Blogs and Stories
A Tale of Two Vice Presidents
AP Photos
They both served as VP. Faced hordes demanding their imprisonment. Shot people they knew. Colin Powell’s former chief of staff draws the eerie parallels between Dick Cheney and one of American history’s great rogues, Aaron Burr.
Who are the two U.S. vice presidents who have marked themselves indelibly in the book of shame? Aaron Burr and Richard Cheney (Spiro Agnew's peccadilloes are miniscule in comparison), some two centuries apart. Perhaps that speaks volumes for the soundness of the system our Founders designed: A scoundrel every 200 years in that high office is a fair record.
Spiro Agnew's peccadilloes are miniscule in comparison.
In presidential electoral votes, Burr tied Thomas Jefferson in 1801. With the election thrown into the House of Representatives for resolution—as ironically the election of 2000 with Cheney and Bush was thrown to the Supreme Court—it came down to Jefferson's archenemy, Alexander Hamilton, to stun his fellow Federalists and declare his support for Jefferson. That support carried the day in the House and Thomas Jefferson became our third president. Burr was vice president, as was customary for runners-up during our country’s first few decades.
Burr would later kill Hamilton in a duel—after, as some historians record it, Hamilton had averted his pistol shot—and thus send himself into damnation so far as most of his contemporaries were concerned. Oddly, Cheney would only manage to shoot a friend while quail hunting and, apparently, on the booze a bit too much.
Burr, in 1807 and no longer vice president as Jefferson had rejected him, would be tried for treason and for attempting to incite a war with Spain, among other nefarious dealings. John Marshall, never a friend to Jefferson, so narrowly defined "treason", however, that Burr was acquitted. Today, if Cheney were put on trial the results would likely repeat: If he were tried for war crimes, which he most assuredly could be according to U.S. law, he would be acquitted for fear that a conviction would be too tumultuous for the nation to endure.
But perhaps the greatest similarity in these two vice presidents, Burr and Cheney, is summed up by what Alexander Hamilton described about Burr's actions when Hamilton was at the operational head of the American army during the heightened period of tension with France.
"General, you are now at the head of the army," Burr told Hamilton. "You are a man of the first talents and of vast influence. Our constitution is a miserable paper machine. You have it in your power to demolish it and give us a proper one and you owe it to your friends and the country to do it." Hamilton replied: "Why Col[onel] Burr, in the first place, the little army I command is totally inadequate to the object you mention. And in the second place, if the army were adequate, I am too much troubled with the thing called morality to make the attempt." Burr then said: "General, all things are moral to great souls."
That last sums up Cheney's view perfectly.
Col. Lawrence Wilkerson was Colin Powell’s chief of staff while he was Secretary of State during George W. Bush’s presidency. He has served as director of the U.S. Marines Corps War College, and on the faculty of the U.S. Naval War College, the College of William and Mary and The George Washington University.
The Right Dumps Carrie
Jacob Bernstein is a senior reporter at The Daily Beast. Previously, he was a features writer at WWD and W Magazine. He has also written for New York magazine, Paper, and The Huffington Post.
What's Joe's Problem?
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
Geithner's Stock Plummeting
Jeff Madrick is a contributor to the New York Review of Books and a former economics columnist for the New York Times. He is editor of Challenge Magazine, visiting professor of humanities at Cooper Union, and senior fellow at the New School's Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis. He is the author of Taking America, The End of Affluence (Random House) and The Case for Big Government.
Of all the ink that has been spilled trying to capture the scope of Dick Cheney's awfulness (figurative ink, nowadays, for the most part) this does the job with devastating brevity.
L.WILKERSON ,WHAT LAW DID CHENEY BREAK ,AND YOUR REF TO DRINKING IS JUST A SLIME TRICK Aaron Burr was a tratior revisinoist history is always your way
????????????????????.....
The list of potential legal breaches is, of course, enormous; by one count, the administration has broken 269 laws, both domestic and international. It begins with illegal wiretapping and surveillance (which in the view of many experts violated the Fourth Amendment, the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, for starters), the politicization of the Justice Department and the firing of nine US attorneys, and numerous instances of obstruction of justice-from the destruction of CIA interrogation tapes to the willful misleading of Congress and the public. Perhaps the paramount charge that legal experts have zeroed in on is the state-approved torture that violated not just the Geneva Conventions and the UN Convention against Torture but also the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the 1996 War Crimes Act, which prohibits humiliating and degrading treatment and other "outrages upon personal dignity."
Kevroy1, your argument is just as persuasive as your spelling and capitalization.
The April 2004 siege of Fallujah was undoubtedly, based on what I know, was a war crime of the first magnitude.
Perhaps many armies use this strategy. I'm sure Ghenghis Khan did it. They surrounded the town. Out of niceness, they let the women and children leave. Then they cut off the food, water, electricity and moved in.
If you were innocent, and you starved to death during the seige, them's the war crime breaks.
Two-thirds of the city
Of Fallujah was leveled to the ground.
It was an all out slaughter.
Bush gave the order
But was reportedly amazed
By the destruction.
Kevroy-
I'm scheduling
An eye exam.
Yes, there are many similarities in the dastardly sides of Burr and Cheney. However, there is one very significant difference. Earlier in his life, Burr was a patriot. Cheney never served in the military, having sought 5 deferrments during Vietnam because, in his own words, he had "other interests." Burr, on the other hand, volunteered to serve in the colonial army in 1775. He served under many generals, including George Washington, and became a regiment commander at the age of 21. He spent the winter of 1777-1778 at Valley Forge with Washington's troops, and continued to serve until 1779, when he resigned from military service due to ill health. So he did serve his country in the most courageous way--unlike Cheney, who spent many nights, not in the freezing cold of Valley Forge, but in a warm and protected "undisclosed location."
Beautiful, just a great little comparison between two of the greatest shames of American politics.
I'm also happy to finally see in print, the FACT that Cheney was drunk when he shot his friend in the face, which explains why the authorities weren't allowed on the property until a day after the event, to permit Dick to sober up a bit before explaining everything away with a grunt and a snarl.
Personally I would like to see him investigated and charged with his MANY criminal offenses, but I'm not all torn up that he won't be. I would just be very happy if we could all just stop talking about him. Ignoring people like this always does more harm to their psyche, and beter serves to marginalize them anyway.
Go away Dick, and take your "stepford" Daughter with you please.
Cheney is
He who will not be
Ignored.
To compare Burr's killing of Alexander hamilton in a duel to Cheney's accidental shooting of a friend while hunting is ridiculous. As for that undisclosed location, Joe Biden was smart enough to tell everyone where it is. Beneath the VP's home.
You're right.
I don't think Burr
Was drunk.
The Dark Lord will not stop until the world is on fire.......
This man is creepy,,,I am a Democrat but so obviously for many reasons glad he is gone but he trully seems to have come mental issues, the guy is just not on planet earth anynmore.
Dick Cheney telling the world that torture works.
How dangerous is that.
Lawrence. At the next Daily Beast meeting you might want to have a talk with Nicole.
She's having delusions that Bush is a classy ex President.
Is she off her Prozac again.
This user is no longer registered.
He's not an idiot, but he was remiss in not pointing that out.
This is a serious question - has there been any inquiry into how much of the $10 billion spent on Iraq each month goes to Halliburton and how much of that might go to Cheney? Has there been any published accounting of the monthly tab at all?
Aside, there is an interview where Cheney is asked about the estimated cost of the war being - $250 Billion. He angrily rejects the numbers, instead saying the projected cost was $120 Billion. $80 Billion U.S. $40 Billion Allies.
What we now know is the projected cost to be in the region of $3000 Billion.
Ten years before that he said Iraq was not worth more than the lives of 100 U.S. soldiers who died in Gulf War 1.
What we now know is that more than 4000 have died.
This is the kind of leadership you would expect from GM.
Here is something you can't say about Cheney:
during a fierce snow storm on December 31, 1775, Burr distinguished himself with brave actions against the British.
Burr's courage made him a national hero and earned him a place on Washington's staff in Manhattan, but he quit after two weeks because he wanted to return to the battlefield.
Dick Cheney, 5 deferments. Burr was far more the man than Cheney ever was.
I find the terms "war crimes" and "torture" so easily slung like paintballs it disturbs me. I would prefer that people use facts, not innuendo or personal "feelings" and to legitimately prosecute if that is called for. This constant partisan mudslinging is just turning the nation into Jerry Springer. Lets use the Constitution instead, and stop with the lynch mob.
Torture is a Warcrime
Waterboarding is Torture
People that commit Warcrimes should be prosecuted.
FACTS.
Col. Wilkerson --
Your characterizations of Burr are consistently uncharitable to the point of dishonesty.
"Burr would later kill Hamilton in a duel-after, as some historians record it, Hamilton had averted his pistol shot-and thus send himself into damnation so far as most of his contemporaries were concerned."
Though it is clear that Hamilton kept his promise not shoot intentionally at his opponent -- a rather noble, if foolhardy thing to do, under the circumstances -- the idea that Burr killed Hamilton in cold blood has been thoroughly discredited as a smear campaign. Hamilton gave every appearance of intending to shoot, including putting on his glasses at the last moment and practicing his sighting with the pistol. And while Burr had to flee NY and NJ to escape persecution, he had multiple formal balls held in his honor in the south afterwards. See Founding Brothers, pp 20-48.
"Burr, in 1807 and no longer vice president as Jefferson had rejected him, would be tried for treason and for attempting to incite a war with Spain, among other nefarious dealings. John Marshall, never a friend to Jefferson, so narrowly defined "treason", however, that Burr was acquitted."
Again, true on minor points but wrong on the big ones. Marshall and Jefferson did, indeed, loathe each other and Marshall's definition of treason was rather narrow. What you neglect to mention is that 1) America was on the brink of war with Spain at the time 2) Starting a private war with Spain may be illegal, but is not strictly "treasonous" 3) Jefferson was almost certainly aware of the scheme at some level and 4) Jefferson was so set to convict Burr during the treason trial that he actually gave his prosecutor a signed stack of presidential pardons with instructions to use them as he (the prosecutor) saw fit. For the latter, see Lomask, "Aaron Burr: the Conspiracy and the Years of Exile" p 251.
Cheney knows best what a "lynch Mob" is, ask him.
Read my post abovem the man has clearly broke the law.
He has tarnished the US for decades to come, we will pay the price for his arogance and shredding of the Constitution.
Clearly, with deep love and devotion to our Country, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson has joined the growing chorus of those that are speaking out with clarity and conviction about the seriously flawed decisions and wrongdoing of officials in the Geo. W. Bush Administration. We are indebted to him for his courage and particularly strong voice.
As Vice President and as former Vice President, Dick Cheney has been and is a menace to America. Specifically, I hope that others will join Wilkerson in helping to penetrate the opaque fog created by the paranoid Cheney's dissembling.
While we need to recover our honor and dignity, we also need to reaffirm that the rule of law applies to all government officials including the President and Vice President. ~ richard allbritton, Miami, http://rallbritton.blogspot.com
Wow. Mr. Wilkerson is comparing a traitor to Mr. Cheney, I agree. Of course Mr. Wilkerson most probably supports another traitor named Obama, who also thinks the Constitution needs rewriting.
What a bizarre, completely unfounded statement about the President. Are you mental?
President Obama was a professor of Constitutional Law prior to becoming a Senator. He knows more about the Constitution than you do, moron, and he will stand by its statutes long after you learn to base your arguments on facts rather than silly mud. Grow up.
This was a very nice piece. I think it is far too kind to Herr Cheney.
Cheney was profiteering of people's misery, he sent our soldiers to their death just because of his illusions of grandeur and because he wanted to make money from oil and from milking the war budget. He lied to the nation and deliberately falsified evidence about WMD's. That goes even beyond treason; it is a blend of treason and war crimes. His plans worked on both counts, oil prices reached astronomical levels on his watch and of course Halliburton et al made a killing. The story will unfold slowly but surely like a tale of horrors, Burr pales into comparison. We are all lucky he didn't nuke any country
KEVROY1 are you drunk?
ARrf! ARrf! ARrf! GRrrrrrrrrrrrrr! GRrrrrrrrrrrrrr! GRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
I don't know what to think
Of this new pricklypear.
Girls gone wild.
SNERTLY, A HOLE YOU GET MY DRIFT THOUGH RIGHT STILL WAITING TO HERE ONE LAW CHENEY BROKE???????????????COME ON NAME ME JUST ONE OR SHUT YOUR TRAP
Yeah, like this, Daily Beast. Just as I'm sure some people might choose to not voluntarily view my comments, I don't want to read the output of people like KEVROY1. I never will, I bet.
I feel stupider for having read it.
He was the driving force behind starting an illegal war that cost the lives of more than a million people. A war crime for the rest of the world and the USA as well. The worse war crime because all other atrocities stem from the act of starting the war in the first place. As happened to the Nazi War Criminals at Neurenburg, he should be hanged by the neck until he is dead.
MUDDOG NAME YOUR EXPERTS .MUDDOG VP HAS NO SAY IN PICKING FEDERAL JUSTICE PEOPLE , I THINK IT GOES SOMTHING LIKE THIS , THEY SERVE AT THE PLEASURE OF THE PRESIDENT NO MATTER WHAT . AND YOUR BELIEF IN SANFAN NAN THAT THE CIA MISLEAD CONGRESS YOU DO DRINK THE KOOLAID WHAT A FOOL , 8 YEARS WITH NO ATTACK ON USA IS ALRIGHT WITH ME.MUDDOG I HOPE THEY GET YOU NEXT WHINNER.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!
KEVROY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ROAD RAGE!!!!!!!!
IT'S NOT JUST FOR DRIVING
ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!
Go take your meds, fool.
The way I have read how things happened, the Buchanan administration, during its last months after the election of Lincoln, was actively doing things to make the South's secession easier. For example, the Secretary of War was moving guns and ammo to the South for their use. I don't believe this is debated.
It is hard to imagine that John Breckenridge, then Vice-President, later serving as a general in the Confederate's Army, was not also involved in this, the highest of treasons, well, hmm. Actually, I think a State should be allowed to secede. Hmm.
To KevRoy1-
Are you not aware that Cheney years ago was arrested THREE times (at least) for drunk driving. And in his own account, after he shot his friend, he and his cohorts went back to the ranch for a few beers before they called authorities??? Read the record!
great article, great comments with one notably stupid exception. (kevroy was here, too bad)
I continue my political education at your feets....
RITARITA,YOU ARE WHO YOU ARE,#1 KOOLAID DRINKER BUT THATS OK .I FORGIVE YOU .BY THE WAY MY VISION IS 20/20.IS JOSH NARINS STUPID ,STILL WAITING FOR JUST ONE LAW CHENEY BROKE COME ON ALL YOU SMARTER THAN EVERYBODY ELSE JUST ONE .
RITARITA,AGAIN YOU MUST BE KING OF KOOLAID DRINKERS ,I BET YOU SAW POLICE REPORT,TO COME TO YOUR CONCLUSION HE WAS DRUNK.NOW I KNOW THAT THATS FALSE WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE FBI CIA NSA.DO YOU EVEN HAVE A CLUE OR IS THIS JUST IN YOUR HEAD?????
Thank you.
As a first time user, your comment has been submitted for review. It can take anywhere from a few hours to a day or two for your comment to be reviewed, depending on the time of week and the volume of comments we receive.
Please log in to leave comments.