Alexander Hamilton by
Ron Chernow
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
This was a great biography. Despite being 800 pages, Hamilton's life was so interesting, there was always something to keep the reader entertained. Chernow also sums up and explains Hamilton's contributions to the founding of America, such as defending the Constitution, establishing a national bank, creating a Coast Guard, etc. Since history is not my strong suit, I enjoyed putting all these elements in context and perspective. My only complaint is Chernow's point of view: he seems to have written Alexander Hamilton as a defense for Hamilton, as if we were already prejudiced against him and favored Jefferson and Madison. As a result, Jefferson and Madison come off as hypocritical cads and Hamilton as a brilliant, misunderstood prophet. Aaron Burr is painted as a true villain, complete with loose morals and sinister intents. This may all be true, but the adamancy with which Chernow writes, defending Hamilton's poor choices and focusing on his good qualities, while highlighting others' bad judgements and deceptions makes me question if I should read one of his nemesis' biographies to get their side of the story. Still, an incredible, gifted genus, Hamilton is definitely an inspiration.
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“Tis only to consult our own hearts to be convinced that nations like individuals revolt at the idea of being guided by external compulsion.”
It seemed an inauspicious moment for the threatened colonies to declare independence, and yet that is exactly what they did. Faced with the military strength of the most colossal empire since ancient Rome, they decided to fight back.
I give up my liberty to Miss Schuyler
bond formed between Hamilton and Washington during the Revolution was based less on personal intimacy than on shared experiences of danger and despair and common hopes for America’s future.
America could defeat the British in the bond market more readily than on the battlefield
A national debt, if it is not excessive, will be to us a national blessing. It will be powerful cement of our union.”
“As too much power leads to despotism, too little leads to anarchy, and both eventually to the ruin of the people.”
He was not a politician seeking popularity but a statesman determined to change minds.
One who knew his habits of study said of him that when he had a serious object to accomplish, his practice was to reflect on it previously. And when he had gone through this labor, he retired to sleep, without regard to the hour of the night, and, having slept six or seven hours, he rose and having taken strong coffee, seated himself at his table, where he would remain six, seven, or eight hours. And the product of his rapid pen required little correction for the press
He wanted to be a statesman who led courageously, not a politician who made compromises.
the human word machine,
no character, however upright, is a match for constantly reiterated attacks, however false.”
Washington had had enough. “If the laws are to be trampled upon with impunity,” he said, “and a minority is to dictate to the majority, there is an end put at one stroke to republican government.”
if he fornicates with every female in the cities of New York and Philadelphia, he will rise again, for purity of character after a period of political existence is not necessary for public patronage.”
1800 elections revealed, for the first time, the powerful centrist pull of American politics—the electorate’s tendency to rein in anything perceived as extreme.
Fisher Ames observed of Hamilton that the common people don’t want leaders “whom they see elevated by nature and education so far above their heads.”
The UnAmericans: Stories by Molly Antopol
