10 Deeply Personal Historical Rivalries
7. Aaron Burr Vs. Alexander Hamilton: No One Wins
It's hard to say who the winner is here. Hamilton does get his face on the 10 dollar bill... then again, Aaron Burr does shoot Hamilton to death.
The rivalry was a many-chaptered affair: Burr had once taken Hamilton's father-in-law's seat in the US senate, the two had different ideas on governing, and the election of 1800 (AKA the friend killer) didn't help.
Hamilton used what influence he possessed to push Charles C Pinckney as president. When the race become a two-man affair Hamilton pushed for Jefferson to win over Burr, which Jefferson did.
In 1804 Burr ran for Governor of New York where, once again, Hamilton used what influence he had to support Burr's opponent.
The feud came to a head when Burr caught references to some less than kind words Hamilton had said about him in correspondence. The fact that Hamilton had been trying to keep Burr out of any office wasn't enough of a hint supposedly.
Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel, Hamilton begrudgingly accepted (the practice of duelling at this point is a long and complicated affair in itself). They met and Burr came out the winner.
In an act of spite from beyond the grave, Hamilton had written several letters to be published in the event of his death, basically calling Burr a massive tool for duelling.