Colin Powell endorsed the new Aaron Burr
Oct 20th, 2008 | By Grand Old Partisan | Category: General PostingsThe most important endorsement in U.S. political history came during the presidential election of 1800. The House of Representatives had to choose between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr.
Though he had long opposed Jefferson’s policies, Alexander Hamilton knew him to be “a patriot and an honorable man.” “If there be a man in this world I ought to hate it is Jefferson,” he wrote, “but the public good must be paramount to every personal consideration.” Hamilton knew that the presidency should not be entrusted to Aaron Burr. Senator Burr was the master manipulator who had created Tammany Hall, the original Democrat political machine.
With a barrage of letters to congressmen and other political leaders, Hamilton won the election for Jefferson:
“Burr loves nothing but himself; thinks of nothing but his personal aggrandizement; and will be content with nothing short of permanent power in his own hands.”
“No mortal can tell what his political principles are. If he has any theory, ‘tis that of simple despotism.”
