behind Jefferson, supporting the arrangement reached by James A. Bayard of Delaware, in which five Federalist representatives from Maryland and Vermont abstained from voting, allowing those states' delegations to go for Jefferson, ending the impasse and electing Jefferson president rather than Burr. Even though Hamilton did not like Jefferson and disagreed with him on many issues, he viewed Jefferson as the lesser of two evils. Hamilton spoke of Jefferson as being "by far not so a dangerous man" and of Burr as a "mischievous enemy" to the principal measure of the past administration. It was for that reason, along with the fact that Burr was a northerner and not a Virginian, that many Federalist representatives voted for him. Hamilton wrote many letters to friends in Congress to convince the members to see otherwise. The Federalists rejected Hamilton's diatribe as reasons to not vote for Burr, although historian Cokie Roberts claimed that Hamilton's campaign against Burr was a major reason Burr failed to win in the end. Nevertheless, Burr would become vice president after losing to Jefferson. When it became clear that Jefferson had developed his own concerns about Burr and would not support his return to the vice presidency, Burr sought the New York governorship in 1804 with Federalist support, against the Jeffersonian Morgan Lewis, but was defeated by forces including Hamilton. Duel with Burr and death Soon after Lewis' gubernatorial victory, the Albany Register published Charles D. Cooper's letters, citing Hamilton's opposition to Burr and alleging that Hamilton had expressed "a still more despicable opinion" of the vice president at an upstate New York dinner party. Cooper claimed that the letter was intercepted after relaying the information, but stated he was "unusually cautious" in recollecting the information from the dinner. Burr, sensing an attack on his honor, and recovering from his defeat, demanded an apology in the form of a letter. Hamilton wrote a letter in response and ultimately refused because he could not recall the instance of insulting Burr. Hamilton would also have been accused of recanting Cooper's letter out of cowardice. After a series of attempts to reconcile were to no avail, a duel was arranged through liaisons on June 27, 1804. The concept of honor was fundamental to Hamilton's vision of himself and of the nation. Historians have noted, as evidence of the importance that honor held in Hamilton's value system, that Hamilton had previously been