In 1807 Chief Justice John Marshall presided over one of the greatest court cases in American history. The Aaron Burr treason trial captivated a young America, a nation that bore little resemblance to the country we know today. After one term as Jefferson’s Vice President, and after his lethal duel with Hamilton, Burr chose not to go softly into that good night of history. He saw his chance in the expanses of the continent, there he might make himself a king. Aaron Burr set in motion a plot that some say was to do just that- he almost pulled it off. Thomas Jefferson caught him, and had Burr tried for treason, knows as “the king of crimes”. Jefferson demanded that Burr hang, but the President ran into an obstacle- the law. In this case, the law was in the hands of the greatest judge this nation has seen, Chief Justice of the United States, and Jefferson’s cousin, John Marshall. The King of Crimes is about this early America, Burr’s plot, and the famous trial that followed.