David O. Stewart

It was the moment Aaron Burr had been working toward for two years.  In late December, 1806, he stood on the Illinois shore of the Ohio River, just below the mouth of the Cumberland River.   Gathered around him were the men who had volunteered to join his expedition to liberate the Spanish lands of Florida, Texas, Mexico, and who knew what else — perhaps Louisiana and America’s Western lands would join in Burr’s bold new venture?

In late December 1806, Aaron Burr was desperately trying breathe life into the Western expedition he had spent the previous twenty months organizing.  For several weeks, everything had been turning sour.

In October, the U.S. Attorney in Kentucky tried to prosecute him for organizing an illegal private invasion of Mexico.  A grand jury in Frankfort refused to indict the former vice president, but the episode snarled Burr’s planning and discouraged many of his recruits — who fully expected to invade Mexico behind Burr’s sword, or even to begin the secession of America’s Western territories. 

He was a young fellow, with the mandatory four-days-growth beard.  I don’t get that many younger folks to my readings, so I was happy to seem him in the book-signing line after my talk about American Emperor at the National Archives earlier this month.

National Archives HQ

Then he presented his soft-covered volume, which turned out to be an “ARC” (“Advance Reader Copy”).  ARCs are distributed for free to potential reviewers and media types months before publication of the book.  Every ARC says on the front, “NOT FOR SALE.”

I asked where he got it.

When she began taping our interview at noon today, Mimi Geerges, who has a radio show on XM-Sirius and a bunch of local public radio stations (see below), described Aaron Burr as a “scoundrel.”

Wait, I said.  He wasn’t really a scoundrel.

Really?  She answered.  He was a traitor, wasn’t he?

And we were off.  It was a great interview.  She jumped around, kept changing the subject on me, and it stayed fresh and fun.  I’ve had some great interviews on the trail for American Emperor, but this was right near the top.  Keep an eye — and an ear — on Ms. Geerges.  She knows her job.

This weekend marks the anniversary of the 1806 launch of Aaron Burr’s ill-fated Western expedition.  The former vice president had arranged for the construction of riverboats that could carry 1500 men down to New Orleans, Florida, Mexico, and beyond. The recruits mustered at Blennerhassett Island, on the Ohio River beyond Marietta, Ohio (across from the current Parkersburg, WV).  So much went wrong.

Like you, I was appalled to read about the congressional representatives — Republicans and Democrats alike — who have traded on the stock market on inside information gained through their public duties.  Peter Schweizer’s new book, Throw Them All Out, has stirred up this tempest.  The episode that disgusted me the most was when key legislators received briefings about the looming financial meltdown in 2008 and promptly sold their stock to avoid losses before the news became public.  Others got sweetheart access to IPOs.  And so on.

Among the malefactors?  Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-AL) and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).