Aaron Burr
3rd vice president under President Thomas Jefferson
Democrat/Republican
New York

When you hear stories of dueling to the death, you don't expect to see vice presidents on the list of combatants. But one of our country's more interesting vice presidents is remembered for his famous duel. Aaron Burr, the third vice president of the United States, challenged political rival Alexander Hamilton to a duel. On July 12, 1804, Burr killed Hamilton with a single pistol shot on the dueling grounds of Weehawken, N.J. The coroner's jury in New York charged him with murder.

Because of the accusations hanging over him, the vice president had to flee to avoid prosecution. He fled to the South but returned shortly to Washington to resume his duties of presiding over the Senate. This was a safe move for him because he could not be evicted from Washington. The states had no jurisdiction in the District of Columbia. The tragic results of the Burr-Hamilton duel created a unique situation. The second most important man in the United States was charged with a capital crime. Burr, however, continued about his duties as if nothing happened.

Even with a criminal record, Burr remained supremely ambitious. As his term as vice president came to an end, he concocted a scheme to create his own empire in Louisiana and parts of Mexico. This plan, however, failed. After his term ended, he was captured and tried for treason. He was released on technical grounds. He died in a Staten Island hotel at the age of 80—penniless, virtually forgotten, and utterly defeated.

Elbridge Gerry
5th vice president under President James Madison
Democrat/Republican
Massachusetts

If you have ever heard the term "Gerrymander", then you have Elbridge Gerry to thank. Gerry was the vice president under James Madison from 1813-1814. He is not often remembered by many Americans, despite his tenure as vice president, his opposition to the constitution and his participation in the XYZ Affair. (The affair occurred when he traveled to France to negotiate an easing of tensions between France and the U.S. and was bribed with women and wine by three French diplomats—known as X, Y and Z.) However, of all politicians in the history of our country, no one but Elbridge Gerry can take credit for the addition of a new word to the English language, and—at the same time—for the creation of a time-honored (though questionable) political maneuver.

During Gerry's second one-year term as governor of Massachusetts, he sealed his fate by signing a bill to create new districts to benefit Jeffersonian Republicans and guarantee their continued dominance in the state legislature. A disgruntled Federalist viewing a map of the newly designed districts compared the long shape of one district to a salamander. "No," replied another disgusted anti-Jeffersonian. "Better call it a gerrymander." Both the word and the practice took hold. Elbridge Gerry holds a distinct place in the our history books for his drawing of voting districts to favor a particular group or party.

John Cabell Breckinridge
14th vice president under President James Buchanan
Democrat
Kentucky

John Breckinridge served as vice president during a difficult time for the Union as the Civil War began to unfold. Brothers were forced to choose sides—sometimes opposing ones. Political figures of this time often were caught in the middle of these tensions. John Breckinridge had hoped that the Union could be preserved, but as the war ensued, he chose to support the Confederacy. After his term as vice president, he served as a senator from Kentucky.

Despite being the most prominent Kentuckian to join the Confederacy, Breckinridge's life was marked by political success. He finished his schooling at Centre College at the young age of 17 and immediately began his life of public service. By age 45, he had successfully practiced law, served as a Kentucky state legislator, vice president of the United States, and as a U.S. senator. His only political defeat came in 1860 when he lost the presidential race to Abraham Lincoln.

After the war, Breckinridge was exiled and spent much time wandering through Canada, England, and the Middle East. In 1868, however, President Andrew Johnson issued an Amnesty Proclamation, and Breckinridge returned to Kentucky to find cheering crowds. His charm and demeanor made him popular among his fellow Kentuckians. His devotion to the political process came to an early end when he passed away at age 54.

Hannibal Hamlin
15th Vice President of the United States under President Abraham Lincoln
Republican
Maine

After serving as vice president under Lincoln during the Civil War, Hamlin returned to the Senate for 12 years. By 1881, he tired of the political life. He longed to travel in Europe, but he considered himself too poor. (Note: He was worth $148,000 at his retirement from politics, enough to make him a wealthy man in the mid 19th century.) He believed a good way to finance his travel was by wrangling an appointment as U.S. Minister to Spain, and he proceeded to do so.

Hamlin, an old hand at making the most of government privileges, spent most of his 18-month appointment fulfilling his desire to travel abroad. He happily traveled around Europe with his wife — while the government paid the bills. He did manage to get to Madrid every once in a while to meet the king and queen of Spain and administer to his duties.

He returned to the United States at the end of 1882 and spent the last nine years of his life farming, fishing, and reading. He died July 4, 1891, just seven weeks short of his 82nd birthday.

Schuyler Colfax
17th vice president under President Ulysses S. Grant
Republican
Indiana

Schuyler Colfax was a former tailor who made a brief appearance in American politics. Colfax had a short-lived political career, and after his term as vice president, he was offered the editorship of the New York Tribune. When that plan fell through, he took to lecturing and managed to make a comfortable living for his remaining years. He became, in the words of a historian, "a successful popular lecturer, touring the country from one end to the other."

His lecture tours took him across America. On one of these tours, in January 1885, the former vice president was changing trains in Mankato, Minn. With the temperature at 30 degrees below zero, he walked three-quarters of a mile from one railroad depot to another. Five minutes after he reached Mankato's Omaha Station, he collapsed and died. He was unrecognized by those around him, and his identity was discovered only after railroad officials looked through papers in his pockets. According to news dispatches reporting his sudden death, it was assumed that exposure to extreme cold, plus overexertion, and the subsequent heat when he reached the station brought on a fatal heart attack.

Theodore Roosevelt
25th vice president under President William McKinley
Republican
New York

The office of the vice presidency has sometimes been used as a stepping stone to the presidency. The career of Teddy Roosevelt followed the pattern. Roosevelt, a convincing winner in the race for governor of New York, was quite popular with the public. His overwhelming popularity in New York presented a threat to the New York Republican machine. In an attempt to contain him, Boss Platt and other New York leaders pushed him into the vice presidency.

Roosevelt was unanimously nominated for the Republican vice president—except for one member of the New York delegation—presumably Roosevelt himself who refused to vote. The campaign that followed was exciting because Roosevelt was a vigorous and lively campaigner.

After a successful campaign, an anarchist put a quick end to the McKinley/Roosevelt duo. McKinley was shot and failed to recover. On the afternoon of September 13, 1901, an urgent message was sent to the Vice President Roosevelt, who was hiking Mount Marcy, to alert him to the president's deteriorating condition. With the use of a buckboard, one driver and three separate sets of horses, Roosevelt made a dash down the mountains over 40 miles of trails to the nearest railroad station. By the time he reached the president, McKinley was dead.

He took the oath of office as the 26th president in the Buffalo, N.Y. home of a friend.

Richard Nixon
36th vice president under President Dwight Eisenhower
Republican
California

Serving as vice president under Dwight D. Eisenhower and producing such lines as "I am not a crook" and his famous "Checkers" speech, Richard Nixon had a memorable career in politics. While serving as vice president, the relationship between Nixon and his president was often not the best. Eisenhower summed up their relationship at a press conference. When asked, "What major decisions of your administration has the vice president participated in?" Eisenhower replied, "If you give me a week, I might think of one."

What became of Nixon after his tenure as vice president is a great story in political comebacks. He was selected in 1960 as the Republican president nominee and lost one of the closest elections ever, with 219 electoral votes compared to John F. Kennedy's 303. He then seemed to take a backseat in politics, stepping out of the limelight. Even then, however, he was planning his victorious return as president and won in 1968.

It was unfortunate for him, however, that he let his own paranoia and self-doubt get the best of him. The Watergate scandal (the burglary of the offices of the Democratic National Committee in the Watergate Hotel, and the subsequent high-level coverup) forced him to resign. His importance in the political arena did not diminish, however. For the remaining years of his life, political figures, including some presidents, from both parties sought his insight and advice.