Three Lives: Burr, Lafayette, and Morris

Book excerpt: Here, from the legendary author John Dos Passos and American Heritage, are portraits of three men critical to the early history of the United States: Aaron Burr, whose political skills carried him to the threshold of the White House but was ultimately indicted for treason; Lafayette, a hero of the American Revolution who could not apply his ideals to a France sliding into terror; and Robert Morris, whose skills as a financier aided the new nation but led to his own ruin.