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Virtue in Action – Aaron Burr and Ambition

Honorable ambition can lead to noble pursuits and greatness for those who seek to serve others or build something of lasting importance politically, militarily, economically, and culturally. James Madison, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant, Dwight Eisenhower, Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Alva Edison, Steve Jobs, Martin Luther King, Jr., William Shakespeare, Michelangelo, and Walt Disney are only some of the heroes who can inspire us with noble ambition for greatness.

Think self-reflectively of the contribution that you can make with your talents and ambition to serve others.

  • Where can you provide leadership in your school?
  • How can you serve your local community?
  • Where do you want to go to college? Why?
  • What do you want to do for a career? Why?
  • What purpose do you want to serve in your life?

Sources & Further Reading

Aristotle, Nicomache an Ethics, Book IV

Brands, H.W. The Heartbreak of Aaron Burr. New York: Anchor, 2012.

Cher now, Ron. Alexander Hamilton. New York: Penguin, 2004.

Faulkner, Robert. The Case for Greatness. New Haven: Yale University Press,2008.

Fleming, Thomas. Duel: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and the Future of America. New York: Basic Books, 2000.

Hoffer, Peter Charles. The Treason Trials of Aaron Burr. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2008.

Isenburg, Nancy. Fallen Founder: The Life of Aaron Burr. New York: Viking, 2007.

Steward, David O. American Emperor: Aaron Burr’s Challenge to Jefferson’s America. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2011.

Wheel an, Joseph. Jefferson’s Vendetta: The Pursuit of Aaron Burr and the Judiciary. New York: Caroll and Graf, 2004.