| An amazing book that I know I will read again someday! |
I absolutely loved this book. The research and detail was amazing, and I found it to be well balanced. It's not a short book by any means and is in no way a "quick read." It took me a few weeks to finish. The biggest obstacle for me was the language used in the 18th century that is no longer used today. I am an avid reader and a college graduate, but I found many words I had not seen before (such as "hegemony" and "shibboleth"). I ended up buying a small Merriam-Webster Dictionary that I kept handy while reading this book.
I have a much greater respect and understanding of Hamilton than I did before, despite his many flaws. Also, I am much more disappointed and not overly fond of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson after reading this biography. After I read "American Sphinx" by Joseph Ellis, I wasn't that enamored of Jefferson. Now I understand why in more detail.
You'll be amazed at Hamilton's abilities and accomplishments after reading this book. |
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| The Single Most Important Founding Father |
And he wasn't even born here. This is the amazing story of an incredible intellect. Arriving on the shores of this country, and immediately putting his past behind him, this wunderkind went on to do some truly remarkable things. Here are the main things that truly amazed me about Hamilton:
Our constitution was not a done deal.
The Republicans, led by Jefferson preferred that powers be vested in states: foreign policy, currency and they viewed states' economies as agrarian based.
The Federalists, led by Hamilton believed in a strong central government which subordinated states. They believed in a manufacturing base to the economy. The federal government would determine foreign policy; create a single currency etc. to wit, the Constitution. In order to explain this document to the lay person, Hamilton, Madison and Jay undertook the writing of the Federalist Papers, probably 75% of which were written by Hamilton. The Federalist Papers were published in the newspapers of the day. They worked and the Constitution was ratified. If he had stopped there, Hamilton's contributions to the cause would have been some of the greatest, and I haven't even mentioned his valiant performance at George Washington's right hand during the Revolutionary War.
Hamilton read and studied voraciously and learned everything he could on the subjects of economics and international finance and with great foresight set about to create the American banking system and was appointed as first treasury secretary. This man, almost single-handedly, bequeathed to us the greatest financial/capitalist system the world has ever known.
These two things: defending the Constitution through the Federalist Papers, and the creation of this new financial system seem to me to be so vastly different, require such different skills, that it doesn't seem possible, and yet they come from the mind of one man. That was what blew me away.
We would not be the country we are today, if not for Hamilton.
In his telling of this tale, Chernow paints the revered Jefferson in a less than flattering light. Fearing direct confrontation Jefferson almost always acted through a proxy, most often Madison. He allowed Madison to do all his dirty work, and for years the two heaped bitter and vile criticism upon Hamilton, yet Hamilton never missed a beat. Hamilton won, and they lost, and we are all better off for it.
I won't say anymore except to say that this is one of the best, most complete books on the subject of our nation's founding, that I have read and I highly recommend it. Happy reading.
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5 Rating
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