilton weathered the storm.
Where political enemies failed, family commitments suc-
ceeded as mounting debts forced Hamilton to resign from the
Treasury Department in 1795 and resume his law practice, not
that he had the slightest intention of relinquishing any political
clout. Inevitably, though, his power waned. An early indicator of
his declining influence came in the 1796 election, when he toiled
fruitlessly to prevent fellow Federalist and longtime rival John
Adams from gaining the presidency. Even more galling for the
disappointed Hamilton, his archenemy, Aaron Burr, used this
forum to make the transition from local to national figure. His
fourth place in the presidential race didn t look that great on
paper, but it definitely marked him as a coming man if only he
could stay solvent. Like Hamilton, Burr was drowning in a sea
of debt; numerous speculative land deals had gone sour, forcing
him into the hands of usurers. 7
Having been thwarted in his attempt to deny Adams the pres-
idency, a vengeful Hamilton now sought to exercise his influence
secretly within the cabinet. But crisis loomed as all the financial
legerdemain he had employed to juggle the nation s books now
came back to haunt him, giving his enemies a priceless oppor-
tunity to finish him off for good.
In 1797, a journalist published a story that while he was trea-
sury secretary, Hamilton had colluded with a financial schemer
named James Reynolds in a string of highly dubious business
ventures. Quoting Reynolds as his source, the journalist asserted
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Burr versus Hamilton 57
that Hamilton had skimmed government funds in order to spec-
ulate in the financial market. Hamilton s riposte was quick and
astonishing. After hotly denying any allegation of financial chi-
canery with Reynolds, he caused a sensation by declaring, My
real crime is an amorous connection with [Reynolds s] wife . . .
with his . . . connivance . . . brought on by a combination
between the husband and wife with the design to extort money
from me. 8
The story Hamilton told was fantastic. It had all begun, he
claimed, in the summer of 1791, when he had been staying in
Philadelphia. One day a distraught young woman had come
knocking at his door, begging him for the coach fare back to New
York. Being a good Christian, Hamilton felt conscience-bound to
assist a troubled soul in her hour of need and extended a warm
welcome. Although he declined to elaborate on the more dubi-
ous circumstances of this meeting rumors persisted that the
couple s first assignation had occurred much earlier suffice it
to say that the voluptuous Maria Reynolds delayed her return to
New York in order to attend to the treasury secretary s more
earthy concerns. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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