Richard Burr. (Getty)
Senator Richard Burr is the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee who is questioning James Comey on Capitol Hill today. Of course, anyone who hears the last name “Burr” in connection with politics immediately thinks of Aaron Burr, the former vice president. So is there any relation?
Yes, Richard Burr is a distant relative of Aaron Burr. Richard is a descendant of one of Aaron Burr’s brothers.
”Yes, we’re related,” Richard Burr said in 2004, according to National Review. “But there are no direct descendants of Aaron Burr left. My ancestor is one of his brothers.”
When asked if he is proud of the fact that he is related to Aaron Burr, Richard said that he is.
“Yes, I am, though history has proved to shine a different light on him, because of the treasonous acts,” Richard Burr told National Review.
Aaron Burr was the third vice president of the United States, who shot and killed political rival Alexander Hamilton in a duel. Charges against Burr were dropped, but this duel was the end of Aaron Burr’s political career.
The third vice president is a major part of the musical Hamilton, with the play ultimately lamenting the fact that Burr’s duel with Hamilton is the only thing he is remembered for. The role of Aaron Burr was originally portrayed by Leslie Odom, Jr., who won a Tony for his performance.
Richard Burr has served in Congress since the 1990s. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1995, and in 2005, he was elected to the U.S. Senate representing North Carolina. He represents North Carolina in the Senate alongside Thom Tillis. Since 2015, he has been the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, one of several Congressional committees currently examining potential links between the Donald Trump campaign and the Russian government.