The weather looks great. The front that came through early Wednesday morning has dry air filtering in behind it. For the next several days we’ll see cool nights and below seasonal afternoons. Chance for rain on Friday with a secondary, re-inforcing shot of nice conditions.
On This Date In History: In recent years, we have heard the “I” word tossed about rather liberally. That word is impeach. President Andrew Johnson was impeached but was not convicted by one vote. President Clinton was impeached but also avoided removal from office as the Senate did not vote for conviction. Today, we hear from those who want to impeach the current president or Vice-President Dick Cheney. These calls come from alleged malfeasance. But on this date in 1804, there is no doubt about it…the Vice-President of the United States gunned down Revolutionary War hero Alexander Hamilton.
Hamilton had been an aide-de-camp of Washington during the war and later led a crucial attack at the Battle of Yorktown. He became the first Secretary of the Treasury and served in that capacity for 6 years before retiring. He then formed the Federalist Party, the first political party in America. He detested Thomas Jefferson and the two developed what known as Hamiltonian ideals and Jeffersonian ideals. Basically, Hamilton wanted a strong central government and Jefferson was for a weak central government with most of the power belonging to the states. Today, Jefferson must be spinning in his grave. Anyway, in 1804, Burr was the sitting Vice-President under Jefferson and Hamilton had made some unsavory remarks about Burr, who responded with a challenge to a duel! Hamilton had been famous for dueling but had ironically pushed to outlaw the practice in New York. So, Hamilton and Burr went across the river to New Jersey. On this date in 1804, two shots rang out in Weehawken, New Jersey. Hamilton lay mortally wounded. There is great speculation regarding the incident as many suggest that Hamilton missed on purpose as he was a veteran duelist and a good shot. But there were procedures if one was to desire to not shoot one’s opponent. Hamilton did not follow the procedures. Witnesses could not determine who fired first. But what did happen, is that Burr was forced to stay out of New York for the remainder of his term as murder charges were filed. He is now left to nothing more as a footnote to history. Alexander Hamilton, on the other hand, has lived in immortality as the face of the ten dollar bill.Henry Clay in 1809 was in a Kentucky duel. He was lucky. Both he and his opponent were lousy shots. While Dick Cheney did in fact shoot his friend with a shotgun blast, the calls for his impeachment have nothing to do with his shooting prowess.
