Posted by
Bert Chapman on Monday, September 03, 2007 3:06:27 PM
It's good to read about the lives and careers of America's founders. There are numerous instructive biographies of the lives and times of America's early leaders. These biographies are of varying qualities with some providing sound analysis of individuals and the times they live in while others bring all the liberal imbecilities of early 21st century America such as analyzing whether these individuals were homosexual or were emerging feminists or adherents of a supposedly racist, patriarchal, or misognyist society.
Many conservatives are familiar with biographies of Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Madison, and other founding fathers. Another founding father they should become familiar with is Alexander Hamilton. This summer, I had the distinct pleasure of reading Ron Chernow's magisterial biography of Hamilton. This framer embodied what would become known as the American dream. Born in the Caribbean of a unstable family, Hamilton emigrated to the U.S. colonies and served with distinction in the American Revolution becoming an aide to George Washington. His influence continued to rise as he wrote many of the works in the Federalist Papers which were crucial to ratifying the U.S. constitution. He became the first Secretary of the Treasury doing much to establish the free market economic conditions that were essential to the U.S.' rise to global economic dominance. Hamilton also is largely responsible for creating the U.S. government's statistical system documenting U.S. government revenues and expenditures and wrote many papers on the economic performance of the U.S. during his tenure as Secretary of State which remain instructive reading two centuries later. Hamilton also made significant contributions in establishing the U.S. Customs Service which was the collector of U.S. government revenues in the decades before the IRS was established.
Hamilton would experience the slings of political misfortune after Washington's presidency ended. He had significant character flaws such as an impulsive temper and aggraved "sense of honor" which would ultimately result in his being killed in an 1804 duel with Aaron Burr. Hamilton also entered an idiotic and immoral affair with Maria Reynolds which saw him get blackmailed by Reynold's husband.
The distinguished historian Forrest McDonald has also written a valuable biography of Hamilton during the 1970s which Townhall contributors would find useful. Chernow's biography, however, is more expansive, and likely to be more readily available in libraries and print or online bookstores. Hamilton, alas, lacks a memorial in Washington though you can visit the Hamilton-Grange site run by the National Park Service in New York City.
I encourage you to take the opportunity to read Chernow's adroit analysis of Hamilton's life and career, in all its victories and defeats, when you get the chance.