Wheelan, Joseph

PERSONAL: Male.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Carroll & Graf, 245 W. 17th St., 11th Fl., New York, NY 10011.

CAREER: Editor and journalist. Worked for Associated Press and Casper Star-Tribune, Casper, WY, for twenty-six years.

WRITINGS:

Jefferson's War: America's First War on Terror, 1801–1805, Carroll & Graf (New York, NY), 2003.

Jefferson's Vendetta: The Pursuit of Aaron Burr and the Judiciary, Carroll & Graf (New York, NY), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: Journalist Joseph Wheelan is the author of books on the politics and life of Thomas Jefferson. In Jefferson's War: America's First War on Terror, 1801–1805, Wheelan recounts the U.S. war with the Barbary Coast state of Tripoli. Tripoli corsairs were among pirates from a number of Barbary Coast states that had attacked U.S. and European ships for many years and then offered them back for a ransom, which was usually paid. Jefferson had long opposed the capitulation and was in favor of attacking the country with the U.S. Navy, an opportunity taken when Tripoli declared war on the United States in 1801. In his book, Wheelan not only recounts the events of the day but also correlates the war with America's twenty-first-century effort against terrorism. T.J. Schaeper, writing in Library Journal, noted that the author "has done a thorough reading of all published primary and secondary works and has written a clear, suspenseful account of a complex topic." A Kirkus Reviews contributor felt it was "a stretch" to equate the early nineteenth century war with the modern battle against terrorism but called the book "the stuff of good historical fiction—and a treat for military buffs."

In Jefferson's Vendetta: The Pursuit of Aaron Burr and the Judiciary Wheelan turns his attention to the 1807 treason trial of Aaron Burr and the role the author believes Jefferson played in the downfall of this former Revolutionary War hero, a man who served as U.S. vice president during Jefferson's first term in office. Wheelan blames much of Burr's problems on a Jefferson he portrays as a venal man out to destroy someone whom he considered his arch enemy and who had, in fact, potentially betrayed his country by offering to lead a revolt of some states against the American government. Wheelan recounts the trial in detail and how it was presided over by another enemy of Jefferson, Chief Justice John Marshall, who eventually acquitted Burr of the charges. Calling the book "entertaining and well researched," a Kirkus Reviews contributor included the book among several historical accounts that "have begun to separate Jefferson the immortal founding father from Jefferson the man, fiercely ambitious, convinced of his righteousness, and unforgiving of anyone he considered a threat." Gilbert Taylor, writing in Booklist, called the book "a lively popular account of the Burr affair," while a Publishers Weekly contributor commented that the author "offers an elegantly written and smartly conceived revisionist history that is sure to engage and entertain."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, January 1, 2005, Gilbert Taylor, review of Jefferson's Vendetta: The Pursuit of Aaron Burr and the Judiciary, p. 810.

Kirkus Reviews, July 1, 2003, review of Jefferson's War: America's First War on Terror, 1801–1805, p. 903; December 15, 2004, review of Jefferson's Vendetta, p. 1196.

Legal Times, March 7, 2005, Joshua Spivak, review of Jefferson's Vendetta.

Library Journal, September 15, 2003, T.J. Schaeper, review of review of Jefferson's War, p. 72; February 1, 2005, Ted Pollack, review of Jefferson's Vendetta, p. 101.

Publishers Weekly, January 10, 2005, review of Jefferson's Vendetta, p. 47.