I write about episodes in our history that I need to make sense of, episodes that are not well understood and also are centrally important to America’s development as a nation. Take Aaron Burr and his Western expedition, the subject of my latest, American Emperor, Aaron Burr’s Challenge to Jefferson’s America. I kept reading references to Burr’s expeditions out West after he left the vice presidency in 1804; all ended with some version of a following verbal shrug – “ whatever he was up to.”
That intrigued and annoyed me. Burr was a major figure, the politician who almost wrested the presidency from Thomas Jefferson and the duelist who killed Alexander Hamilton. Even the New York Times is still interested; this summer I took a reporter to the dueling ground in Weehawken, New Jersey, to cover the story 207 years later.
How could Burr’s activities be such a mystery? So I read more. Some sources spoke of Burr’s intentions to create a new empire on the American continent, anointing himself Emperor Aaron I. Others said he aimed merely to join a government expedition to Mexico, or to lead a settlement in the new Louisiana Territory. I imagined that Burr – charismatic, inscrutable, bemused, the bad boy of the founding generation – would be delighted to have left behind such confusion. I wanted to get to the bottom of this mystery. When I did, I learned that the truth was far more complex, that the dangerous and ambitious Burr had tried to organize an expedition with at least five possible outcomes, only to be thwarted by his enemies and disastrous luck.
The collapse of his expedition left Burr alone in a Richmond courtroom, facing the gallows as he fought treason charges inspired by his nemesis, Jefferson, and needing the wise intercession of our greatest judge, Chief Justice John Marshall. The dramatic trial vindicated America’s most cherished values, yet left Burr still aching for the conquest of Spain’s American colonies. So he set sail for Europe to seek British or French backing for his extraordinary dream of conquest and empire. Dwelling somewhere between vaulting ambition and delusion, Burr’s adventures were like those of no other American.
My law practice drew me to my first book, The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution. I was angry because I thought my opponent in a lawsuit was misstating the debates at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. One weekend I sat down to read James Madison’s notes from the Convention, all 500-plus pages, from cover to cover. Once I started reading, I stopped worrying about my case. Instead, I focused on the drama, the wisdom, and the occasional depressing blunders of the fifty-five Framers who wrote the Constitution. I thought I knew a lot about the subject. I had clerked at the Supreme Court for Justice Lewis F. Powell, and had litigated many constitutional cases. But there was so much I didn’t know. I decided that I wanted to tell that story, which led to The Summer of 1787. The book was well-reviewed in the New York Times and around the country, hit the Washington Post bestseller list for several weeks, won the Washington Writing Award for Best Book of 2007, and made several “best books” lists for 2007. The hardcover went through six printings and the paperback was released in spring, 2008.
In some ways, my next book was a sequel. I was looking for the next moment when the nation’s fate turned on the Constitution, and found the first presidential impeachment in Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln’s Legacy. I developed a fascination with impeachment while serving as principal defense counsel during the Senate impeachment trial of Judge Walter L. Nixon, Jr. of Mississippi in 1989. The Johnson case was the foundation of all later impeachments. America’s challenges after the Civil War were immense. How to bind up the nation’s wounds after four years of murderous war, yet still protect four million freed slaves from the unbridled prejudices of the day? Andrew Johnson – racist, stubborn, and deaf to the views of others – was not equal to those excruciating challenges. The Radical Republicans, led by the fiercely brilliant Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania, fought for two years to force the president to defend the rights of the freedmen. Stevens’ iron will and sheer cussedness produced the final confrontation in the impeachment trial, from which no one emerged a winner. The book explores long-ignored evidence of bribery and corrupt influences in the final Senate vote. It received gratifying reviews and made several bestseller lists.
My legal experience has helped with all three books. As a trial lawyer for more than 25 years, many of which have been with Ropes & Gray in Washington, DC, I have defended accused criminals, challenged government actions as unconstitutional, and have argued many appeals (including two before the U.S. Supreme Court). Writing also has been a big part of my life, beginning with two years as a reporter for the Staten Island Advance. For almost ten years, I wrote a monthly column for the American Bar Association Journal on the Supreme Court (five of those columns appear in The Supreme Court and Its Justices, issued by ABA Press). I also have written frequently on legal topics, and a few of those pieces are linked on the “Other Writings” page, along with a published short story that was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
A final word about a new project of mine, serving as president of the Washington Independent Review of Books, an online book review that posts new content daily in an effort to fill some of the void left as newspapers have increasingly stopped reviewing books. Please check it out — www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com.
SHORT FORM BIO, FOR SPEAKER INTRODUCTIONS:
After practicing law for more than 25 years, David O. Stewart turned to writing history (though he still practices law). His first book, The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution, was a Washington Post bestseller and won the Washington Writing Award as Best Book of 2007. Two years later, Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln’s Legacy, was a Davis-Kidd Bestseller and was called “by all means the best account of this troubled episode” by Professor David Donald of Harvard. David’s latest work is American Emperor, Aaron Burr’s Challenge to Jefferson’s America, an examination of Burr’s remarkable Western expedition, an undertaking that shook the nation’s foundations at a time when those foundations were none too solid. David also is president of the Washington Independent Review of Books, an online book review.
Literary agent:
Will Lippincott
Lippincott Massie McQuilkin, New York City
212-337-2045
News from Maryland’s finest public official, Nancy Floreen (also my wife), can be found at http://nancyfloreen.blogspot.com. And updates about the real writing talent in the family can be found at my son’s website, www.matt-stewart.com – Matt Stewart’s novel, The French Revolution, was long-listed for the 2011 Indies Choice awards and was listed as a Best Book of 2010 by the San Francisco Chronicle.
