I finally finished Chernow's biography of Alexander Hamilton, and I heartily recommend it -- even though it took me over two months to complete. I hadn't known much about Hamilton, other than his writing of Federalist essays. I now believe he was likely the most outstanding of the founding fathers. He effectively served as Washington's chief-of-staff during the Revolutionary War. He was a prolific writer. In addition to writing the majority of the Federalist essays arguing for the adoption of the Constitution by New York, he wrote numerous essays urging the adoption of the Jay Treaty with Britain, and addressing numerous other political topics of the time. He comes across as the most brilliant of the founders, carefully creating a national bank and national economic system while Secretary of the Treasury that set the country on its way to economic prosperity. His counsel was sought by Washington on many topics throughout his presidency.
Hamilton also appears to be the founder with the highest level of integrity. He never used his positions of power for personal advantage. Despite the many personal attacks leveled against him by other political figures -- Adams, Jefferson, Burr, Monroe, Madison, just to name a few -- he rarely resorted to personal attacks in response. He wasn't perfect. He was too defensive of his reputation and honor, which ultimately contributed to his demise. He was perhaps too forthright in his positions on issues that were controversial. In contrast to Jefferson and other Republicans at the time, he addressed his concerns directly and forcefully, making elaborate and lengthy arguments for his positions. In contrast, his opponents more often resorted to political maneuverings and ad hominem attacks. He had an affair with a woman who appeared on his doorstep asking for help. It wasn't clear whether she honestly fell for him or whether she and her husband were con artists from the outset. Nevertheless, when confronted with accusations by Monroe and other Republicans that he was in cahoots with her husband to make money from inside information, he readily provided all the gory details of the affair to establish that his payments to her husband had been the result of blackmail, not to benefit himself. Monroe later breached his promise to maintain confidentiality, releasing Hamilton's explanation to a his political opponents and the press. The publicity led Hamilton to publish a lengthy account of the affair in order to defend his integrity.
While many of the other founders seemed to have their moments of glory, followed by times of hypocrisy and vindictiveness, Hamilton was solid from beginning to end. Jefferson, after his election, asked his Treasury Secretary to browse through the archives and uncover "the blunders and frauds of Hamilton." Gallatin reported back: "I have found the most perfect system ever formed. Any change that should be made in it would injure it. Hamilton made no blunders, committed no frauds. He did nothing wrong." "I think Jefferson was disappointed," he said.
The book also reconfirms that some things never change. The political maneuverings of many of his opponents were little different from what we see today. It is both disappointing and reassuring: Disappointing that the founders whom we revere could be manipulative or cruel. On the other hand, it's nice to see that the problems of today aren't really worse than ever before!
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