Welcome to the Nineteenth Century! In our universe (which you can read about here) Thomas Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans dominated presidential elections for over two decades. But in 1804, we came very close to an alternate reality that would have changed everything…
Background
Unlike the universe we explored last week, President John Adams did not declare war on France. He ignored the hawkish High Federalists and sought peace through diplomacy. And he was right! When Napoleon Bonaparte took power in late 1799, tensions between the two countries eased. The US and France signed a peace treaty shortly before the 1800 presidential election. Unfortunately for Adams, it was too late to change the outcome. He became America’s first one-term president.
The election was far from over, however. Adams’ opposition, the Democratic-Republicans, had united behind Thomas Jefferson as their presidential nominee, with New York politician Aaron Burr as his running mate. It was the same ticket the party had ran in 1796, when Jefferson became vice president by finishing in second place. Per the original rules of the Constitution, each elector cast two votes, with no distinction made between presidential and vice-presidential preference. The winners were simply the top two finishers. To prevent another split-party result in 1800, Jefferson did not ask any electors to withhold votes for Burr. By mid-December (it took a long time to count votes back then), it was clear that Jefferson and Burr were going to tie, sending the election to the Federalist-controlled House of Representatives.
Aaron Burr was born into a well-known family in New Jersey. His father was president of Princeton University, and his maternal grandfather was a prominent theologian during the First Great Awakening. Sadly, Burr and his sister were orphaned at a young age and raised by an uncle. Like most Founding Fathers, he earned an education and fought in the Revolutionary War. Unlike the others, however, he was not known for having a strong political ideology. He kept his true beliefs opaque and instead focused on electoral success. As a lawyer and politician in New York City, Burr often found himself in competition with Alexander Hamilton. In 1791, he defeated Hamilton’s father-in-law for a US Senate seat. Shortly before the 1800 election, Burr tricked the state of New York into approving a new bank by disguising it as a water company, suspiciously adding the ability to make financial investments late in the process. This allowed him to compete with the national bank started by Hamilton as Secretary of Treasury.
At first, Burr denied that he would seek the presidency for himself. But, as Federalists debated which candidate would get their support, Burr clarified that he would not reject the offer. Many Federalists believed Burr was the lesser of two evils. Jefferson was the ideological leader of his party, while Burr was an opportunist who was more likely to make deals with them. Hamilton disagreed. He had famously fought against both candidates throughout his career, and believed that Burr was too unprincipled to be president. Jefferson, he argued, would be more moderate in the executive office than he appeared. However, Hamilton’s power over the Federalists had waned since his split with President Adams. When the House began voting in February, it was a stalemate. Voting continued for six days, always with the same result. Delaware’s only representative, James A. Bayard (noteworthy because he had sole control of his state’s vote), suggested to Jefferson’s allies that he would be willing to change his vote if their candidate promised to protect Hamilton’s financial system, the newly-formed navy, and low-level Federalist bureaucrats.
~The Time Warp~
In this alternative timeline, Jefferson ignored the offer1, leaving Bayard and the Federalists to conclude that Burr was the only candidate they could work with. After a few more rounds of voting, Burr would eventually get the votes needed to become president.
Burr’s presidency started similarly to Jefferson’s in our timeline, but resulted in very different reactions from his contemporaries. Burr benefitted from a good economy and reduced tensions with Europe. He lowered taxes and ended Adams’ least popular policies, like the Alien and Sedition Acts, though he complied with Federalists in keeping the navy and the national bank.2 Without Jefferson’s charisma, however, Burr struggled to command respect. Worse yet, he was a man without a party. Democratic-Republicans felt betrayed and attacked his policies as authoritarian. Despite his appeals to Federalists, most of them were not inclined to support him for re-election. If he had any chance of staying in power, Burr needed a political realignment.
Major Issues
France had recently regained control of the Louisiana Territory from Spain. They were also in the predicament of being in, yet another, war with Great Britain. Burr saw an opportunity. Believing that Napoleon would never sell the land, Burr used America’s navy to capture New Orleans, and thus, gain control of the Mississippi River.3 After a few minor battles, France was forced to sell the land and focus on their conflicts in Europe. The parties were split. True Democratic-Republicans were mortified by Burr’s excessive use of executive power. Most Federalists, like Hamilton, worried that Burr’s actions threatened the stability of the Union. But Burr also succeeded in creating a new constituency of rural farmers who were excited by the prospect of new land.4 As additional western states were formed, they could give Burr’s supporters a permanent electoral advantage.5
The Candidates
In order to effectively oppose President Burr, Hamilton supported Jefferson for president once again. Their new alliance focused on protecting the Constitution from Burr’s radical abuses of power. In order to court both rural and urban electors, Jefferson was nominated alongside former New York Senator Rufus King, a Federalist with close ties to Hamilton.
The campaign was one of the dirtiest of all time. Partisan newspapers on both sides of the aisle made brutal personal attacks on Burr, often involving his love life.6 Burr countered by openly campaigning for his own re-election, something that was a major taboo at the time.7 While this gave him more authenticity with everyday people, establishment politicians harshly criticized this misuse of office.
The Winner
Jefferson won! His popularity proved decisive (after all, he was the intended winner four years prior) and Burr could not overcome the negative public image perpetuated by the press. While Burr gained lots of support in the new western states of Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, he just didn’t have broad enough support to remake the electorate, especially at a time when presidential electors were still chosen by state legislatures.
The Future
Burr’s lame-duck period was a particularly contentious time. His opponents alleged that he would use his power over the military to form a coup d’etat, much like Napoleon had just a few years earlier, though it was never proven to be more than a rumor.8 Once out of office, Burr continued to rally his new base of supporters against the Jefferson Administration. Again, newspapers accused him a treason, believing he would form a secessionist government in the West.9
As expected, Jefferson was a popular president, though not quite as popular as he was in our timeline. By starting four years later, he had to deal with a worse economy and rising tensions with Great Britain. The War of 1812 broke out near the end of his second term, making him America’s first wartime president. Staying true to his political ideology, Jefferson hesitated to build up the military, however, putting the US at a disadvantage when fighting began.
The political realignment during Burr’s presidency sped up a few trends compared to our own reality. Burr’s rural supporters mirrored the coalition that we attribute to Andrew Jackson. Although, with a smaller population, no presidential popular vote, and a less-charismatic leader, they couldn’t produce the same results. The Federalist Party effectively ended, with most of its supporters and best ideas being absorbed into the Democratic-Republicans. Hamilton continued writing political essays, often criticizing Jefferson, but he never had the same influence as he did prior to the Federalist split. Like Jefferson and Adams, he lived until the 1820s.
What Did It Say About America?
The American electoral system could easily be taken advantage of. Although partisan tensions were already high, few politicians had the strategic mind of Aaron Burr. In a world with elections by popular vote for the presidency and senate, Burr would have been much more formidable. He was exactly the kind of politician the Founding Fathers feared when crafting the Constitution.
Was It The Right Decision?
Yes! Hamilton was right. Burr had few principles and high ambition. He would have done almost anything to stay in power. I do think he would have stopped short of forming an actual coup, but he also probably wouldn’t have stopped one if it happened naturally. Do you know any other politicians like that?
- In real life, Jefferson supposedly responded that Bayard would not have to worry about those issues if he was president, but he always denied having made an actual backroom deal. ↩︎
- This is essentially what Jefferson did, too. A few Democratic-Republicans weren’t happy, but he was just so darn popular with the people! He considered ending national bank, but his Secretary of Treasury regrettably informed him that Hamilton really had built the ideal financial system. ↩︎
- It was actually Hamilton that suggested this before President Jefferson made the Louisiana Purchase. I think it stands to reason that he would feel differently if the idea had come from Burr first. ↩︎
- Similarly, President John Tyler used Texas Annexation to remake the electorate in the 1840s after he was shunned by both parties. It didn’t work for him, but he helped realign the Democratic Party for dark horse candidate James K. Polk. ↩︎
- This was a real concern of Federalists after the Louisiana Purchase, and they were basically right! They never held the presidency again. ↩︎
- Burr faced these kinds of attacks when he ran for governor of New York after being dropped from Jefferson’s 1804 ticket. He lost in a landslide and blamed Hamilton for the result. This was the basis for their fateful duel. ↩︎
- Burr was known for publicly campaigning for Democratic-Republicans in local New York races. ↩︎
- When Hamilton was running the Provisional Army, Burr once suggested that he use his power to “demolish [the Constitution] and give us a proper one.” Bold! ↩︎
- During the race for New York governor, Federalists feared that Burr would attempt to form a new government with New England in opposition to Jefferson’s administration. ↩︎
Images
1. Aaron Burr, 1802 — John Vanderlyn, New York Historical Society / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
2. Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton and Philip Schuyler strolling on Wall Street, New York, 1913 — Jennie Augusta Brownscombe / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
3. Hoisting of American Colors over Louisiana, 1904 — Thure de Thulstrup / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
4. Aaron Burr, 1834 — James Van Dyck, New York Historical Society / Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain
Resources
Chernow, Ron. Alexander Hamilton. The Penguin Press, 2004.
Election Tuesdays 
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