Prompt: Question: Tell me a bio of Richard Kuklinski.

Richard Kuklinski

<s>Richard Kuklinski Richard Leonard Kuklinski (; April 11, 1935 – March 5, 2006), also known as The Iceman, was an American criminal and convicted contract killer. Kuklinski was engaged in criminal activities for most of his adult life; he ran a burglary ring and distributed pirated pornography. He committed at least five murders between 1980 and 1984. Prosecutors described him as someone who killed for profit. Kuklinski lived with his wife and children in the New Jersey suburb of Dumont. They knew him as a loving father and husband, although one who also had a violent temper. They stated that they were unaware of his crimes. He was given the moniker Iceman by authorities after they discovered that he had frozen the body of one of his victims in an attempt to disguise the time of death. Kuklinski's modus operandi was to lure men to clandestine meetings with the promise of lucrative business deals, then kill them and steal their money. He also killed two associates to prevent them from becoming informants. Eventually, Kuklinski came to the attention of law enforcement when an investigation into his burglary gang linked him to several murders, as he was the last person to have seen five missing men alive. An eighteen-

Richard Kuklinski

month-long undercover operation led to his arrest in December 1986. In 1988, he was convicted of four murders and sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2003, he received an additional 30-year sentence after confessing to the murder of a police officer named Peter Calabro. After his murder convictions, Kuklinski gave interviews to writers, prosecutors, criminologists, and psychiatrists. He claimed to have murdered anywhere from 100 to 200 men, often in gruesome fashion. None of these additional murders have been corroborated. Kuklinski also claimed to have worked as a hitman for the Mafia. He said he participated in several famous Mafia killings, including the disappearance and presumed murder of Teamsters' president Jimmy Hoffa. Law enforcement and organized crime experts have expressed skepticism about Kuklinski's claimed Mafia ties. He was the subject of three HBO documentaries aired in 1992, 2001 and 2003; several biographies, and a 2012 feature film "The Iceman".</s><s>Early life. Richard Kuklinski was born in his family's apartment on 4th Street in Jersey City, New Jersey, to Stanley Kuklinski ( Stanisław Kukliński; December 22, 1906 – January 1977), a Polish immigrant from Karw

Richard Kuklinski

acz, Masovian Voivodeship. His father worked as a brakeman on the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. His mother was Anna McNally (January 31, 1911 – March 21, 1972) from Harsimus, a devoutly Catholic first-generation Irish American who worked in a meat-packing plant. He was the second of four children. According to Kuklinski, his father Stanley was a violent alcoholic who beat his children regularly and sometimes beat his wife. Stanley abandoned the family while Richard was still a child, but returned periodically, usually drunk, and his returns were often followed by more beatings for Richard. Anna Kuklinski reportedly was also often abusive. She would beat Richard with broom handles (sometimes breaking the handle on his body during the assaults) and other household objects. He recalled an incident during his pre-teen years when his mother attempted to kill his father Stanley with a kitchen knife. Anna was a zealous Catholic and believed that stern discipline should be accompanied by a strict religious upbringing. Richard, therefore, was raised in the Roman Catholic Church and served as an altar boy. Kuklinski later rejected Catholicism. He regarded his mother as a "cancer" who destroyed everything she touched. Kukl

Richard Kuklinski

inski had three siblings. Kuklinski's brother Joseph was convicted in 1970 of raping a 12-year-old girl and murdering her by throwing her and her dog off the top of a five-story building. When asked about his brother's crimes, Kuklinski replied: "We come from the same father."</s><s>Criminal history.</s><s>Criminal history.:Early crimes. In the mid-1960s, Kuklinski worked at a Manhattan film lab. Through the lab, he accessed master copies of popular films, and he made bootleg copies of Disney animated films to sell. Kuklinski also discovered a lucrative market for tapes of pornographic movies; copying and distributing pornography was a regular source of income for him. He was once arrested for passing a bad check, the only crime he was charged with prior to his arrest for murder. He was photographed and fingerprinted, but the charges were dropped after he agreed to pay back the money owed. Several of his known murder victims were men he met through trafficking pornography and drugs. He also headed a burglary group with Gary Smith, Barbara Deppner, Daniel Deppner, and Percy House.</s><s>Criminal history.:Murder of George Malliband. On January 30, 1980

Richard Kuklinski

, Kuklinski killed George Malliband during a meeting to sell him tapes. Malliband was reportedly carrying $27,000 at the time. Malliband's body was discovered a week later, on February 5, 1980. Kuklinski had placed it in a 55-gallon drum and left it near the Chemitex chemical plant in Jersey City. He cut the tendons of Malliband's leg in order to fit the corpse into the barrel. This was the first murder linked to Kuklinski. Malliband's brother told police officers that Malliband was meeting Kuklinski the day he disappeared. After a plea bargain, Kuklinski admitted to shooting Malliband five times, saying, "It was due to business."</s><s>Criminal history.:Murder of Paul Hoffman. In 1982, Kuklinski met Paul Hoffman, a 51-year-old pharmacist who occasionally browsed "the store" in Paterson, New Jersey, a storefront with a back room holding a wide variety of stolen items for sale. Hoffman hoped to make a big profit by purchasing stolen Tagamet, a popular drug to treat peptic ulcers, to re-sell through his pharmacy. He believed Kuklinski could supply the

Richard Kuklinski

drugs and badgered him to make a deal. Hoffman was last seen on his way to meet Kuklinski with $25,000 to buy prescription drugs from Kuklinski. After a plea bargain, Kuklinski admitted to killing Hoffman on April 29, 1982. He stated that he lured Hoffman into a rented garage and tried to shoot him, but the gun jammed. Instead, he beat Hoffman to death with a tire iron. He said he then stuffed the body into a 55-gallon drum and left it outside a motel in Little Ferry. One day, Kuklinski noticed that the drum had disappeared but never learned what had happened to it. Hoffman's body was never recovered.</s><s>Criminal history.:Murder of Gary Smith. By the early 1980s, Kuklinski's burglary gang was under investigation by law enforcement. In December 1982, Percy House, a member of the gang, was arrested. House agreed to inform on Kuklinski and was placed in protective custody. Warrants were also issued for the arrest of two other gang members, Gary Smith and Daniel Deppner. Kuklinski urged them to lay low and rented them a room at the York Motel in North Bergen, New Jersey.

Richard Kuklinski

Smith left the motel to visit his daughter. Kuklinski feared that Smith, after he discussed going straight, might become an informant. According to the testimony of Barbara Deppner, Kuklinski, Daniel Deppner, and House (in jail at the time) decided that Smith had to be killed. Kuklinski fed Smith a hamburger laced with cyanide, but when this was slow to work, Daniel Deppner also strangled Smith with a lamp cord. According to forensic pathologist Michael Baden, Smith's death would probably have been attributed to something non-homicidal in nature (such as drug overdose) if Kuklinski relied solely on the poison. However, the ligature mark around Smith's neck, and the fact that the body had been deliberately hidden, proved to investigators that he was murdered. After Barbara Deppner did not return with a car to move Smith's body, Kuklinski and Daniel Deppner placed it in between the mattress and box spring. Over the next four days, a number of patrons rented the room, and although they thought the smell in the room was odd, most of them did not think to look under the bed. Finally, on December 27, 1982, after

Richard Kuklinski

more complaints from guests about the smell, the motel manager investigated and discovered the decomposing corpse.</s><s>Criminal history.:Murder of Daniel Deppner. After Smith's murder, Kuklinski moved Deppner to an apartment in Bergenfield, New Jersey, belonging to Rich Patterson, then-fiancé of Kuklinski's daughter, Merrick. Patterson was away at the time, but Kuklinski possessed keys to the apartment. Between February and May 1983, Deppner was killed by Kuklinski. Investigators deduced he was murdered in Patterson's apartment after discovering a bloody carpet. Kuklinski enlisted Patterson's help to dispose of Deppner's body, telling Patterson the victim was a friend in trouble with law enforcement and someone had broken in and killed him over the weekend. He added it was best to dump the body to avoid trouble with the police, then forget about the incident. Kuklinski made another mistake when he informed an associate that he had killed Deppner. Deppner's corpse was discovered May 14, 1983, after a bicyclist riding Clinton Road in a wooded area of West Milford, New Jersey, spotted the corpse surrounded by vultures. Kukl

Richard Kuklinski

inski wrapped the corpse inside green garbage bags before dumping it. Medical examiners listed Deppner's cause of death as "undetermined," although they noted pinkish spots on his skin, a possible sign of cyanide poisoning. Deppner was also strangled. Investigators guessed that Deppner had already been incapacitated, such as by poison, because the partially-eaten corpse had no defensive wounds and healthy adult men are rarely killed by strangulation. The medical examiner found Deppner's stomach full of undigested food, indicating that he had died shortly after (or during) a meal. The beans that Deppner had eaten were burned, so they reasoned the meal was home-cooked because most restaurants would not get away with serving burned food to customers. Investigating officers discovered the corpse just away from the ranch where Kuklinski's family often went horseback riding. Deppner was the third Kuklinski associate to be found dead.</s><s>Criminal history.:Louis Masgay discovered. On September 25, 1983, the body of Louis Masgay was discovered near a town park near Clausland Mountain Road in Orangetown, New York, with a bullet hole in the back of his head. Masgay disappeared over two

Richard Kuklinski

years earlier, on July 1, 1981, the day he was to meet Kuklinski at a New Jersey diner to purchase a large quantity of blank videocassette recorder tapes, for which Masgay had $95,000 in his van. His body was stored in a freezer, then discovered fifteen months later. After another plea bargain, Kuklinski admitted to shooting Masgay. However, Kuklinski did not thaw the corpse before he dumped it. He also wrapped it in plastic garbage bags, which kept it insulated and partially frozen. The Rockland County medical examiner found ice crystals inside the body on a warm September day. If the body had thawed before discovery, the medical examiner stated he probably would never have noticed Kuklinski's trickery. Investigators realized Masgay was wearing the clothes his wife and son said he was wearing the day he disappeared. The discovery Kuklinski froze Masgay's corpse encouraged law enforcement officers to nick-name him "Iceman." Newspaper reporters sensationalized Kuklinski's frequently used moniker of "Iceman" in headlines.</s><s>Investigation and arrest. Kuklinski came to the attention of Pat Kane, an officer with the New Jersey State Police, when an informant helped

Richard Kuklinski

Kane connect him to a gang carrying out burglaries in northern New Jersey. He built a file on him. Eventually, five unsolved homicides—Hoffman, Smith, Deppner, Masgay, and Malliband—were linked to Kuklinski because he was the last person to see each of them alive. A joint task force of law enforcement officials titled "Operation Iceman" was created between the New Jersey Attorney General's office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms dedicated to arresting and convicting Kuklinski. The ATF was involved due to Kuklinski's firearm sales. ATF Special Agent Dominick Polifrone went undercover for eighteen months to apprehend Kuklinski. Starting in 1985, Kane and Polifrone worked with Phil Solimene, a close long-time friend of Kuklinski, to get Polifrone close to Kuklinski. Posing as a Mafia-connected criminal named Dominic Provenzano, Polifrone purchased a handgun-muffler combination from Kuklinski. In recordings, Kuklinski discussed a corpse he kept in a freezer for two and a half years. He told Polifrone he preferred poison, saying "Why be messy? You do it

Richard Kuklinski

nice and calm." He asked Polifrone if he could supply him with pure cyanide. Polifrone told Kuklinski he wanted to hire him to murder a wealthy Jewish cocaine dealer, and recorded Kuklinski speaking in detail about how he would do it. Kuklinski was also recorded boasting he killed a man by putting cyanide on his hamburger, and of his plans to kill "a couple of rats" (Barbara Deppner and Percy House). On December 17, 1986, Kuklinski met Polifrone to get cyanide for a planned murder, which was to be an attempt on an undercover police officer. After the recorded conversation with Polifrone, Kuklinski went for a walk. He tested Polifrone's (purported) cyanide on a stray dog, using a hamburger as bait, and saw it was not poison. Suspicious, Kuklinski decided not to go through with the planned murder and went home instead. He was arrested at a roadblock two hours later. His wife was charged with disorderly conduct for interfering with his arrest. Officers discovered a firearm in the vehicle, and she was charged with possession of a firearm because she was a passenger.</s><s>Trial and

Richard Kuklinski

incarceration. Prosecutors charged Kuklinski with five murder counts and six weapons violations, as well as attempted murder, robbery, and attempted robbery. Law enforcement officials said Kuklinski had large sums of money in Swiss bank accounts and a reservation on a flight to that country. Kuklinski was held on a $2million bail bond, and made to surrender his passport. After the arrest, Kuklinski told reporters ″This is unwarranted, unnecessary. These guys watch too many movies.″ At a press conference, New Jersey state Attorney General W. Cary Edwards characterized the motive for the murders as "profit" and said ″He set individuals up for business deals, they disappeared, and the money ended up in his hands.″ At trial, Kuklinski's former associates including Percy House and Barbara Deppner gave evidence against him as did ATF Special Agent Polifrone. The case was prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Robert Carrol while Kuklinski was represented by a public defender. Kuklinski's lawyer argued Kuklinski had no history of violence, and only projected a "tough image," including his statements to ATF Special Agent Polifrone. The defence theorized Deppner was responsible for the murder

Richard Kuklinski

of Smith, and there was no cause of death determined for Deppner. Additionally, he argued the testimony of House and Barbara Deppner was unreliable because they lied to law enforcement officials, and House received immunity from prosecution. In March 1988, jurors found Kuklinski guilty of murdering Smith and Deppner, but found the deaths were not proven to be by Kuklinski's conduct, meaning he would not face the death penalty. He was then sentenced to a minimum 60 years in prison. After the trial, Kuklinski pled guilty to killing Masgay and Malliband. Kuklinski was sentenced to an additional two life sentences to be served consecutively. State prosecutors explained he would spend the rest of his life in prison if he had successful appeals to his previous convictions. Kuklinski also confessed to killing Hoffman, but prosecutors decided not to go to trial as they had a weak case and additional life sentences would not have impacted Kuklinski's prison stay. As part of the plea bargains, the firearm charge against his wife and an unrelated marijuana possession charge against his son were dismissed. Kuklinski was ineligible for parole until 2046, when he would have been 111 years old. He was incarcerated at Trenton State

Richard Kuklinski

Prison. During his incarceration, Kuklinski granted interviews to prosecutors, psychiatrists, criminologists, and writers. Several television producers also spoke to Kuklinski about his criminal career, upbringing, and personal life. These talks culminated in three televised documentaries known as "The Iceman Tapes", broadcast on HBO in 1992, 2001, and 2003. According to his daughter, Merrick Kuklinski, her mother convinced Richard to do the interviews and she was paid "handsomely" for them. In the last installment, "The Iceman and the Psychiatrist", Kuklinski was interviewed by renowned forensic psychiatrist Dr. Park Dietz in 2002. Dietz stated he believed Kuklinski suffered from anti-social personality disorder plus paranoid personality disorder. Writers Anthony Bruno and Philip Carlo wrote biographies of Kuklinski. Kuklinski's wife, Barbara, received a share of the profits from the Bruno book.</s><s>Additional victims. In various interviews, Kuklinski claimed to have murdered around 200 people. He alleged he used multiple ways to kill people, including a crossbow, icepicks, a bomb attached to remote controlled toy, firearms, grenades, as well as cyanide solution spray he considered to be his

Richard Kuklinski

favorite. He said he committed his first murder at 14, and murdered homeless people for practice. In 2006, Paul Smith, a member of the task force involved in arresting Kuklinski – and later a supervisor of the organized crime division of the New Jersey Attorney General's office – said: "I checked every one of the murders Kuklinski said he committed, and not one was true." He added, "Authorities throughout the country could not corroborate one case based on the tidbits Kuklinski gave." In 2020, Dominick Polifrone said "I don't believe he killed two-hundred people. I don't believe he killed a hundred people. I’ll go as high as 15, maybe." Kuklinski also alleged he was a Mafia contract killer independently working for all the Five Families of New York City, as well as the DeCavalcante family of New Jersey. He claimed he carried out dozens of murders on behalf of Gambino soldier Roy DeMeo. He said he was one of the murderers of Bonanno family boss Carmine Galante in July 1979, and Gambino family boss Paul Castellano in December 1985. For the Castellano murder, Kuklinski said he was

Richard Kuklinski

personally recruited by John Gotti ally Sammy Gravano, who instructed him to kill Castellano's driver and bodyguard, Thomas Bilotti. He told Philip Carlo he was hired by John Gotti to kidnap, torture, and murder John Favara, the man who accidentally killed Gotti's 12-year-old son Frank after hitting him with his car. However, Kuklinski's alleged involvement in mafia hits has been disputed by other authorities. According to Jerry Capeci, "[Philip Carlo] claims the Iceman killed Paul Castellano, Carmine Galante and Jimmy Hoffa, along with Roy DeMeo and about 200 others. C’mon, do you believe that? I don't know anyone who believes that. No one." After he became a government witness in 1990, Sammy Gravano admitted to planning the murder of Castellano and Bilotti, but said the shooters were all members of John Gotti's crew and were chosen by Gotti; he did not mention Kuklinski. Anthony Bruno felt Kuklinski's participation in the killing of Castellano was "highly unlikely". Bruno noted that in 1986 Anthony Indelicato was convicted of Galante's murder and Kuklinski was not mentioned during

Richard Kuklinski

the trial. Kuklinski biographer Philip Carlo also acknowledged that Kuklinski's claim to have been involved in Galante's murder was untrue. Former Colombo family capo Michael Franzese called Kuklinski a "pathological liar" and said, "I spent 25 years in that life, on the street. I never heard his name mentioned once. Not once." Kuklinski claimed he dumped bodies in caves in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and fed a victim to rats in the caves. However, in 2013, the "Philadelphia Inquirer" noted the caves have had a lot of visitors since Kuklinski's time, and no human remains have been discovered. Local cave enthusiast Richard Kranzel also queried the idea of flesh-eating rats, saying "The only rats I encountered in caves are 'cave rats,' and they are reclusive and shy creatures, and definitely not fierce as Kuklinski claims." Law enforcement officers also doubt he stored a corpse for two years in a Mister Softee truck.</s><s>Additional victims.:Robert Prongay. In interviews and documentaries, Kuklinski says he killed Robert Prongay, a mentor to him. Prongay was murdered in 1984, shot multiple

Richard Kuklinski

times in the head, and was subsequently discovered in his Mister Softee ice cream truck. Robbery was not considered a motive at the time. Prongay had been about to go on trial for blowing up the front door of his ex-wife's house. Kuklinski says that Prongay taught him to use cyanide and other methods to kill, and it was Prongay who told him to freeze the body of Masgay. However, Kuklinski says he killed Prongay after he threatened his family. Law enforcement officials have considered Kuklinski a prime suspect in the murder since 1986, but the director of the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice said no charges were sought because Kuklinski was convicted of other crimes. In 1993, in response to his claims, Hudson County Prosecutor said new charges against Kuklinski were possible since the Prongay murder was still an open investigation, and they would assess whether there was enough evidence to prosecute him. Ultimately, no charges were brought against Kuklinski for the Prongay murder.</s><s>Additional victims.:Roy DeMeo. Kuklinski claimed he killed Gambino Crime family member Roy DeMeo in an interview for the 1993 book ""The Ice

Richard Kuklinski

man: The True Story of a Cold-Blooded Killer"" by Anthony Bruno"." He described DeMeo as a mentor of his, but after he fell behind on a loan to distribute pornography, he received a beating. The two later became business partners. Kuklinski says DeMeo taught him how murder for hire could be a way to make money. However, author Jerry Capeci, who has written extensively about DeMeo and the mafia, doubts Kuklinski killed DeMeo or had close ties to the DeMeo crew."" Most sources indicate DeMeo was killed by members of his crew, with no suggestion Kuklinski was involved. Kuklinski is not mentioned in Capeci and Gene Mustain's book about the DeMeo crew, "Murder Machine", or Albert DeMeo's account of his father's life in the mob, "For the Sins of My Father". Philip Carlo, whose biography of Kuklinski includes the claim that he killed DeMeo, acknowledged in the postscript to a later edition that this claim was probably untrue.</s><s>Additional victims.:Peter Calabro. In his 2001 HBO interview, Kuklinski confessed to killing NYPD officer Peter Calabro,

Richard Kuklinski

who was ambushed and shot dead by an unknown gunman on March 14, 1980. Calabro was rumored to have mob connections and was investigated for selling confidential information to the Gambino family. His wife Carmella drowned under mysterious circumstances three years earlier and members of her family believed Calabro was responsible. At the time, his murder was thought by law enforcement officials to be revenge either carried out or arranged by his deceased wife's relatives. Her brothers were regarded as "key suspects," but the crime remained unsolved. The Bergen County prosecutor believed Kuklinski's confession to be a fabrication, but his successor decided to proceed with the case. In February 2003, Kuklinski was charged with Calabro's murder, and received another sentence of thirty years. This was considered a waste because it was during multiple life sentences, plus he would be ineligible for parole until he was over the age of 100. Describing the murder, Kuklinski said he parked his van on the side of a narrow road, forcing other drivers to slow to pass. He lay in a snowbank behind his van until Calabro came by at 2 AM, then stepped out and shot him in the head with a sawed-off shotgun, decapitating Calabro

Richard Kuklinski

. He stated he was unaware that Calabro was a police officer but said he probably would have murdered him anyway. Kuklinski claimed he was paid to kill Calabro by Gambino crime family soldier (later underboss) Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, and The Bull provided the murder weapon. Gravano, serving a twenty-year sentence in Arizona for drugs, was also indicted for the murder. Kuklinski was set to testify against him. Gravano denied any involvement in Calabro's death and rejected a plea bargain, under which, he would receive no additional jail time if he confessed to the crime and informed on all his accomplices. The charges against Gravano were dropped after Kuklinski's death in 2006.</s><s>Additional victims.:Jimmy Hoffa. In his 2001 HBO interview, "Secrets of a Mafia Hitman", Kuklinski said he knew who killed former Teamsters union president Jimmy Hoffa. Kuklinski did not claim any personal involvement in Hoffa's disappearance and presumed murder and did not identify any culprit. However, he later claimed he killed Hoffa. In his account, Kuklinski was part of a four-man kidnap team. They grabbed Hoffa in Detroit. While

Richard Kuklinski

they were in the car, Kuklinski killed Hoffa by stabbing him with a large hunting knife. He said he drove Hoffa's corpse from Detroit to a New Jersey junkyard. It was placed in a drum, set on fire, and then buried in the junkyard. Later, fearing an accomplice might snitch, the drum was disenterred, placed in the trunk of a car, and compacted into a cube. It was sold as scrap metal along with hundreds of other compacted cars. It was shipped off to Japan to be used in making new cars. Deputy Chief Bob Buccino, who worked on the Kuklinski case, said "They took a body from Detroit, where they have one of the biggest lakes in the world, and drove it all the way back to New Jersey? Come on." Buccino added: "We didn't believe a lot of things he said." Former FBI Special Agent Robert Garrity stated Kuklinski's admission to killing Hoffa was "a hoax," and that Kuklinski was never a suspect in Hoffa's disappearance, adding "I never heard of him." Anthony Bruno said he investigated Kuklinski's alleged involvement in Hoffa's disappearance but felt "[his

Richard Kuklinski

] story didn't check out." He opined Kuklinski made the confession to "add extra value to his brand", and so, he omitted the story from his biography of Kuklinski.</s><s>Personal life. Kuklinski's first wife, Linda, was nine years his senior. They had two sons, Richard Jr. and David. While working for a trucking company, he met Barbara Pedrici, a secretary at the same firm. Richard and Linda divorced, and he married Barbara in September 1961, and had two daughters, Merrick and Christin, and a son, Dwayne. Barbara described his behavior as alternating between "good Richie" and "bad Richie." "Good Richie" was a hard-working provider and an affectionate father and loving husband, who enjoyed time with his family. Barbara remembered that when Merrick became seriously ill soon after she was born, Richard stayed up night after night to care for her. In contrast, "Bad Richie" – who would appear at irregular intervals: sometimes one day after another, other times not appearing for months – was prone to unpredictable fits of rage, smashing furniture and domestic violence. During these periods, he was physically abusive to his wife (one time breaking her nose and giving

Richard Kuklinski

her a black eye) and emotionally abusive towards his children. Merrick later recalled that he once killed her dog right in front of her to punish her for coming home late. Barbara stated that she had once told Richard she wanted to see other people. He responded by silently jabbing her from behind with a hunting knife so sharp she did not even feel the blade go in. He told her that she belonged to him and that if she tried to leave, he would kill her entire family; when Barbara began screaming at him in anger, he throttled her into unconsciousness. Merrick also remembered a number of road rage incidents involving her father. Kuklinski's family and Dumont, New Jersey neighbors were unaware of his activities, and instead believed he was a successful businessman. Barbara described him as a "wholesale distributor" and said he employed an accountant. She did suspect that some of his income was from illegal activities, due to their lifestyle and the large amounts of cash he often possessed. However, given his volatility, she never expressed these worries to him, instead maintaining a "don't ask questions" philosophy when it came to his business life or associates. If Richard suddenly left the house in the middle of the night, Barbara would never ask where he was

Richard Kuklinski

going. The Kuklinskis divorced in 1993, when Richard was in prison. Barbara said the divorce was for "money reasons." She continued to visit him in prison, but only about once a year. On June 6, 1984, Kuklinski filed for personal bankruptcy listing debts of $160,697, and assets of only $300.</s><s>Death. In October 2005, after nearly 18 years in prison, Kuklinski was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease (an inflammation of the blood vessels). He was transferred to a secure wing at St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton, New Jersey. Although he had asked doctors to make sure they revived him if he developed cardiopulmonary arrest (or risk of heart attack), his then-former wife Barbara had signed a "do not resuscitate" order. A week before his death, the hospital called Barbara to ask if she wished to rescind the instruction, but she declined. Kuklinski died at age 70 on March 5, 2006. At the request of Kuklinski's family, noted forensic pathologist Michael Baden reviewed his autopsy report. Baden confirmed that Kuklinski died of cardiac arrest and had been suffering with heart disease and phlebitis. Michael Shannon

Richard Kuklinski

played Kuklinski in the 2012 film "The Iceman" loosely based on Anthony Bruno's book "The Iceman: The True Story of a Cold-Blooded Killer". The film was directed by Ariel Vromen and also stars Winona Ryder, Ray Liotta, Stephen Dorff, and Chris Evans. Another movie about Kuklinski which was to star Mickey Rourke in the title role was announced in 2010 but ultimately never made.</s><s>Further reading. - - -</s>


Prompt: Question: Tell me a bio of Aaron Burr.

Aaron Burr

<s>Aaron Burr Aaron Burr Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the third vice president of the United States from 1801 to 1805. Burr's legacy is defined by his famous personal conflict with Alexander Hamilton that culminated with Burr killing Hamilton in a duel in 1804, while Burr was vice president. Burr was born to a prominent family in New Jersey. After studying theology at Princeton, he began his career as a lawyer before joining the Continental Army as an officer in the American Revolutionary War in 1775. After leaving military service in 1779, Burr practiced law in New York City, where he became a leading politician and helped form the new Jeffersonian Democratic-Republican Party. As a New York Assemblyman in 1785, Burr supported a bill to end slavery, despite having owned slaves himself. At age 26, Burr married Theodosia Bartow Prevost, who died in 1794 after twelve years of marriage. They had one daughter, Theodosia. In 1791, Burr was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served until 1797. Burr would later run as the Democratic-Republican presidential candidate in the 1800 election. An electoral college tie between Burr and

Aaron Burr

Thomas Jefferson resulted in the House of Representatives voting in Jefferson's favor, with Burr becoming Jefferson's vice president due to receiving the second-highest share of the votes. Although Burr maintained that he supported Jefferson, the president was highly suspicious of Burr, who was relegated to the sidelines of the administration during his vice presidency and was not selected as Jefferson's running mate in 1804 after the ratification of the 12th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. During his last year as vice president, Burr engaged in the duel in which he fatally shot Alexander Hamilton, his political rival, near where Hamilton's son Philip Hamilton died three years prior. Although dueling was illegal, Burr was never tried, and all charges against him were eventually dropped. Nevertheless, Hamilton's death ended Burr's political career. Burr traveled west to the American frontier, seeking new economic and political opportunities. His secretive activities led to his 1807 arrest in Alabama on charges of treason. He was brought to trial more than once for what became known as the Burr conspiracy, an alleged plot to create an independent country led by Burr, but was acquitted each time. With large debts and few influential friends, Burr left the United States to live as an expatriate in Europe. He returned in 1812 and resumed practicing law

Aaron Burr

in New York City. Burr's brief second marriage resulted in divorce and further scandal. Handicapped by a stroke and financially ruined, Burr died at a boarding house in 1836.</s><s>Early life. Aaron Burr Jr. was born in 1756 in Newark, New Jersey, as the second child of the Reverend Aaron Burr Sr., a Presbyterian minister and second president of the College of New Jersey, which became Princeton University. His mother Esther Edwards Burr was the daughter of noted theologian Jonathan Edwards and his wife Sarah. Burr had an older sister Sarah ("Sally"), who was named for her maternal grandmother. She married Tapping Reeve, founder of the Litchfield Law School in Litchfield, Connecticut. Burr's father died in 1757 while serving as president of the college at Princeton. Burr's grandfather, Jonathan Edwards, succeeded Burr's father as president and came to live with Burr and his mother in December 1757. Edwards died in March 1758, and Burr's mother and grandmother died within the same year, leaving Burr and his sister orphaned when he was two years old. Young Aaron and Sally were then placed with the William Shippen family in Philadelphia. In 1759, the children's guardianship was assumed by their 21-year-

Aaron Burr

old maternal uncle Timothy Edwards. The next year, Edwards married Rhoda Ogden and moved the family to Elizabeth, New Jersey where Burr attended the Elizabethtown Academy. Burr had a very strained relationship with his uncle, who was often physically abusive. As a child, he made several attempts to run away from home. At age 13, Burr was admitted to Princeton as a sophomore, where he joined the American Whig Society and the Cliosophic Society, the college's literary and debating societies. In 1772, at age 16, he received his Bachelor of Arts degree, but continued studying theology at Princeton for an additional year. He then undertook rigorous theological training with Joseph Bellamy, a Presbyterian, but changed his career path after two years. At age 19, he moved to Connecticut to study law with his brother-in-law Tapping Reeve. In 1775, news reached Litchfield of the clashes with British troops at Lexington and Concord, and Burr put his studies on hold to enlist in the Continental Army.</s><s>Early life.:Revolutionary War. During the American Revolutionary War, Burr took part in Colonel Benedict Arnold's expedition to Quebec, an arduous trek of more than through the frontier of Maine. Arnold was impressed by Burr's "great spirit

Aaron Burr

and resolution" during the long march. He sent him up the Saint Lawrence River to contact General Richard Montgomery, who had taken Montreal, and escort him to Quebec. Montgomery then promoted Burr to captain and made him an aide-de-camp. Burr distinguished himself during the Battle of Quebec on December 31, 1775, where he attempted to recover Montgomery's corpse after he had been killed. In the spring of 1776, Burr's stepbrother Matthias Ogden helped him to secure a position with George Washington's staff in Manhattan, but he quit on June 26 to be on the battlefield. General Israel Putnam took Burr under his wing, and Burr saved an entire brigade from capture after the British landing in Manhattan by his vigilance in the retreat from lower Manhattan to Harlem. Washington failed to commend his actions in the next day's General Orders, which was the fastest way to obtain a promotion. Burr was already a nationally known hero, but he never received a commendation. According to Ogden, he was infuriated by the incident, which may have led to the eventual estrangement between him and Washington. Nevertheless, Burr defended Washington's decision to evacuate New York as "a necessary consequence". It was not until the 1790s that the two men found themselves on opposite

Aaron Burr

sides in politics. Burr was briefly posted in Kingsbridge during 1776, at which time he was charged with protecting 14-year-old Margaret Moncrieffe, the daughter of Staten Island-based British Major Thomas Moncrieffe. Miss Moncrieffe was in Manhattan "behind enemy lines," and Major Moncrieffe asked Washington to ensure her safe return there. Burr fell in love with Margaret, and Margaret's attempts to remain with Burr were unsuccessful. In late 1776, Burr attempted to secure Washington's approval to retake fortifications held by the British on Staten Island, citing his deep familiarity with the area. Washington deferred taking such actions until possibly later in the conflict (which ultimately were not attempted). The British learned of Burr's plans and afterwards took extra precautions. Burr was promoted to lieutenant colonel in July 1777 and assumed virtual leadership of Malcolm's Additional Continental Regiment. There were approximately 300 men under Colonel William Malcolm's nominal command, but Malcolm was frequently called upon to perform other duties, leaving Burr in charge. The regiment successfully fought off many nighttime raids into central New Jersey by Manhattan-based British troops who arrived by water. Later that year, Burr commanded a small contingent during the harsh winter encampment at Valley Forge, guarding "the Gulph,"

Aaron Burr

an isolated pass that controlled one approach to the camp. He imposed discipline and defeated an attempted mutiny by some of the troops. Burr's regiment was devastated by British artillery on June 28, 1778, at the Battle of Monmouth in New Jersey, and Burr suffered heatstroke. In January 1779, he was assigned to Westchester County, New York in command of Malcolm's Regiment, a region between the British post at Kingsbridge, Bronx and that of the Americans about to the north. This district was part of the more significant command of General Alexander McDougall, and there was much turbulence and plundering by lawless bands of civilians and by raiding parties of ill-disciplined soldiers from both armies. In March 1779, due to continuing bad health, Burr resigned from the Continental Army. He renewed his study of law. Technically, he was no longer in the service, but he remained active in the war; he was assigned by General Washington to perform occasional intelligence missions for Continental generals, such as Arthur St. Clair. On July 5, 1779, he rallied a group of Yale students at New Haven, Connecticut, along with Captain James Hillhouse and the Second Connecticut Governor's Guards, in a skirmish with the British at the West River

Aaron Burr

. The British advance was repulsed, forcing them to enter New Haven from Hamden, Connecticut.</s><s>Early life.:Marriage to Theodosia Bartow Prevost. Burr met Theodosia Bartow Prevost in August 1778 while she was married to Jacques Marcus Prevost, a Swiss-born British officer in the Royal American Regiment. In Prevost's absence, Burr began regularly visiting Theodosia at The Hermitage, her home in New Jersey. Although she was ten years older than Burr, the constant visits provoked gossip, and by 1780 the two were openly lovers. In December 1781, he learned that Prevost had died in Jamaica of yellow fever. Theodosia and Aaron Burr were married in 1782, and they moved to a house on Wall Street in Lower Manhattan. After several years of severe illness, Theodosia died in 1794 from stomach or uterine cancer. Their only child to survive to adulthood was Theodosia Burr Alston, born in 1783.</s><s>Law and politics. Despite his wartime activities, Burr finished his studies and was admitted to the bar at Albany, New York in 1782, the year of his marriage. He began practicing law in New York City

Aaron Burr

the following year after the British evacuated the city. Burr served in the New York State Assembly in 1784–85. In 1784, as an assemblyman, Burr unsuccessfully sought to abolish slavery immediately following the American Revolutionary War. Also, he continued his military service as a lieutenant colonel and commander of a regiment in the militia brigade commanded by William Malcolm. He became seriously involved in politics in 1789, when George Clinton appointed him as New York State Attorney General. He was also Commissioner of Revolutionary War Claims in 1791. In 1791, he was elected by the legislature as a Senator from New York, defeating incumbent General Philip Schuyler. He served in the Senate until 1797. Burr ran for president in the 1796 election and received 30 electoral votes, coming in fourth behind John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas Pinckney. He was shocked by this defeat, but many Democratic-Republican electors voted for Jefferson and no one else, or for Jefferson and a candidate other than Burr. (Jefferson and Burr were again candidates for president and vice president during the election of 1800. Jefferson ran with Burr in exchange for Burr working to obtain New York's electoral votes for Jefferson.) President John Adams appointed Washington as commanding general of U.S. forces in 1798

Aaron Burr

, but he rejected Burr's application for a brigadier general's commission during the Quasi-War with France. Washington wrote, "By all that I have known and heard, Colonel Burr is a brave and able officer, but the question is whether he has not equal talents at intrigue." Burr was elected to the New York State Assembly in 1798 and served there through 1799. During this time, he cooperated with the Holland Land Company in gaining passage of a law to permit aliens to hold and convey lands. National parties became clearly defined during Adams' Presidency, and Burr loosely associated himself with the Democratic-Republicans. However, he had moderate Federalist allies such as Senator Jonathan Dayton of New Jersey.</s><s>Law and politics.:New York City politics. Burr quickly became a key player in New York politics, largely due to the power of the Tammany Society (which became Tammany Hall). Burr converted it from a social club into a political machine to help Jefferson reach the presidency, particularly in crowded New York City. In September 1799, Burr fought a duel with John Barker Church, whose wife Angelica was the sister of Alexander Hamilton's wife Elizabeth. Church had accused Burr of taking a bribe from the Holland Company in exchange for his political influence. Burr and Church

Aaron Burr

fired at each other and missed, and afterward, Church acknowledged that he was wrong to have accused Burr without proof. Burr accepted this as an apology, and the two men shook hands and ended the dispute. In 1799, Burr founded the Bank of the Manhattan Company, and the enmity between him and Hamilton may have arisen from how he did so. Before the establishment of Burr's bank, the Federalists held a monopoly on banking interests in New York via the federal government's Bank of the United States and Hamilton's Bank of New York. These banks financed operations of significant business interests owned by aristocratic members of the city. Hamilton had prevented the formation of rival banks in the city. Small businessmen relied on tontines to buy property and establish a voting voice (at this time, voting was based upon property rights). Burr solicited support from Hamilton and other Federalists under the guise that he was establishing a badly needed water company for Manhattan. He secretly changed the application for a state charter at the last minute to include the ability to invest surplus funds in any cause that did not violate state law, and dropped any pretense of founding a water company once he had gained approval (although he did dig a well and built a large working water storage tank on the site of

Aaron Burr

his bank, which was still standing and apparently still working in 1898). Hamilton and other supporters believed that he had acted dishonorably in deceiving them. Meanwhile, construction was delayed on a safe water system for Manhattan, and writer Ron Chernow suggests that the delay may have contributed to deaths during a subsequent malaria epidemic. Burr's Manhattan Company was more than a bank; it was a tool to promote Democratic-Republican power and influence, and its loans were directed to partisans. By extending credit to small businessmen, who then obtained enough property to gain the franchise, the bank was able to increase the party's electorate. Federalist bankers in New York responded by trying to organize a credit boycott of Democratic-Republican businessmen.</s><s>1800 presidential election. In the 1800 city elections, Burr combined the political influence of the Manhattan Company with party campaign innovations to deliver New York's support for Jefferson. In 1800, New York's state legislature was to choose the presidential electors, as they had in 1796 (for John Adams). Before the April 1800 legislative elections, the State Assembly was controlled by the Federalists. The City of New York elected assembly members on an at-large basis. Burr and Hamilton were the key campaigners for their respective parties. Burr's Democratic-Republican slate of assemblymen

Aaron Burr

for New York City was elected, giving the party control of the legislature, which in turn gave New York's electoral votes to Jefferson and Burr. This drove another wedge between Hamilton and Burr. Burr enlisted the help of Tammany Hall to win the voting for selection of Electoral College delegates. He gained a place on the Democratic-Republican presidential ticket in the 1800 election with Jefferson. Though Jefferson and Burr won New York, he and Burr tied for the presidency overall, with 73 electoral votes each. Members of the Democratic-Republican Party understood they intended that Jefferson should be president and Burr vice president, but the tied vote required that the final choice be made by the House of Representatives, with each of the 16 states having one vote, and nine votes needed for election. Publicly, Burr remained quiet and refused to surrender the presidency to Jefferson, the great enemy of the Federalists. Rumors circulated that Burr and a faction of Federalists were encouraging Republican representatives to vote for him, blocking Jefferson's election in the House. However, solid evidence of such a conspiracy was lacking, and historians generally gave Burr the benefit of the doubt. In 2011, however, historian Thomas Baker discovered a previously unknown letter from William P. Van Ness to Edward Livingston, two leading Democratic-Republicans in New York

Aaron Burr

. Van Ness was very close to Burr – serving as his second in the next duel with Hamilton. As a leading Democratic-Republican, Van Ness secretly supported the Federalist plan to elect Burr as president and tried to get Livingston to join. Livingston agreed at first, then reversed himself. Baker argues that Burr probably supported the Van Ness plan: "There is a compelling pattern of circumstantial evidence, much of it newly discovered, that strongly suggests Aaron Burr did exactly that as part of a stealth campaign to compass the presidency for himself." The attempt did not work, due partly to Livingston's reversal, but more to Hamilton's vigorous opposition to Burr. Jefferson was ultimately elected president, and Burr vice president.</s><s>Vice presidency (1801–1805). Jefferson never trusted Burr, so he was effectively shut out of party matters. As Vice President, Burr earned praise from some enemies for his even-handed fairness and his judicial manner as President of the Senate; he fostered some practices for that office that have become time-honored traditions. Burr's judicial manner in presiding over the impeachment trial of Justice Samuel Chase has been credited as helping to preserve the principle of judicial independence that was established by "Marbury v. Madison" in 1803. One newspaper wrote that Burr

Aaron Burr

had conducted the proceedings with the "impartiality of an angel, but with the rigor of a devil". Burr was not nominated to a second term as Jefferson's running mate in Jefferson's successful 1804 re-election campaign and New York governor George Clinton replaced Burr as Jefferson's vice president on March 4, 1805. Burr's farewell speech on March 2, 1805 moved some of his harshest critics in the Senate to tears. But the 20-minute speech was never recorded in full, and has been preserved only in short quotes and descriptions of the address, which defended the United States of America's system of government.</s><s>Vice presidency (1801–1805).:Duel with Hamilton. When it became clear that Jefferson would drop Burr from his ticket in the 1804 election, the Vice President ran for Governor of New York instead. Burr lost the election to little known Morgan Lewis, in what was the most significant margin of loss in New York's history up to that time. Burr blamed his loss on a personal smear campaign believed to have been orchestrated by his party rivals, including New York governor George Clinton. Alexander Hamilton also opposed Burr, due to his belief that Burr had entertained a Federalist secession movement in New York. In April, the "

Aaron Burr

Albany Register" published a letter from Dr. Charles D. Cooper to Philip Schuyler, which relayed Hamilton's judgment that Burr was "a dangerous man and one who ought not to be trusted with the reins of government," and claiming to know of "a still more despicable opinion which General Hamilton has expressed of Mr. Burr". In June, Burr sent this letter to Hamilton, seeking an affirmation or disavowal of Cooper's characterization of Hamilton's remarks. Hamilton replied that Burr should give specifics of Hamilton's remarks, not Cooper's. He said he could not answer regarding Cooper's interpretation. A few more letters followed, in which the exchange escalated to Burr's demanding that Hamilton recant or deny any statement disparaging Burr's honor over the past 15 years. Hamilton, having already been disgraced by the Maria Reynolds adultery scandal and mindful of his reputation and honor, did not. According to historian Thomas Fleming, Burr would have immediately published such an apology, and Hamilton's remaining power in the New York Federalist party would have been diminished. Burr responded by challenging Hamilton to a duel, personal combat under the formalized rules for dueling, the "code duello". Dueling had been outlawed in New York; the sentence for conviction of dueling was death.

Aaron Burr

It was illegal in New Jersey as well, but the consequences were less severe. On July 11, 1804, the enemies met outside Weehawken, New Jersey, at the same spot where Hamilton's oldest son had died in a duel just three years prior. Both men fired, and Hamilton was mortally wounded by a shot just above the hip. The observers disagreed on who fired first. They did agree that there was a three-to-four-second interval between the first and the second shot, raising difficult questions in evaluating the two camps' versions. Historian William Weir speculated that Hamilton might have been undone by his machinations: secretly setting his pistol's trigger to require only a half-pound of pressure as opposed to the usual 10 pounds. Weir contends, "There is no evidence that Burr even knew that his pistol had a set trigger."{{cite book }} Louisiana State University history professors Nancy Isenberg and Andrew Burstein concur with this. They note that "Hamilton brought the pistols, which had a larger barrel than regular dueling pistols, and a secret hair-trigger, and were therefore much more deadly," and conclude that "Hamilton gave himself an unfair advantage in their duel, and got the worst of it anyway." However, other

Aaron Burr

accounts state that Hamilton reportedly quietly responded "not this time" when his second, Nathaniel Pendleton, asked whether he would set the hair-trigger feature. David O. Stewart, in his biography of Burr, "American Emperor", notes that the reports of Hamilton's intentionally missing Burr with his shot began to be published in newspaper reports in papers friendly to Hamilton only in the days after his death. But Ron Chernow, in his biography, "Alexander Hamilton", states Hamilton told numerous friends well before the duel of his intention to avoid firing at Burr. Additionally, Hamilton wrote several letters, including a "Statement on Impending Duel With Aaron Burr" and his last missives to his wife dated before the duel, which also attest to his intention. The second shot, witnesses reported, followed so soon after the first that witnesses could not agree on who fired first. Before the duel proper, Hamilton took a good deal of time getting used to the feel and weight of the pistol (which had been used in the duel at the same Weehawken site in which his 19-year-old son had been killed), as well as putting on his glasses to see his opponent more clearly. The seconds placed Hamilton so that Burr would have the rising sun behind him, and during the brief

Aaron Burr

duel, one witness reported, Hamilton seemed to be hindered by this placement as the sun was in his eyes. Each man took one shot. Burr's fatally injured Hamilton, while Hamilton's was purposely fired into the air. Burr's bullet entered Hamilton's abdomen above his right hip, piercing Hamilton's liver and spine. Hamilton was evacuated to the Manhattan home of a friend, William Bayard Jr., where he and his family received visitors including Episcopal bishop Benjamin Moore, who gave Hamilton the last rites. Burr was charged with multiple crimes, including murder, in New York and New Jersey, but was never tried in either jurisdiction. He fled to South Carolina, where his daughter lived with her family, but soon returned to Philadelphia and then to Washington to complete his term as vice president. He avoided New York and New Jersey for a time, but all the charges against him were eventually dropped. In the case of New Jersey, the indictment was thrown out on the basis that, although Hamilton was shot in New Jersey, he died in New York.</s><s>Post-vice presidency (1805–1836).</s><s>Post-vice presidency (1805–1836).:Conspiracy and trial. After Burr left the vice presidency at the end of his term in 1805, he

Aaron Burr

journeyed to the Western frontier, areas west of the Allegheny Mountains and down the Ohio River Valley eventually reaching the lands acquired in the Louisiana Purchase. Burr had leased 40,000 acres (16,000 ha) of land — known as the Bastrop Tract — along the Ouachita River, in present-day Louisiana, from the Spanish government. Starting in Pittsburgh and then proceeding to Beaver, Pennsylvania, and Wheeling, Virginia, and onward he drummed up support for his planned settlement, whose purpose and status was unclear. His most important contact was General James Wilkinson, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Army at New Orleans, and Governor of the Louisiana Territory. Others included Harman Blennerhassett, who offered the use of his private island for training and outfitting Burr's expedition. Wilkinson would later prove to be a bad choice. Burr saw war with Spain as a distinct possibility. In case of a war declaration, Andrew Jackson stood ready to help Burr, who would be in a position to join in immediately. Burr's expedition of about eighty men carried modest arms for hunting, and no war "materiel" was ever revealed, even when Blennerhassett Island was seized by Ohio militia. The aim

Aaron Burr

of his "conspiracy," he always avowed, was that if he settled there with a large group of armed "farmers" and war broke out, he would have a force with which to fight and claim land for himself, thus recouping his fortunes. However, the war did not come as Burr expected: the 1819 Adams–Onís Treaty secured Florida for the United States without a fight, and war in Texas did not occur until 1836, the year Burr died. After a near-incident with Spanish forces at Natchitoches, Wilkinson decided he could best serve his conflicting interests by betraying Burr's plans to President Jefferson and his Spanish paymasters. Jefferson issued an order for Burr's arrest, declaring him a traitor before any indictment. Burr read this in a newspaper in the Territory of Orleans on January 10, 1807. Jefferson's warrant put Federal agents on his trail. Burr twice turned himself in to Federal authorities, and both times judges found his actions legal and released him. Jefferson's warrant, however, followed Burr, who fled toward Spanish Florida. He was intercepted at Wakefield, in Mississippi Territory (now in the state of Alabama), on February 19, 1807. He was confined to Fort Stoddert after being arrested

Aaron Burr

on charges of treason. Burr's secret correspondence with Anthony Merry and the Marquis of Casa Yrujo, the British and Spanish ministers at Washington, was eventually revealed. He had tried to secure money and to conceal what may have been his true design, to help Mexico overthrow Spanish power in the Southwest. If Burr intended to found a dynasty in what would have become former Mexican territory this was a misdemeanor, based on the Neutrality Act of 1794, which Congress passed to block filibuster expeditions against U.S. neighbors, such as those of George Rogers Clark and William Blount. Jefferson, however, sought the highest charges against Burr. In 1807, Burr was brought to trial on a charge of treason before the United States Circuit court at Richmond, Virginia. His defense lawyers included Edmund Randolph, John Wickham, Luther Martin, and Benjamin Gaines Botts. Burr had been arraigned four times for treason before a grand jury indicted him. The only physical evidence presented to the Grand Jury was Wilkinson's so-called letter from Burr, which proposed the idea of stealing land in the Louisiana Purchase. During the Jury's examination, the court discovered that the letter was written in Wilkinson's handwriting. He said he had made a copy because he had lost the original.

Aaron Burr

The Grand Jury threw the letter out as evidence, and the news made a laughingstock of the General for the rest of the proceedings. The trial, presided over by Chief Justice John Marshall, began on August 3. requires that treason either be admitted in open court, or proven by an overt act witnessed by two people. Since no two witnesses came forward, Burr was acquitted on September 1, despite the full force of the Jefferson administration's political influence thrown against him. Burr was immediately tried on a misdemeanor charge and was again acquitted. Given that Jefferson was using his influence as president to obtain a conviction, the trial was a major test of the Constitution and the concept of separation of powers. Jefferson challenged the authority of the Supreme Court, specifically Chief Justice Marshall, an Adams appointee who clashed with Jefferson over John Adams' last-minute judicial appointments. Jefferson believed that Burr's treason was obvious. Burr sent a letter to Jefferson in which he stated that he could do Jefferson much harm. The case, as tried, was decided on whether Aaron Burr was present at certain events at certain times and in certain capacities. Thomas Jefferson used all of his influence to get Marshall to convict, but Marshall was not swayed. Historians Nancy Isenberg and Andrew Burstein write that Burr: David O.

Aaron Burr

Stewart, on the other hand, insists that while Burr was not explicitly guilty of treason, according to Marshall's definition, evidence exists that links him to treasonous crimes. For example, Bollman admitted to Jefferson during an interrogation that Burr planned to raise an army and invade Mexico. He said that Burr believed that he should be Mexico's monarch, as a republican government was not right for the Mexican people. Many historians believe the extent of Burr's involvement may never be known.</s><s>Post-vice presidency (1805–1836).:Exile and return. By the conclusion of his trial for treason, despite an acquittal, all of Burr's hopes for a political comeback had been dashed, and he fled America and his creditors for Europe. Dr. David Hosack, Hamilton's physician and a friend to both Hamilton and Burr, lent Burr money for passage on a ship. Burr lived in self-imposed exile from 1808 to 1812, passing most of this period in England, where he occupied a house on Craven Street in London. He became a good friend, even confidant, of the English Utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham, and on occasion lived at Bentham's home. He also spent time in Scotland, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and

Aaron Burr

France. Ever hopeful, he solicited funding for renewing his plans for a conquest of Mexico but was rebuffed. He was ordered out of England and Emperor Napoleon of France refused to receive him. However, one of his ministers held an interview concerning Burr's goals for Spanish Florida or the British possessions in the Caribbean. After returning from Europe, Burr used the surname "Edwards," his mother's maiden name, for a while to avoid creditors. With help from old friends Samuel Swartwout and Matthew L. Davis, Burr returned to New York and his law practice. Later he helped the heirs of the Eden family in a financial lawsuit. By the early 1820s, the remaining members of the Eden household, Eden's widow and two daughters, had become a surrogate family to Burr.</s><s>Post-vice presidency (1805–1836).:Later life and death. Despite financial setbacks, after returning, Burr lived out the remainder of his life in New York in relative peace until 1833. On July 1, 1833, at age 77, Burr married Eliza Jumel, a wealthy widow who was 19 years younger. They lived together briefly at her residence which she had acquired with her first husband, the Morris-Jumel Mansion in

Aaron Burr

the Washington Heights neighborhood in Manhattan. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, it is now preserved and open to the public. Soon after the marriage, Jumel realized her fortune was dwindling due to Burr's land speculation losses, so she separated from him after four months of marriage. She chose Alexander Hamilton Jr. as her divorce lawyer in 1834, the same year Burr suffered an immobilizing stroke. He died on Staten Island in the village of Port Richmond, in a boardinghouse that later became known as the St. James Hotel on September 14, 1836, the same day the divorce was officially completed. He was buried near his father in Princeton, New Jersey.</s><s>Personal life. In addition to his daughter Theodosia, Burr was the father of at least three other children and he adopted two sons. Burr also acted as a parent to his two stepsons by his wife's first marriage and he became a mentor or guardian to several protégés who lived in his home.</s><s>Personal life.:Burr's daughter Theodosia. Theodosia Burr was born in 1783 and was named after her mother. She was the only child of Burr's marriage to Theodosia Bartow Prevost who survived to

Aaron Burr

adulthood. A second daughter, Sally, lived to the age of three. Burr was a devoted and attentive father to Theodosia. Believing that a young woman should have an education equal to that of a young man, Burr prescribed a rigorous course of studies for her which included the classics, French, horsemanship and music. Their surviving correspondence indicates that he affectionately treated his daughter as a close friend and confidante as long as she lived. Theodosia became widely known for her education and accomplishments. In 1801, she married Joseph Alston of South Carolina. They had a son together, Aaron Burr Alston, who died of fever at age ten. During the winter of 1812–1813, Theodosia was lost at sea with the schooner "Patriot" off the Carolinas, either murdered by pirates or shipwrecked in a storm.</s><s>Personal life.:Stepchildren and protégés. Upon Burr's marriage, he became stepfather to the two teenage sons of his wife's first marriage. Augustine James Frederick Prevost (called Frederick) and John Bartow Prevost had both joined their father in the Royal American Regiment in December 1780, at the ages of 16 and 14. When they returned in

Aaron Burr

1783 to become citizens of the United States, Burr acted as a father to them: he assumed responsibility for their education, gave both of them clerkships in his law office, and frequently was accompanied by one of them as an assistant when he traveled on business. John was later appointed by Thomas Jefferson to a post in the Territory of Orleans as the first judge of the Louisiana Supreme Court. Burr served as a guardian to Nathalie de Lage de Volude (1782–1841) from 1794 to 1801, during Theodosia's childhood. The young daughter of a French marquis, Nathalie had been taken to New York for safety during the French Revolution by her governess Caroline de Senat. Burr opened his home to them, allowing Madame Senat to tutor private students there along with his daughter, and Nathalie became a companion and close friend to Theodosia. While traveling to France for an extended visit in 1801, Nathalie met Thomas Sumter Jr., a diplomat and the son of General Thomas Sumter. They married in Paris in March 1802, before returning to his home in South Carolina. From 1810 to 1821, they lived in Rio de Janeiro, where Sumter served as the American

Aaron Burr

ambassador to Portugal during the transfer of the Portuguese Court to Brazil. One of their children, Thomas De Lage Sumter, was a Congressman from South Carolina. In the 1790s, Burr also took the painter John Vanderlyn into his home as a protégé, and provided him with financial support and patronage for 20 years. He arranged Vanderlyn's training by Gilbert Stuart in Philadelphia and sent him in 1796 to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris where he remained for six years.</s><s>Personal life.:Adopted and acknowledged children. Burr adopted two sons, Aaron Columbus Burr and Charles Burdett, during the 1810s and 1820s after the death of his daughter Theodosia. Aaron (born Aaron Burr Columbe) was born in Paris in 1808 and arrived in America around 1815, and Charles was born in 1814. Both of the boys were reputed to be Burr's biological sons. A Burr biographer described Aaron Columbus Burr as "the product of a Paris adventure," conceived presumably during Burr's exile from the United States between 1808 and 1814. In 1835, the year before his death, Burr acknowledged two young daughters whom he had fathered late in his life, by

Aaron Burr

different mothers. Burr made specific provisions for his surviving daughters in a will dated January 11, 1835, in which he left "all the rest and residue" of his estate, after other specific bequests, to six-year-old Frances Ann (born ), and two-year-old Elizabeth (born ).</s><s>Personal life.:Unacknowledged children. In 1787 or earlier, Burr began a relationship with Mary Emmons, also known as Eugenie, who may have been East Indian. She worked as a servant in his household during his first marriage. Emmons may have come from Calcutta to Haiti or Saint-Domingue before coming to America. Burr fathered two children with Emmons, both of whom married into Philadelphia's "Free Negro" community in which their families became prominent: - Louisa Burr (Webb) (Darius) (-1878) worked most of her life as a valued servant in the home of Elizabeth Powel Francis Fisher, a prominent Philadelphia society matron, and later in the home of her son Joshua Francis Fisher. She was married to Francis Webb (1788–1829), a founding member of the Pennsylvania Augustine Education Society, secretary of the Haytien Emigration Society formed in 18

Aaron Burr

24, and distributor of "Freedom's Journal" from 1827 to 1829. After his death, Louisa remarried and became Louisa Darius. Her youngest son Frank J. Webb wrote the 1857 novel "The Garies and Their Friends". - John Pierre Burr (–1864) became a member of Philadelphia's Underground Railroad and served as an agent for the abolitionist newspaper "The Liberator". He worked in the National Black Convention movement and served as chairman of the American Moral Reform Society. One contemporary of John Pierre Burr identified him as a natural son of Burr in a published account, but Burr never acknowledged his relationship or children with Emmons during his life, in contrast to his adoption or acknowledgment of other children born later in his life. In 2018, Louisa and John were acknowledged by the Aaron Burr Association as the children of Burr after Sherri Burr, a descendant of John Pierre, provided both documentary evidence and results of a DNA test to confirm a familial link between descendants of Burr and descendants of John Pierre. The Association installed a headstone at John Pierre's grave to mark his ancestry. Stuart Fisk Johnson, the president of the association, commented, "A few people didn't want to go into it because Aaron's first wife, Theod

Aaron Burr

osia, was still alive, and dying of cancer [when Aaron fathered John Pierre]... But the embarrassment is not as important as it is to acknowledge and embrace actual living, robust, accomplished children."</s><s>Character. Aaron Burr was a man of complex character who made many friends, but also many powerful enemies. He was indicted for murder after the death of Hamilton, but never prosecuted; he was reported by acquaintances to be curiously unmoved by Hamilton's death, expressing no regret for his role in the result. He was arrested and prosecuted for treason by President Jefferson, but acquitted. Contemporaries often remained suspicious of Burr's motives to the end of his life, continuing to view him as untrustworthy at least since his role in the founding of the Bank of Manhattan. In his later years in New York, Burr provided money and education for several children, some of whom were reputed to be his natural children. To his friends and family, and often to strangers, he could be kind and generous. The wife of the struggling poet Sumner Lincoln Fairfield recorded in her autobiography that in the late 1820s, their friend Burr pawned his watch to provide for the care of the Fairfields' two children. Jane Fairfield wrote that, while

Aaron Burr

traveling, she and her husband had left the children in New York with their grandmother, who proved unable to provide adequate food or heat for them. The grandmother took the children to Burr's home and asked his help: "[Burr] wept, and replied, 'Though I am poor and have not a dollar, the children of such a mother shall not suffer while I have a watch.' He hastened on this godlike errand, and quickly returned, having pawned the article for twenty dollars, which he gave to make comfortable my precious babes." By Fairfield's account, Burr had lost his religious faith before that time; upon seeing a painting of Christ's suffering, Burr candidly told her, "It is a fable, my child; there never was such a being." Burr believed women to be intellectually equal to men and hung a portrait of Mary Wollstonecraft over his mantel. The Burrs' daughter, Theodosia, was taught dance, music, several languages, and learned to shoot from horseback. Until her death at sea in 1813, she remained devoted to her father. Not only did Burr advocate education for women, upon his election to the New York State Legislature, he submitted a bill, which failed to

Aaron Burr

pass, that would have allowed women to vote. Hamilton attacked Burr for supporting the idea women were the intellectual equals of men. Conversely, Burr was considered a notorious womanizer. In addition to cultivating relationships with women in his social circles, Burr's journals indicate that he was a frequent patron of prostitutes during his travels in Europe; he recorded brief notes of dozens of such encounters, and the amounts he paid. He described "sexual release as the only remedy for his restlessness and irritability". Burr also fought against anti-immigrant sentiment, led by Hamilton's Federalist party, which suggested that anyone without English heritage was a second-class citizen, and even challenged the rights of non-Anglos to hold office. In response, Burr insisted that anyone who contributed to society deserved all the rights of any other citizen, no matter their background. John Quincy Adams wrote in his diary when Burr died: "Burr's life, take it all together, was such as in any country of sound morals his friends would be desirous of burying in quiet oblivion." Adams' father, President John Adams, had frequently defended Burr during his life. At an earlier time, he wrote, Burr "had served in the army, and came out of it with the character of a knight

Aaron Burr

without fear and an able officer". Gordon S. Wood, a leading scholar of the revolutionary period, holds that it was Burr's character that put him at odds with the rest of the "founding fathers," especially Madison, Jefferson, and Hamilton. He believed that this led to his personal and political defeats and, ultimately, to his place outside the golden circle of revered revolutionary figures. Because of Burr's habit of placing self-interest above the good of the whole, those men thought that Burr represented a serious threat to the ideals for which they had fought the revolution. Their ideal, as particularly embodied in Washington and Jefferson, was that of "disinterested politics," a government led by educated gentlemen. They would fulfill their duties in a spirit of public virtue and without regard to personal interests or pursuits. This was the core of an Enlightenment gentleman, and Burr's political enemies thought that he lacked that essential core. Hamilton thought that Burr's self-serving nature made him unfit to hold office, especially the presidency. Although Hamilton considered Jefferson a political enemy, he also believed him a man of public virtue. Hamilton conducted an unrelenting campaign in the House of Representatives to prevent Burr's election to the presidency and gain election of his erstwhile enemy, Jefferson. Hamilton characterized Burr as exceedingly

Aaron Burr

immoral, an "unprincipled... voluptuary" and deemed his political quest as one for "permanent power." He contended that Burr cared little about the Constitution and predicted that if he gained any more power, his leadership would continue to be for personal gain, while Jefferson was a true patriot and public servant, committed to preserving the Constitution.</s><s>Legacy. Although Burr is often remembered primarily for his duel with Hamilton, his establishment of guides and rules for the first impeachment trial set a high bar for behavior and procedures in the Senate chamber, many of which are followed today. Historian Nancy Isenberg, explaining why Burr has been demonized in modern times, writes that Burr's villainy is actually the result of a smear campaign invented by his political enemies centuries ago, and then disseminated in newspapers, pamphlets and personal letters during and after his lifetime. According to her, pop-cultural portraits of Burr have blindly repeated these distortions, transforming Burr into the quintessential bad guy of early American history. Stuart Fisk Johnson describes Burr as progressive thinker and doer, a brave military patriot and brilliant lawyer who helped establish some of the physical infrastructure and guiding legal principles which helped in the founding of America. A lasting consequence of Burr's role in the election of

Aaron Burr

1800 was the Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which changed how vice presidents were chosen. As was evident from the 1800 election, the situation could quickly arise where the vice president, as the defeated presidential candidate, could not work well with the president. The Twelfth Amendment required that electoral votes be cast separately for president and vice president. Burr is also sometimes seen as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, although this characterization is unusual.</s><s>Legacy.:Representation in literature and popular culture. - Burr appears as a character of worldly sophistication in Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1859 historical romance "The Minister's Wooing". - Edward Everett Hale's 1863 story "The Man Without a Country" is about a fictional co-conspirator of Burr's in the Southwest and Mexico, who is exiled for his crimes. - "My Theodosia" (1945) by Anya Seton is a fictional interpretation of the life of Burr's daughter Theodosia. - In "The Jack Benny Program" episode "The Alexander Hamilton Show", Jack Benny dreams that he is Alexander Hamilton; Dennis Day plays Burr. - Gore Vidal's "Burr: A Novel" (1973) is part of his "Narratives of Empire

Aaron Burr

" series. - A 1993 "Got Milk?" commercial directed by Michael Bay features a historian obsessed with the study of Aaron Burr—he owns the guns and the bullet from the duel (see Aaron Burr (advertisement)). - PBS's "American Experience" episode "The Duel" (2000) chronicled the events that led to the Burr–Hamilton duel. - Burr is a principal character in the 2015 Broadway musical "Hamilton", written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and inspired by historian Ron Chernow's 2004 biography of Hamilton. Leslie Odom Jr. won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Aaron Burr. - Mike Resnick's Alternate Presidents (1992) the short story "The War of '07" by Jayge Carr Burr is elected President in 1800 against Thomas Jefferson, establishes an alliance with Napoleon Bonaparte, and creates a family dictatorship.</s><s>References.</s><s>References.:Citations. - References in popular culture</s><s>References.:Works cited. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Aaron Burr

- - - - - - - - - - - - Wood, Gordon S. "The Real Treason of Aaron Burr." "Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society" 143.2 (1999): 280-295. online - -</s><s>Further reading.</s><s>Further reading.:Biographical. - Alexander, Holmes Moss. "Aaron Burr: The Proud Pretender". 1937; Reprinted by Greenwood-Heinemann Publishing, 1973. - Brands, H. W. "The Heartbreak of Aaron Burr (American Portraits Series)" (2012). - Cohalan, John P., "The Saga of Aaron Burr". (1986) - Künstler, Laurence S. "The Unpredictable Mr. Aaron Burr" (1974). - Todd, Charles Burr. "The True Aaron Burr: A Biographical Sketch" (1902). New York, A.S. Barnes & Company. - Vail, Philip. "The Great American Rascal: The Turbulent Life of Aaron Burr" (1973).</s><s>Further reading.:Scholarly topical studies. - Abernethy, Thomas Perkins. "Aaron Burr in Mississippi." "Journal of Southern History" 1949 15 (1): 9–21. -

Aaron Burr

Adams, Henry, "History of the United States", vol. iii. New York, 1890. (For the traditional view of Burr's conspiracy.) - - Faulkner, Robert K. "John Marshall and the Burr Trial". "Journal of American History" 1966 53(2): 247–258. - Freeman, Joanne B. "Dueling as Politics: Reinterpreting the Burr-Hamilton Duel." "William and Mary Quarterly" 53(2) (1996): 289–318. - Harrison, Lowell. 1978. "The Aaron Burr Conspiracy." American History I Illustrated 13:25. - - Larson, Edward J. "A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America's First Presidential Campaign". New York: Free Press, 2007. - Melton, Buckner F. Jr. "Aaron Burr: Conspiracy to Treason". New York: John Wiley, 2002. online edition - Rogow, Arnold A. "A Fatal Friendship: Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr" (1998). - Rorabaugh, William J. "The Political Duel in the Early Republic: Burr v. Hamilton". "Journal of the Early Republic" 1995 15(1): 1–23. - Wells, Colin.

Aaron Burr

"Aristocracy, Aaron Burr, and the Poetry of Conspiracy". "Early American Literature" (2004). - Wheelan, Joseph. "Jefferson's Vendetta: The Pursuit of Aaron Burr and the Judiciary". New York: Carroll & Graff, 2005.</s><s>Further reading.:Primary sources. - Burr, Aaron. "Political Correspondence and Public Papers of Aaron Burr". Mary-Jo Kline and Joanne W. Ryan, eds. 2 vol. Princeton University Press, 1983. 1311 pp. - - Ford, Worthington Chauncey. "Some Papers of Aaron Burr" "Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society" 29#1: 43–128. 1919 - Robertson, David. "Reports of the Trials of Colonel Aaron Burr (Late Vice President of the United States) for Treason and for Misdemeanor ... Two Volumes" (1808) online - Van Ness, William Peter. "An Examination of the Various Charges Exhibited Against Aaron Burr, vice-president of the United States: and a Development of the Characters and Views of His Political Opponents". (1803) Available through Haithi Trust -</s>


Prompt: Question: Tell me a bio of Rory Burns.

Rory Burns

<s>Rory Burns Rory Joseph Burns (born 26 August 1990) is an English cricketer who has played internationally for the England Test cricket team. In domestic cricket, he captains Surrey in first-class and List A cricket. Burns made his Test debut in 2018. He led Surrey to the 2018 and 2022 County Championship titles. He plays as a left-handed opening batsman.</s><s>Early life. Burns was born in Epsom, Surrey and educated at City of London Freemen's School in Ashtead, Surrey, Whitgift School and Cardiff Metropolitan University (UWIC). Whilst at Whitgift school, Rory Burns played with fellow England international Jason Roy, who is the same age.</s><s>Domestic career. Having played Second XI cricket for both Surrey and Hampshire, Burns made his first-class debut for Surrey against Cambridge MCCU in May 2011. He made scores of 23 and 16, and keeping wicket ahead of regular keepers Steven Davies and Gary Wilson he took two catches. This was his only first team appearance for Surrey in the 2011 season. In the 2012 season, he scored a century against Leeds Bradford MCCU and filled in as wicket-keeper in one game before being called upon to open the batting in early July

Rory Burns

against Lancashire. He remained on the team for the rest of the season finishing with 741 runs at an average of 49.4. He continued to open the batting in 2013 and 2014, playing all Surrey's first-class games in both seasons. He scored 1000 runs in a season for the first time in 2014. In June 2015, whilst playing for Surrey in a NatWest t20 Blast game against Sussex Sharks at Arundel Castle, Burns collided with teammate Moisés Henriques while attempting to take a catch. Both players were knocked unconscious from the collision with Burns requiring stitches to facial injuries and Henriques suffering a broken jaw. Ambulances and medical staff treated the players on-field before taking them both to hospital. The game was abandoned due to the injuries. Burns returned to the team in late-June and finished the season with 1019 First-Class runs at an average of 48.52. He also played in 7 of Surrey's 10 games in the Royal London Cup, including all the knock-out games, scoring 364 runs. His good form in the previous season saw him selected to represent the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) against the champions Yorkshire in the traditional curtain-raiser to the 2016 English cricket season. In

Rory Burns

July 2017, he made his highest score of 219 not out versus Hampshire whilst deputising as captain in place of the injured Gareth Batty; the first time he had captained Surrey in a first class match. Before the 2018 season, Burns was appointed club captain for first-class and List A formats, with Batty stepping down. In the 2018 season, Burns led Surrey to their first County Championship title since 2002. In the process, he scored over 1000 runs for the fifth consecutive season, finishing the season overall as Division One's top run-scorer, with 1359 runs at an average of 64.71. Burns' Surrey availability was limited in 2019, 2020 and 2021 by his England duties. In the 2019 County Championship, Burns scored 603 runs in 8 matches at an average of 37.68. Burns only played one match in Surrey's 2020 Bob Willis Trophy campaign, hitting 103 and 52 against Sussex. Playing 9 matches in the 2021 County Championship, Burns scored 617 runs at an average of 47.46. In April 2022, he was bought by the Oval Invincibles for the 2022 season of The Hundred.</s><s>International career. In September 2018, Burns was named in England's Test squad for their tour of Sri Lanka, replacing the retiring

Rory Burns

Alastair Cook. He made his Test debut on 6 November 2018, and played all three matches in the series, making 155 runs at an average of 25.83. This was enough for Burns to hold his place into England's tour of the West Indies, where he averaged 24.16, and fell short of a maiden Test century with 84 in the first Test. After a disappointing first home Test, scoring just 12 runs against Ireland, Burns was selected as England's opener for the Ashes alongside Surrey teammate Jason Roy. Burns made his maiden Test century in the first Test at Edgbaston, scoring 133 in "an urgent, scrappy, dogged" innings after a period of poor form. Burns success continued throughout the Ashes - he was the series' third highest scorer, making 390 runs in 10 innings, supplementing his century with scores of 53 and 81. Burns' good form continued into the 2019-20 winter, as he scored 184 runs in just 3 innings against New Zealand, including his second Test century at Hamilton. However, after scoring 84 in England's first Test against South Africa, Burns was ruled out the last 3 Tests after rolling his ankle playing a game of football. The injury would have also ruled him out of England's upcoming tour of Sri Lanka,

Rory Burns

but the series was later cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Burns came back into the side for the behind closed doors Test series against West Indies and Pakistan in 2020. Against the West Indies, Burns scored 234 runs - England's second most - at 46.80, including two half-centuries in the third Test. However, this success was followed by a series of failures against Pakistan, Burns scoring just 20 runs in his 4 innings. After missing England's 2021 tour of Sri Lanka for the birth of his child, Burns rejoined the team for their tour of India. After scoring just 58 runs in the first two Tests (including 2 ducks), Burns was dropped for the final two Tests. Burns was immediately brought back into the team for England's 2021 home series against New Zealand, and found form straight away. Named England's player of the series, Burns scored 238 runs at 59.50, including 132 in the first Test and 81 in the second. In the following four home Tests against India, Burns made two half-centuries and two ducks, averaging just 26.14. Opening for England in the 2021–22 Ashes, Burns had a disastrous start, being bowled for a golden duck with the opening ball of the first day. This made

Rory Burns

Burns the first man since Stan Worthington in 1936 to be dismissed with the first ball of an Ashes series. Burns played in three Tests over the full series scoring 77 runs at an average of 12.83. He was not included for England's subsequent Test tour of the West Indies.</s><s>Personal life. Burns missed England's 2021 tour of Sri Lanka for the birth of his daughter. Burns is very close to his school, Surrey and England teammate Jason Roy, both of them serving as each other's best man at their weddings.</s>


Prompt: Question: Tell me a bio of Feroze Gandhi.

Feroze Gandhi

<s>Feroze Gandhi Feroze Gandhi (born Feroze Jehangir Ghandy; 12 September 1912 – 8 September 1960) was an Indian freedom fighter, politician and journalist. Gandhi published the newspapers "The National Herald" and "The Navjivan". He served as a member of the provincial parliament between 1950 and 1952, and later a member of the Lok Sabha, the Lower House of India's parliament. Gandhi's wife, Indira Nehru (daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India), and their elder son Rajiv were both prime ministers of India.</s><s>Early life. Feroze Jehangir Ghandy was born on 12 September 1912 to a Parsi family at the Tehmulji Nariman Hospital in the Fort district of Bombay; his parents, Jehangir Faredoon Ghandy and Ratimai (née Commissariat), lived in Nauroji Natakwala Bhawan in Khetwadi Mohalla in Bombay. His father Jahangir was a marine engineer working for Killick Nixon and was later promoted as a warrant engineer. Feroze was the youngest of the five children with two brothers Dorab and Faridun Jehangir,

Feroze Gandhi

and two sisters, Tehmina Kershashp and Aloo Dastur. The family had migrated to Bombay from Bharuch (now in South Gujarat) where their ancestral home, which belonged to his grandfather, still exists in Kotpariwad. In the early 1920s, after the death of his father, Feroze and his mother moved to Allahabad to live with his unmarried maternal aunt, Shirin Commissariat, a surgeon at the city's Lady Dufferin Hospital. He attended the Vidya Mandir High School and then graduated from the British-staffed Ewing Christian College.</s><s>Family and career. In 1930, the wing of Congress Freedom fighters, the "Vanar Sena" was formed. Feroze met Kamala Nehru and Indira among the women demonstrators picketing outside Ewing Christian College. Kamala fainted with the heat of the sun and Feroze went to comfort her. The next day, he abandoned his studies to join the Indian independence movement. Being inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, Feroze changed the spelling of his surname from "Ghandy" to "Gandhi" after joining the Independence movement. He was imprisoned in 1930, along with Lal Bahadur Shast

Feroze Gandhi

ri (the 2nd Prime Minister of India), head of Allahabad District Congress Committee, and lodged in Faizabad Jail for nineteen months. Soon after his release, he was involved with the agrarian no-rent campaign in the United Province (now Uttar Pradesh) and was imprisoned twice, in 1932 and 1933, while working closely with Nehru. Feroze first proposed to Indira in 1933, but she and her mother rejected it, putting forward that she was too young, only 16. He grew close to the Nehru family, especially to Indira's mother Kamala Nehru, accompanying her to the TB sanatorium at Bhowali in 1934, helping arrange her trip to Europe when her condition worsened in April 1935, and visiting her at the sanitarium at Badenweiler and finally at Lausanne, where he was at her bedside when she died on 28 February 1936. In the following years, Indira and Feroze grew closer to each other while in England. They married in March 1942 according to Hindu rituals. Indira's father Jawaharlal Nehru opposed her marriage and approached Mahatma Gandhi to dissuade the young couple, but to no avail. The couple were arrested and jailed in August 1942,

Feroze Gandhi

during the Quit India Movement less than six months after their marriage. He was imprisoned for a year in Allahabad's Naini Central Prison. The following five years were of comfortable domestic life and the couple had two sons, Rajiv and Sanjay, born in 1944 and 1946, respectively. After independence, Jawaharlal became the first Prime Minister of India. Feroze and Indira settled in Allahabad with their two young children, and Feroze became Managing Director of "The National Herald", a newspaper founded by his father-in-law, Jawaharlal Nehru. After being a member of the provincial parliament (1950–1952), Feroze won independent India's first general elections in 1952, from Rae Bareli constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Indira came down from Delhi and worked as his campaign organizer. Feroze soon became a prominent force in his own right, criticizing the government of his father-in-law and beginning a fight against corruption. In the years after independence, many Indian business houses had become close to the political leaders, and some of them started various financial irregularities. In a case exposed by Feroze in December 1955, he revealed how Ram Kishan Dalmia, as chairman of a bank and an

Feroze Gandhi

insurance company, used these companies to fund his takeover of Bennett and Coleman and started transferring money illegally from publicly held companies for personal benefit. In 1957, he was re-elected from Rae Bareli. In the parliament in 1958, he raised the Haridas Mundhra scandal involving the government controlled LIC insurance company. This was a huge embarrassment to the clean image of Nehru's government and eventually led to the resignation of the Finance Minister T.T. Krishnamachari. His rift with Indira had also become public knowledge by then, and added to the media interest in the matter. Feroze also initiated a number of nationalization drives, starting with the Life Insurance Corporation. At one point he also suggested that TATA Engineering and Locomotive Company (TELCO) be nationalized since they were charging nearly double the price of a Japanese railway engine. This raised a stir in the Parsi community since the Tatas were also Parsi. He continued challenging the government on a number of other issues, and emerged as a parliamentarian well-respected on both sides of the bench.</s><s>Death and legacy. Feroze suffered a heart attack in 1958. Indira, who stayed with her father at Teen Murti House, the official residence of the

Feroze Gandhi

prime minister, was at that time away on a state visit to Bhutan. She returned to look after him in Kashmir. Feroze died in 1960 at the Willingdon Hospital, Delhi, after suffering a second heart attack. He was cremated and his ashes interred at the Parsi cemetery in Allahabad. His Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency seat was held by his daughter-in-law, and wife of Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi in 2004, 2009, 2014 and 2019. A school of higher education that he helped found was named after him in Rae Bareli. Feroze Gandhi College; http://fgc.edu.in NTPC Limited renamed their Unchahar Thermal Power Station in Uttar Pradesh to Feroze Gandhi Unchahar Thermal Power Plant.</s><s>References.</s><s>References.:Sources. - -</s>