Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron BurrThis definitive biography of the revolutionary era villain overturns every myth and image we have of him The narrative of America’s founding is filled with godlike geniuses—Franklin, Washington, Adams, Jefferson—versus the villainous Aaron Burr. Generations have been told Burr was a betrayer—of Hamilton, of his country, of those who had nobler ideas. All untrue. He did not turn on Hamilton; rather, the politically aggressive Hamilton was preoccupied with Burr and subverted Burr’s career at every turn for more than a decade through outright lies and slanderous letters. In Fallen Founder, Nancy Isenberg portrays the founders as they all really were and proves that Burr was no less a patriot and no less a principled thinker than those who debased him. He was an inspired politician who promoted decency at a moment when factionalism and ugly party politics were coalescing. He was a genuine hero of the Revolution, as much an Enlightenment figure as Jefferson, and a feminist generations ahead of his time. A brilliant orator and lawyer, he was New York’s attorney general, a senator, and vice president. Denounced as a man of extreme tastes, he in fact pursued a moderate course, and his political assassination was accomplished by rivals who feared his power and who promoted the notion of his sexual perversions. Fallen Founderis an antidote to the worshipful biographies far too prevalent in the histories of the revolutionary era. Burr’s story returns us to reality: to the cunning politicians our nation’s founders really were and to a world of political maneuvering, cutthroat politicking, and media slander that is stunningly modern. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - jimocracy - LibraryThingThis was informative but tedious and very drawn out. It was interesting that the author had a pro-Burr stance and presented him in a positive light even for most of his scandalous behavior. Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - carl.rollyson - LibraryThing"It is time to start over," contends Nancy Isenberg in her iconoclastic "Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr" (Viking, 544 pages, $29.95). Burr is, of course, infamous for killing Alexander ... Read full review
Contents
One A MAN OF PROMISING PARTS | 1 |
Two TO CONCERT WITH MY BROTHER OFFICERS | 19 |
Three SUCH ARE THE LETTERS I LOVE | 55 |
Four AN UNPREJUDICED MIND | 85 |
Five A CERTAIN LITTLE SENATOR | 129 |
Six THE STATESMAN AND THE SOLDIER | 177 |
Seven THE RUIN OF THE VICE PRESIDENT | 223 |
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Common terms and phrases
Aaron Burr Adams Albert Gallatin Alexander Hamilton American army attack attorney Bayard Bentham Blennerhassett British Burr Conspiracy Burr Papers Burr's Burrites Cheetham City claimed Colonel Congress Court daughter Davis defend Democratic Republicans DeWitt Clinton duel Eaton election electoral federal Federalists filibuster French George governor Hamilton Papers History honor Ibid James Madison James Monroe James Wilkinson John Journal of Aaron July June jury Kline land later letter Livingston Lomask Manhattan Melancton Smith Memoirs of Aaron microfilm military Montgomery Ness New-York newspapers Nicholson Ogden Orleans party Philadelphia Pierpont Edwards political Princeton Private Journal prosecution reel Reeve Revolutionary Robert Troup Rufus King rumors Samuel Sedgwick Senate Sept sexual Smith Society Spanish Swartwout Syrett Theodore Sedgwick Theodosia Burr Alston Theodosia Prevost Burr Thomas Jefferson tion treason trial vice president Virginia votes Washington wife Wilkinson William Williamson wrote York young
Bibliographic information
| Title | Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr |
| Author | Nancy Isenberg |
| Edition | illustrated, reprint, annotated |
| Publisher | Penguin, 2007 |
| ISBN | 0670063525, 9780670063529 |
| Length | 540 pages |
| Subjects | › Biography & Autobiography / Historical |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |