The Exploits of Vice President Aaron Burr Seem A Work of Fiction July 11, 2010

There May Be a Good Reason Alexander Hamilton Got in So Many Duels

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 haven’t heard of anyone calling for the impeachment of the current president or vice-president. Yet. Someone probably will before President Obama’s 4 years are up. There were certainly those who wanted to impeach President Bush and even Vice-President Cheney. These calls came from allegations of malfeasance. But on this date in 1804, there is no doubt about it…Aaron Burr,  Vice-President of the United States gunned down Revolutionary War hero Alexander Hamilton.  And guess what, he wasn’t impeached nor did he go to jail.

Alexander Hamilton

Alexander 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 became 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.

Burr's 1807 Treason Trial

Anyway, in 1804, Burr was the sitting Vice-President under Jefferson and Hamilton had made some unsavory remarks about Burr, who demanded satisfaction and 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.  For most people, Aaron Burr 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.  While the duel is probably Burr’s most infamous act, his lesser known final act for history literally made him an enemy of the United States.

Jefferson and Burr At Odds Till the End

If you recall, Burr and Jefferson both had the same number of electoral votes for the 1800 presidential election. The tie went to the House of Representatives who voted for Jefferson only after Tom’s old nemesis, Alexander Hamilton, reluctantly went to bat for the famous statesman.   Hamilton must have really hated Burr for him to vote for Jefferson.  Help from his political rival made Jefferson the President and Burr the Vice-President.  The original Constitution had the second place electoral vote-getter become Vice-President. But that meant that political rivals had to be the team. That obviously created problems and the Constitution was changed. The problem became all too apparent when Burr, as the sitting Vice-President, took out his anger at Hamilton for his support of Jefferson, as well as other items of disagreement, by taking Hamilton to the dueling field.   Even though the murder charge was eventually dropped, the public turned on Burr for his duel and his political career was over in the United States.

Peter Charles Hoffer Wrote About Burr Treason Trials That Had Nothing To Do With the Duel With Hamilton

So, Burr secretly conspired with Britain and Spain to try and set up a new country in the Southwest of what is now the United States and part of Mexico. Of course, Burr would rule the new empire. But, the plot was foiled and Burr went to trial for Treason.  As part of his defense, he had Jefferson, still the sitting President, called to the trial to produce documents that would exonerate him.   On June 13, 1807, President Thomas Jefferson received a subpoena to testify at the treason trial of his former Vice-President, Aaron Burr.   In response to the subpoena, Jefferson cited his right to protect wing up at the trial and he only offered a few of the documents requested.  If Jefferson was trying to send Burr to the gallows it didn’t work because Chief Justice John Marshall declared that the charges were to be dropped due to lack of evidence. 

Tom Jefferson Depicted As Constitutional Destroyer

I’m not a legal historical scholar but I bet that Jefferson’s claim was the precedent for the presidential claim of Executive Priviledge.  Jefferson had also used his position as Commander in Chief to commit US armed forces halfway around the world for the undeclared Barbary Pirate War.  While those two roles of the president seem to pass constitutional muster,  Jefferson’s purchase of the Louisiana Territory and the funding of the Lewis and Clark expedition are seen by some as examples of how Jefferson the President acted perhaps differently than Jefferson the author of the Declaration of Independence.   So often today, when we hear charges that the President is shredding the Constitution, we hear the name of Jefferson invoked.  Yet, some of Jefferson’s opponents viewed him as the enemy of the Constitution as evidenced by the cartoon showing Jefferson offering the document to the alter of Satan while the eagle tries to grab it from his hand.   

Ukraine legislators sometimes operate like Americans did many years ago

The political battles that go on today may seem rough.  But, they pale in comparison to the political wars that went on almost from the beginning of the nation.  After all, it’s been a long time since we had a Senator pull a gun on another in the Senate chamber.  I don’t recall a Congressman almost beating a Senator to death while the Senator sat behind his Senate chamber desk nor a House member attacking another on the House Floor with a pair of fire tongs.  As President of the Senate, Vice President Martin Van Buren carried a side arm to keep the peace.  It’s been awhile since a sitting Vice-President gunned down the former Secretary of the Treasury and a long time since we had a former VP try to set up his own country.  But we have an a couple of impeachment trials of two presidents…oh…and then there was Vice-President Cheney who while Vice-President did in fact shoot his friend with a shotgun blast.

Weather  Bottom Line:  I”m not exactly sure of the mechanism that brought t’storms to the Southeast of Louisville on Saturday.  Snow White and I were out riding bikes and I told her that I was guessing that it was on the 850 boundary of the cold front that came through Friday.  I explained that they were probably elevated storms without much rain but with gusty winds and hail.  Well, I heard on the news that there was hail and gusty winds with the storms.  However, I saw the cold front analyzed way to the South.  So, its doubtful that it was the 850 front.  But, I also don’t buy the explanation of one guy who said it was an outflow boundary.   As I said, I was out riding bikes so I didn’t do an analysis.  It was something but I’m not sure what it was some sort of subtle feature.  Sunday should be warm and dry.  A cold front approaches on Monday and our rain chances will be elevated for at least the first half of next week.

Tiger Woods Could Benefit From A Wife Like Alexander Hamilton’s December 22, 2009

There May Be a Good Reason Alexander Hamilton Got in So Many Duels

Hamilton: A Philandering Father?

On This Date in History: If  Tiger Woods could have had the skill of Alexander Hamilton, he might not be in the situation that he finds himself in now.  But, not only would he need the skills of one of our founding fathers, he also need someone like Hamilton’s accomodating wife.

  Alexander Hamilton’s face is on the $10 dollar bill. He was a confidant of General Washington and served as the first Secretary of the Treasury. He had a strong political disagreement with Thomas Jefferson as Jefferson favored a weak central government and Hamilton wanted a strong central government in relation to the power of the states. But, Hamilton had a way of rubbing people the wrong way beyond politics. He was known to duel to end disputes and was eventually gunned down in a duel by Aaron Burr, who was the sitting Vice-President at the time. What caused Hamilton to get in so many scrapes and raise the ire of so many people? This little tale may shed some light and make one ponder how he got to have his face on our money.

Hamilton apparently had flowing red hair and deep blue eyes and ladies found him quite aluring. He was married with children but his reputation as a ladies man persisted. In 1791, a woman came to his door asking for money, claiming that her husband had left she and her child destitute. Maria Reynolds did not receive money during that visit. Instead, Hamilton went to her boardinghouse room with $30 and then proceeded to take advantage of the situation. That was the beginning of a long affair. Eventually, she even visited him at his home when his family was away. All was fine until Mr. Reynolds showed up again.

Enquiring Minds Wanted To Know About Hamilton

Reynolds demanded financial satisfaction for his wife’s favors.   On this date in 1791,  Alexander Hamilton paid Reynolds $1000 to keep quiet. This did not end the affair though as Reynolds even encouraged Hamiton to continue as he wrote, “I find when ever you have been with her she is Chearful and kind. but when you have not in some time she is Quite the Reverse.” (note the grammatical errors) All was still fine until Reynolds got arrested for his involvement in a scam involving phony veterans claims. In an effort to gain his freedom, he hinted that the Secretary of the Treasury had been involved. Three Congressmen, including James Monroe, confronted Hamilton who produced 20 blackmail notes as a way of showing his innocence, claiming that he had but one mistaken dalliance. Hamilton must have had some pretty good bull because they bought it and the matter was dropped…until a drunken publisher who was not fond of Hamilton, James Callender, printed a widely circulated pamphlet detailing the sordid affair.

Curiously, Hamilton did not have a duel with Callender but instead published all of the blackmail letters. That did nothing but elevate suspicions that extend to this day. While the letters did have some grammatical and spelling errors, the vocabulary used was of a very educated indivicual which Mr. Reynolds was not. Speculation is that Hamilton may have forged the letters in an attempt to cover up his own corruption. Nevertheless, I suppose that all went away with the gunshot from Aaron Burr. All was forgotten and Hamilton ended up on the $10 bill. It is quite interesting what scandals are remembered by history and which are forgotten.  One who seemed to forget was Hamilton’s wife, Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton.  

Probably Not Following Elizabeth Hamilton's Lead

On this date in 1780, the Hamilton’s were newlyweds, having married just 8 days before.  But, Alex’s eye for the ladies was not blinded.   Nevertheless, Elizabeth not only seemed to look the other way, she publically defended her husband against charges of philandering.  She also demanded for years that James Monroe apologize for his charges of Hamilton’s malfeasance in the Reynolds affair.  Somehow, I don’t think that Tiger’s wife is taking the same route as Elizabeth Hamilton and that may not be too bad.  See, Elizabeth outlived her gunned-down husband by 50  years.

Christmas Morning...That's Rain According to the NAM

Weather Bottom Line:  Get your Christmas shopping done today when we see some sunshine and moderating temperatures.  That’s because it all goes down from here.  Rain chances increase as a storm system comes around the bend out of the southwest and ejects northeast.  It will pass us to the west and we stay in the warm sector….which means rain.  It’s a deep low that will probably bring blizzard conditions to the plains.  Our rain chances go up with the temperatures on Wednesday and Christmas Eve looks to be especially wet and dreary.  Christmas morning we’ll see wet streets, not white lawns.  Now,this guy looks to become occluded and sluggish so we may see some snow for Friday, Saturday and Sunday as the GFS advertises a lot of wrap around moisture broadly spread through the Ohio Valley.  Most likely it would be extremely light and largely insignificant except that it indicates that we return to colder than average temperatures after the brief, milder and wetter holiday from the chilly conditions we’ve seen.

No Hurricanes Yet: Due to El Nino, Global Warming or Neither; US V.P. wanted for murder July 11, 2009

Big Bopper Ike

2008 Named Storms Track

Hurricane Season began June 1. Last year, there were 16 named storms in the North Atlantic with half of those becoming hurricanes at some time during their lives. 7 struck the United States and an eight skirted the east coast briefly. Here is the archive of the 2008 Hurricane Season. The most ferocious for the US was Hurricane Ike and if you like, here is a link to a gallery of Hurricane Ike video and Hurricane Ike photos. The average for tropical activity has been some 10 named storms with 6 becoming hurricanes. The general thought in research circles is that there is about a 30 year cycle of hurricane activity and that it was long forecast that activity would turn to the more active 30 year cycle starting in the mid 1990′s and that seems to have come about. People forget that Hurricane Andrew, while a strong hurricane, was just the first of the season and that was not until late August 1992. Just a few years later, we had a record number of named storms in the North Atlantic and its been active ever since.

Dr. William Gray and Dr. Phillip J Klotzbach

Dr. William Gray at Colorado State University has long been considered an expert at hurricane forecasting with his Tropical Meteorology Project. This year, the 2009 Hurricane Forecast predicts 14 named storms with 6 hurricanes, two of which will become major hurricanes. There is no predictability on landfalling hurricanes. This forecast holds with the theory of the North Atlantic being in the active hurricane cycle but the number is supressed as a weak El Nino was anticipated as the season unfolds. It has been determined that an El Nino event in the Pacific tends to curtail tropical activity in the North Atlantic.

None of this has any relation to Global Warming. However, Mr. Gore and others have speculated that Global Warming would result in more hurricanes and also more intense hurricanes. In recent years, there has been an increase in North Atlantic tropical activity. Many with a US based world view point to this as evidence of Global Warming.  However, the number of tropical systems in the Eastern Pacific has been supressed during that time as has been the case in other parts of the world. So, it is held by many that the increase in the North Atlantic has its roots in the natural cycle rather than other factors.

Al Gore Linked Katrina and Global Warming In Spite of What some Experts Conclude

Last year, A meteorologist with NOAA who had apparently been an advocate of a link between Global Warming and an increase in Hurricane Intensity and the numbers of hurricanes now has a new report that says the opposite. Tom Knutson even says that warmer temperatures could decrease hurricane activity and their landfall. That last part is something that I cannot fathom how anyone could make the statement..but he did. Anyway, here is the article with some other links to the study. This guy’s new report may be more of an indication that the wheels may be falling off the Al Gore Juggernaut.

New Global Warming/Hurricane Study

 

 So, now it’s official from NOAA, El Nino is upon us.  What that typically means is a risk for big storms on the Pacific Northwest coast this winter along with a cooler and wetter winter season for the southern plains, among other things.  One of those other things is a limitation of tropical development in the Atlantic basin.  The experts took the notion of a weak El Nino into consideration when they made their initial forecast.   Can we expect a dramatic revision downward in the hurricane forecast or is the El Nino data in line with their supposition?  Personally, I’m not so sure  that humans have enough understanding of the atmosphere and factors involved in tropical storm development to be making long term tropical forecasts.  The forecasts get revised every so often during the year so at the end, they come close, but the initial prognostications are often way way off.  We’ll see. It’s still pretty early in the hurricane season and lack of activity through mid July by no means is a predictor for the rest of the season, which typically peeks in early September.

Aaron Guns Down Alex

 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 haven’t heard of anyone calling for the impeachment of  the current president or vice-president.  Yet.  Someone probably will before President Obama’s 4 years are up.  There were certainly those who wanted to impeach President Bush and even Vice-President Cheney.   These calls came from allegations of 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.

Peter Charles Hoffer Wrote About Burr Treason Trials

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 became 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.

Burr's 1807 Treason Trial

 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, though he was later tried for treason. 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 had nothing to do with his shooting prowess.

SPC Severe Risk Sat 8am to Sun 8am

SPC Sun Severe Risk Sun 8am to Mon 8am

Weather Bottom Line:  Saturday is here and a cold front is on its way.  By 9 am it appeared on the radar that a line of t’storm was trying to form along the front between a strong line that extended from near Cleveland and Indy and another cluster associated with a shortwave on the front that was in Southern Illinois.  This would suggest that the risk for t’storms with the initial frontal approach will be in the late afternoon or evening in the Louisville region, which will be the heat of the day.  Guess here is that wind will be the main severe risk with perhaps some hail.  The SPC doesn’t have us in the risk for tornadic activity but,  I can tell you that studies have shown that a large number of the twisters that happen in our area are little guys that spin up and go away quickly along bow echoes…so I wouldn’t put that concern totally to bed.  Nevertheless, if you get damage from wind in a small tornado or strong straight line winds or a downburst, the results are the same so it’s really not relevant except that people like say they were hit by a tornado rather

Tornado probability

than strong wind. Guess it sounds sexier.  Anyway, the local NWS office puts the threat between 1 pm and 9 pm and I suspect that John Gordon’s folks are looking at the same line that I am.  Now, what will happen is that the front will get hung up near our area so the threat for t’storms will be with us for several days as little short waves move along the stalled boundary.  The threats each day will be dependent on the timing of the waves and the exact position of where the front will be lined up and forecasting that at this point is above my paygrade and more of a crap shoot call for anyone, so I shant try to pinpoint that as it will probably be wavering about.

DAY 1 CONVECTIVE OUTLOOK 
   NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
   0736 AM CDT SAT JUL 11 2009

Severe Wind Probability

   
   VALID 111300Z – 121200Z
  
   …THERE IS A SLGT RISK OF SVR TSTMS ACROSS PARTS OF THE NORTHEAST
   INTO OH VALLEY…
  
   …THERE IS A SLGT RISK OF SVR TSTMS OVER THE CENTRAL HIGH PLAINS…
  
   …NORTHEAST ACROSS THE CENTRAL APPALACHIANS/OH RIVER VALLEY…
   MID LEVEL HEIGHT FALLS WILL OVERSPREAD THE LOWER GREAT LAKES AND
   MUCH OF THE NORTHEAST THIS PERIOD AHEAD OF STRONG SHORTWAVE TROUGH
   AND ASSOCIATED MID/UPPER LEVEL JET ALREADY NOSING ACROSS THE

Severe Hail probability

GREAT
   LAKES REGION.  MORNING VISIBLE IMAGERY INDICATES MOSTLY CLEAR/PARTLY
   CLOUDY SKIES WILL SUPPORT HEATING THROUGH THE 70S F INTO MUCH OF
   PA/NY AHEAD OF SURFACE COLD FRONT NOW ADVANCING EWD ACROSS
   ONTARIO/LOWER MI…WITH 80-90F TEMPS SWWD INTO THE OH RIVER VALLEY.
   AS AIR MASS DESTABILIZES THROUGH THE MID/LATE MORNING…SEVERE
   THREAT SHOULD STEADILY INCREASE INTO THE EARLY AFTERNOON FROM
   PORTIONS OF OH INTO WRN-CENTRAL PA/NY.  FORECAST SOUNDINGS INDICATE
   SHEAR WILL BECOME QUITE STRONG WITH EFFECTIVE SHEAR OF 40-50 KT
   SUPPORTING A THREAT OF SUPERCELLS AND SMALL BOW ECHOES.  ACTIVITY
   WILL INCREASE IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY THROUGH THE DAY AND SPREAD
   ESEWD WITH SEVERE THREAT WANING AFTER DARK. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
   WINDS WILL BE PRIMARY THREATS…ALTHOUGH STRONG LOW LEVEL SHEAR
   UNDER 35-40 KT SWLY LLJ SUGGESTS A FEW TORNADOES REMAIN POSSIBLE. 
  
   FARTHER SWWD INTO THE OH RIVER VALLEY…REGION WILL REMAIN ON
   FRINGES OF LARGE SCALE SUPPORT ASSOCIATED WITH NRN STREAM SHORTWAVE
   TROUGH SKIRTING THE NORTHEAST.  HOWEVER…AREA WILL REMAIN UNDER
   MODEST FLOW ALOFT AND SUPPORT A RISK OF A FEW ORGANIZED
   CLUSTERS/LINES OF SEVERE STORMS WITH ACTIVITY INCREASING AHEAD OF
   SLOWING SURFACE COLD FRONT SAGGING SWD INTO THE OH RIVER VALLEY THIS
   AFTERNOON. 
  
   …CENTRAL HIGH PLAINS INTO THE NRN HIGH PLAINS…
   STRONG-SEVERE STORMS ARE ONGOING AT DAYBREAK OVER SWRN SD WHICH ARE
   EXPECTED TO WEAKEN DURING THE MORNING.  MORE ROBUST ACTIVITY SHOULD
   AWAIT AFTERNOON HEATING WITHIN MOIST UPSLOPE REGIME ACROSS MUCH OF
   THE CENTRAL HIGH PLAINS.  COMBINATION OF UPSLOPE FLOW AND ASCENT
   AHEAD OF SUBTLE IMPULSES ROTATING AROUND PERIPHERY OF MID/UPPER
   LEVEL HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE SRN HIGH PLAINS SHOULD SUPPORT
   INCREASING STORMS LATER TODAY OFF THE HIGHER TERRAIN.  SHEAR WILL BE
   MORE THAN ADEQUATE FOR SUPERCELLS…WITH EVENTUAL EVOLUTION INTO A
   FEW CLUSTERS/LINES PERSISTING EWD INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS WITH
   DIMINISHING SEVERE THREAT OVERNIGHT.
  
   OVER THE NRN HIGH PLAINS…WV IMAGERY INDICATES SHORTWAVE TROUGH
   DIGGING SEWD ACROSS THE CANADIAN PRAIRIES EARLY THIS MORNING WHICH
   IS FORECAST TO SKIRT ND/NRN MN OVERNIGHT.  REGION REMAINS UNDER
   INFLUENCE OF SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE THIS MORNING WITH RESULTANT DRY
   SURFACE CONDITIONS.  HOWEVER…ALONG WRN PERIPHERY OF THIS HIGH
   SUFFICIENT HEATING/MOISTENING MAY OCCUR AHEAD OF DIGGING IMPULSE FOR
   MARGINAL INSTABILITY AND THE POTENTIAL FOR A FEW STRONGER STORMS
   INTO THE EVENING.  SWLY LLJ IS FORECAST TO INTENSIFY ACROSS SD
   OVERNIGHT AND MAY FEED ELEVATED TSTMS INTO PORTIONS OF MN WITH
   POTENTIAL FOR HAIL IN THE STRONGER STORMS EARLY SUNDAY MORNING.
  
   ..EVANS/HURLBUT.. 07/11/2009

A Winner Who’s a Loser; Cold Still Ahead February 17, 2009

                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Houdini Knew What To Do When It Was All Tied Up

 On This Date In History: How would you like to run for President, come in first place in the electoral college and be told that you would be the Vice-President.  This was the fate of Aaron Burr who went on to greater infamy

Jefferson Arrives Just In Time

At the outset of the nation, there really were no political parties.  General Washington was of the opinion that parties would do more harm than good and was against them.  Because he was so generally popular, there was no issue with parties since his election was unanimous in the electoral college both times.  Things began to unravel after that.  Even though the founding fathers were all still alive, there was this little issue of how the nation should function.  Thomas Jefferson felt that the idea was for there to be a weak federal government and have most of the power rest with the states.  Then, there were those like Alexander Hamilton who felt like it was necessary for there to be a strong executive and weaker state governments.  This fractional ideals, known as Jeffersonian and Hamiltonian eventually became the Democrat-Republican Party and the Federalist Party.  John Adams, who was Washington’s Vice-President, ascended to the presidency as a Federalist.  He took some pretty strong policy measures such as the Alien and Sedition Acts as well as undeclared naval engagements against the French.  He also had a rather nasty disposition.

Electoral Votes 1800 Election

So, that sets up the election in 1800.  Each party had two guys on the ballot.  The Democrat-Republicans intended for Thomas Jefferson to be the lead man and Aaron Burr to be his second.  The  electors were all set up to cast their ballots with 73 Republican electors and 65 Federalist.  At that time, all candidates were listed and each elector got two votes.  Whomever was first became President and whomever had the second greatest number of votes became Vice-President.  At the Electoral College,  65 Federalist electors voted for Adams with 64 of the remaining Federalist votes going for Charles Pickney and one for John Jay.  The Democrat-Republicans cast all their votes for Jefferson and Burr.  That gave each of them 73.    Burr declared that he was not in competition with Jefferson but never renounced the presidency. So, he was out but he was in.

Electoral Map 1800

This kicked the election to the House of Representatives. Balloting began on February 11, 1801.  Now, remember at that time, Inauguration Day was March 4 and many people became fearful that anarchy would break out because the votes kept coming up inconclusive.  There were 16 states so one candidate had to get 9 votes.  First vote had 8 for Tom, 6 for Aaron and two states couldn’t make up their mind.   They voted 18 more times and the votes hadn’t changed.  Those two states remained on the fence.  For 6 more days the voting continued.  Now, Jefferson and Hamilton hated each other.  But, it seems that Hamilton hated Burr even more.  He urged the Federalists to vote for Jefferson because he reasoned that while Jefferson was “a contemptible hypcrite”  his rival did have some “pretensions to character.”    But, Hamilton explained, Burr’s “public principles have no other spring or aim than his own aggrandisement.  His elevation can only promote the purposes of the desperate and profilgate.”

Promotional Woodcarving Did Adams No Good

Well, most Federalists thought of Jefferson as a dangerous radical and so they ignored Hamilton’s urgings.  But, time was running out.  There was talk of Civil War, that the Federalists might just take the presidency or that the Virginia Militia might march on Washington.  Suddenly, Delaware decided that Burr could never be elected and that the only reason to support him was “to exclude Jefferson at the expense of the Constitution.”  I guess that  means that Delaware really didn’t think much of Burr.  So, finally, on this date in 1801, after 36 ballots, Thomas Jefferson was elected by the Electoral College as the third President of the United States.  By the next election, the Twelth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified that split the votes so that each elector voted once for President and once for a different set of candidates for Vice-President.

Hamilton was quite the ladies man and had a rift with the husband of an acquaintance.  He also continued to feud with Jefferson and Burr, but

You Can Read All About "The 2nd Revolution"

not for long.  See, Burr and Hamilton had been friends during the Revolution but their opposite political views led to a fierce rivalry that ended on July 11, 1804 when Burr ultimately won when he shot Hamilton to death in a duel.   He was the sitting Vice-President at the time!  Once again, even though Burr had won, just like he won the presidential election of 1800, he lost.  A murder warrant was put out on him in New York and New Jersey.  He fled to

Pennsylvania and eventually finished his term in Washington before departing to the Mississippi Valley where he got involved in an unseemly scheme and Burr stood trial for treason, which put him at odds with…President Thomas Jefferson.  Quite a crew, those founding fathers!  Ever wonder how Hamilton got to be on at $10 bill?

NAM Not too Enthused About Snow Thursday

Weather Bottom Line:  I’m tellin’ ya…I really think I am going to prepare for temperatures below freezing the entire time from Thursday morning through mid-morning on Monday.  I know most of the stuff on TV isn’t that cold but I suspect that you will seem them come around.  We will warm up on Monday afternoon.  The GFS is more gradual with Tuesday being much more moderate and the European model wants to jerk us to the 50′s my Monday afternoon.   We’ll see.  Now, the NAM is not enthused about snow at all on Thursday with just perhaps some flurry activity with no real measureable amounts.  The GFS, as usual, is a little more bullish with wrap around snow of a half to three quarters of an inch.  Prior to all of that, we have relatively mild conditions with rain chances increasing on Tuesday night and carrying it through Wednesday.  Because of that, any snow we get on Thursday will be inconsequential because even though we’ll be below freezing for much of Thursday, the ground will still be too warm to make a difference.

Now, a second system comes through the flow on Friday and as it approaches from the Northwest, our temperatures

GFS Is Pretty Excited About Snow Thurs and Saturday...Maybe too Excited

should rise a bit but, I really doubt we’ll get much beyond freezing for any time of consequence.  Maybe an hour or two at best but the air to the south will be cold so all we’ll do is draw up some slightly modified cold air.  So, big deal…maybe 33 or 34 for an hour or two.  That doesn’t count.  When this guy comes down, the GFS wants to throw out a couple of inches of snow for Saturday morning.  The Canadian model also has a pretty decent amount of accumulation with the European not so bullish.  I would bet we end  up with 1-2 inches tops because its pretty tough to get more than that in such a situation as there isn’t much moisture to work with when these guys come racing through the flow from the Northwest.  But we should get something.  Again, aside from maybe a slightly warmer burp on Friday, prepare for below freezing conditions from Thursday morning through mid morning on Monday.

A Not So Secret Washington Sex Scandal; It’s Cold! December 22, 2008

There May Be a Good Reason Alexander Hamilton Got in So Many Duels

I Told You To Expect Single Digits!

Told you it would be cold.  And I also told you that we’d get to the single digits but it was even

Monday Morning Forecast Lows

colder than I expected.  It’s gonna be tough to get above 20 on Monday.  Tuesday will be cold but a warm front will lift up and bring showers in the afternoon.  The concern would be that the low layer air and freezing ground will result in icy conditions.  However, both the GFS and NAM do not want to start putting out precipitation until Tuesday evening when the mercury has already moved above freezing.  Should this pan out then one would think that icy spots would be minimal though I suppose that some roads may be a bit slow to get above freezing so there may be a slight risk of a few isolated icy spots.  After that, temperatures will be at or above seasonal averages for the following several days.  Sorry..no White Christmas here.

Hamilton: A Philandering Father?

On This Date in History:  Alexander Hamilton’s face is on the $10 dollar bill.  He was a confidant of General Washington and served as the first Secretary of the Treasury.  He had a strong political disagreement with Thomas Jefferson as Jefferson favored a weak central government and Hamilton wanted a strong central government in relation to the power of the states.  But, Hamilton had a way of rubbing people the wrong way beyond politics.  He was known to duel to end disputes and was eventually gunned down in a duel  by Aaron Burr, who was the sitting Vice-President at the time.    What caused Hamilton to get in so many scrapes and raise the ire of so many people?  This little tale may shed some light and make one ponder how he got to have his face on our money.

Hamilton apparently had flowing red hair and deep blue eyes and ladies found him quite aluring.  He was married with children but his reputation as a ladies man persisted.  In 1791, a woman came to his door asking for money, claiming that her husband had left she and her child destitute.  Maria Reynolds did not receive money during that visit.  Instead, Hamilton went to her boardinghouse room with $30 and then proceeded to take advantage of the situation.  That was the beginning of a long affair.  Eventually, she even visited him at his home when his family was away.  All was fine until Mr. Reynolds showed up again.

Reynolds demanded financial satisfaction for his wife’s favors.  On this date in 1791, Alexander Hamilton paid

Enquiring Minds Wanted To Know About Hamilton

Reynolds $1000 to keep quiet.  This did not end the affair though as Reynolds even encouraged Hamiton to continue as he wrote, “I find when ever you have been with her she is Chearful and kind.  but when you have not in some time she is Quite the Reverse.” (note the grammatical errors)  All was still fine until Reynolds got arrested for his involvement in a scam involving phony veterans claims.  In an effort to gain his freedom, he hinted that the Secretary of the Treasury had been involved.  Three Congressmen, including James Monroe, confronted Hamilton who produced 20 blackmail notes as a way of showing his innocence, claiming that he had but one mistaken dalliance.  Hamilton must have had some pretty good bull because they bought it and the matter was dropped…until a drunken publisher who was not fond of Hamilton, James Callender, printed a widely circulated pamphlet detailing the sordid affair. 

Curiously, Hamilton did not have a duel with Callender but instead published all of the blackmail letters.  That did nothing but elevate suspicions that extend to this day.  While the letters did have some grammatical and spelling errors, the vocabulary used was of a very educated indivicual which Mr. Reynolds was not.  Speculation is that Hamilton may have forged the letters in an attempt to cover up his own corruption.  Nevertheless, I suppose that all went away with the gunshot from Aaron Burr.  All was forgotten and Hamilton ended up on the $10 bill.  It is quite interesting what scandals are remembered by history and which are forgotten.

Impeach the Vice President!! Hurricane Bertha Set To Waffle July 11, 2008

Our weather remains on track. Friday will be fine…a little hotter and a little more humid. Then Saturday a front approaches and the day has the potential to be very similar to Tuesday with hot and humid conditions with perhaps something going on late in the day and the night. For details see the previous post or wait until later on Friday for an update.

Hurricane Bertha: The storm has gone through an eyewall replacement cycle which typically disperses the energy and the winds decreased. Eyewall replacement cycles are associated with pretty healthy tropical cyclones and the satellite imagery looks pretty good. It is not out of the question for this guy to kick it up a notch or two as it still has a little real-estate left with some decent water temperatures. However, as it gets up to even with Bermuda, it will get over cooler water and from that point it should start to lose some steam. The official forecast doesn’t have it moving so quickly to the northeast but is also not taking it farther to the northwest into the Canadian Maritimes as some models previously suggested. The forecast takes it to the east of Bermuda, though something a little closer to the island may pan out if a couple of the models are correct.

Either way, the island will get gusty winds and good waves with some passing squalls. After that, the NHC is calling for ridge to build to the north of the storm which would block its movement north or northeast. They are suggesting that it will kinda meander about. But, I’ve still seen modeling data that still wants to take it closer to the main coast than the current NHC forecast. Given that they are talking about a ridge to the north, I’m uncertain why they are pooh-poohing the suggestion that it would go northwest…except…the coriolis force is pretty tough that far north and so I’m suspecting that the thinking is that the ridge will not be sufficient to go against that force, but simply enough to keep it in a sorta no mans land for a while.

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 became 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.

President Invokes Imaginary Right to Avoid Subpoena ; Non-Imaginary Severe Threat Friday June 13, 2008

Here is the Thursday afternoon update from the SPC regarding the severe threat for Friday into Saturday morning.  If you notice the highest probability’s location, you will see that it is along the path of an upper low or MCS that is expected to develop in Kansas and move into Missouri before swinging up toward the Ohio Valley.  This should happen in the heat of the late afternoon and evening.  As it moves up along the frontal boundary that is approaching from the west, it will enhance the severe weather threat.  What it will also do is keep the front moving slowly so rain totals will continue to be a problem in the Midwest.  The storm risk area ends just to the east of Louisville because we get into the late hours Friday night and early Saturday when the storms approach the Metro.  The storms should be on the downside of their life-cycle but we could see line segments or bow echoes that would produce gusty winds.  Bow echoes are also known to produce weak, short lived but dangerous tornadoes.  The track of the upper low and the slow moving nature of the front could also amplify the rain amounts over southern Indiana. For that reason, a Flash Flood Watch was issued on Thursday, taking effect Friday afternoon through 4 AM on Saturday.  AS the low moves by, the front will get energized and move through Kentucky fairly quickly so inordinate amounts of rain are not likely, but heavy downpours are still possible.  I’ll try to bring updates along.

On This Date In History:  On this date in 1807, President Thomas Jefferson received a subpoena to testify at the treason trial of his former Vice-President, Aaron Burr.  If you recall, Burr and Jefferson both had the same number of electoral votes for the 1800 presidential election.  The tie went to the House of Representatives who voted for Jefferson only after Tom’s old nemesis, Alexander Hamilton, reluctantly went to bat for the famous statesman.  That made Jefferson the President and Burr the Vice-President.  The original Constitution had the second place electoral vote-getter become Vice-President.  But that meant that political rivals had to be the team.  That obviously created problems and the Constitution was changed.  The problem became all too apparent when Burr, as the sitting Vice-President, took out his anger at Hamilton for his support of Jefferson, as well as other items of disagreement, by taking Hamilton to the dueling field.  Burr killed the Revolutionary Hero and a warrant was issued for the Vice-President’s arrest for murder.  Burr fled until the charges were dropped.

Well, Burr wasn’t done.  His political career was over in the United States as the public turned on him for his duel.  So, he secretly conspired with Britain and Spain to try and set up a new country in the Southwest of what is now the United States and part of Mexico.  Of course, Burr would rule the new empire.  But, he plot was foiled and he went to trial for Treason.  As part of his defense, he had Jefferson, still the sitting President, called to the trial to produce documents that would exonerate him.  But, Jefferson cited his right to protect the public interest as reason for not showing up at the trial and he only offered a few of the documents requested.  If Jefferson was trying to send Burr to the gallows it didn’t work because Chief Justice John Marshall declared that the charges were to be dropped due to lack of evidence.

Now, I’m not sure why the Chief Justice was involved unless somehow an appeal was made to the Supreme Court or if the judicial system was different then.  But, I do know that this is another of a number of instances in which President Jefferson simply ignored the Constitution to suit his needs. On these here pages, we’ve talked about the undeclared Barbary Pirate War which I suppose set the precedent for other undeclared conflicts to come and the funding of the Lewis and Clark expedition as examples of how Jefferson the President acted perhaps differently than Jefferson the author of the Declaration of Independence.  So often today, when we hear charges that the President is shredding the Constitution, we hear the name of Jefferson invoked….when in fact, Jefferson is hardly the one who should be upheld as the President who held the Constitution without contempt.