1 00:00:00,680 --> 00:00:04,560 Speaker 1: On this episode of Newsworld, as part of Founding Father's Week, 2 00:00:04,880 --> 00:00:07,480 Speaker 1: I'm talking about the lives and legacies of our original 3 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:19,200 Speaker 1: founders and the impact they've had in our country on 4 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:23,880 Speaker 1: this episode of Newtsworld, Alexander Hamilton's life is one of 5 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:27,680 Speaker 1: the more extraordinary stories of a founding father's rise to greatness. 6 00:00:28,240 --> 00:00:31,400 Speaker 1: He's truly an immortal. He was born in the Caribbean 7 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:34,120 Speaker 1: on the island of Neivas in the British Wess Indies 8 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 1: in January seventeen fifty five or seventeen fifty seven to 9 00:00:39,200 --> 00:00:42,720 Speaker 1: parents who were unmarried at the time, and then he 10 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 1: was orphaned. The idea that an orphaned child would grow 11 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:49,839 Speaker 1: up to become one of the most influential leaders in 12 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:52,360 Speaker 1: the founding of the United States of America is stunning, 13 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:56,319 Speaker 1: and he really personifies the American dream before we had 14 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:00,080 Speaker 1: defined what that meant. Hamilton was a lawyer by training, 15 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 1: but also got very involved in financial markets, founded the 16 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:06,560 Speaker 1: Bank of New York and later would serve as the 17 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:11,400 Speaker 1: first Secretary of the Treasury under President George Washington. More importantly, 18 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 1: it's what he did behind the scenes to establish the 19 00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:17,920 Speaker 1: United States that's significant. He served in the Revolutionary war, 20 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:21,040 Speaker 1: both in the field as an artillery officer and as 21 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:24,640 Speaker 1: a senior aide to General George Washington. After the war, 22 00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:27,480 Speaker 1: he was elected as a representative from New York to 23 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:31,200 Speaker 1: the Congress of the Confederation. He led the Annapolis Convention 24 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:35,160 Speaker 1: of seventeen eighty six and wrote fifty one of the 25 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:39,320 Speaker 1: eighty five Federalist papers. Most of us these days No 26 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:45,119 Speaker 1: Hamilton from the Broadway musical bylin Manuel Miranda, which debuted 27 00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 1: in two fifteen. Miranda was inspired by the two thousand 28 00:01:49,800 --> 00:01:53,920 Speaker 1: and four Ron Chernall biography of Hamilton. The musical has 29 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:58,080 Speaker 1: introduced a new generation to Alexander Hamilton's life and legacy 30 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:10,120 Speaker 1: and made it an entertain anyone. Hamilton, in a sense 31 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:13,600 Speaker 1: has had a new burst of fame. But he's somebody 32 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 1: who really never should have disappeared. First of all, he 33 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:24,560 Speaker 1: was extraordinarily bright. Hamilton may have been, in sheer iq, 34 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:29,919 Speaker 1: the smartest of all the founding fathers. He was just 35 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 1: deeply admired by Washington. He was invaluable to Washington as 36 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:38,799 Speaker 1: a staff officer. He was endlessly competent. And I think 37 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:41,959 Speaker 1: that's a key part of this is that Hamilton was 38 00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:44,960 Speaker 1: a person who was very ambitious, but he was also 39 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,360 Speaker 1: a person who worked very hard and who applied his 40 00:02:48,520 --> 00:02:53,800 Speaker 1: considerable intelligence to whatever job he had. Now, he actually 41 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:57,519 Speaker 1: had not gotten to the US very much before the 42 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:02,080 Speaker 1: Revolution began. He was born think either in seventeen fifty 43 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:05,720 Speaker 1: five or seventeen fifty seven on Neivas. His father was 44 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: a Scottish trader named James Hamilton. His mother Rachel Fossett Levine. 45 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:14,200 Speaker 1: They were not married at the time. Rachel, in fact, 46 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:17,000 Speaker 1: was married to another man at the time of Hamilton's birth, 47 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:19,720 Speaker 1: but had left her husband after he spent much of 48 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:22,200 Speaker 1: her family fortune and he had had her in prison 49 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:25,720 Speaker 1: for adultery. Now you may be curious why James Hamilton 50 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:29,359 Speaker 1: settled in Navas. The British gained control of the island 51 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:33,240 Speaker 1: in seventeen thirteen, and Nevas and Saying Kitts soon were 52 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:36,880 Speaker 1: the leading areas of sugar production in the Caribbean. The 53 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:40,440 Speaker 1: colonists and others wanted sugar to sweeten their tea and coffe. 54 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 1: It's hard for us to remember, but these islands were 55 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:47,200 Speaker 1: considered so amazingly valuable that at one point in negotiations, 56 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:51,480 Speaker 1: the British kept some islands in the Caribbean as being 57 00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 1: of greater value than all of Canada. Unfortunately, the islands 58 00:03:55,480 --> 00:03:58,160 Speaker 1: also had malaria, so a number of people died over 59 00:03:58,200 --> 00:04:01,600 Speaker 1: the two hundred years which they were producing sugar there. 60 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 1: Hamilton's father abandoned his family in seventeen sixty six. His 61 00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: mother died of yellow fever two years later in February 62 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:11,920 Speaker 1: seventeen sixty eight, so he was orphaned, probably at either 63 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:15,680 Speaker 1: eleven or thirteen, depending on which year of birth was accurate. 64 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:19,440 Speaker 1: Hamilton and his older brother, James Junior moved in with 65 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:22,120 Speaker 1: a cousin who eventually died, and then an uncle who 66 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:25,200 Speaker 1: also died. I said this is an area that had 67 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:30,599 Speaker 1: suffered huge casualties, largely from various tropical diseases. After the 68 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:33,919 Speaker 1: death of his uncle, Hamilton was taken in by Thomas Stevens, 69 00:04:34,240 --> 00:04:37,640 Speaker 1: a merchant, and he was apprenticed with him. Hamilton viewed 70 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:40,960 Speaker 1: this as the most formative part of his education, learning 71 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:44,839 Speaker 1: how to track freight, chart courses for ships, and calculate 72 00:04:44,920 --> 00:04:49,039 Speaker 1: prices by different currencies. In his youth, Hamilton sent poems 73 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:52,240 Speaker 1: and letters to the local newspaper. It was remarkable because 74 00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:55,400 Speaker 1: Hamilton did not have a formal education. It's just that 75 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:58,520 Speaker 1: he was really smart, and he kept learning. He never 76 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:01,440 Speaker 1: attended school in the island, but when his mother was alive, 77 00:05:01,520 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 1: she taught him French and bought books for him and 78 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:08,279 Speaker 1: his older brother to read. In seventeen seventy two, impressed 79 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:12,719 Speaker 1: by Hamilton's quick learning abilities and intelligence, Hamilton's boss sponsored 80 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:15,120 Speaker 1: the young clerk's trip to the United States to attend 81 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:19,200 Speaker 1: school there. Hamilton began his preparation for college at a 82 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 1: grammar school in New Jersey and enrolled in what was 83 00:05:22,480 --> 00:05:27,039 Speaker 1: then called King's College in seventeen seventy four. It becomes 84 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:31,680 Speaker 1: eventually Columbia University. Hamilton's enrollment at King's College speaks to 85 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:35,640 Speaker 1: his astounding skills and intelligence. He wanted to be admitted 86 00:05:35,680 --> 00:05:38,360 Speaker 1: to a university on his own terms, to be allowed 87 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 1: to enroll in any class for which he was qualified, 88 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:44,640 Speaker 1: and to graduate as soon as he'd completed the minimum requirements. 89 00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:49,560 Speaker 1: After being denied admission at Princeton because of his unorthodox request, 90 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:53,720 Speaker 1: Hamilton was admitted to King's College under the proposed arrangement 91 00:05:54,000 --> 00:05:57,320 Speaker 1: and subsequently assigned a special tutor. No, imagine, here's this 92 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:00,520 Speaker 1: guy who shows up from the Caribbean and immediately be 93 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:03,679 Speaker 1: in setting his own terms of life and gets away 94 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:06,279 Speaker 1: with it. People are so impressed with how smart he 95 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 1: is and how hard he works that they keep bending 96 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:13,160 Speaker 1: over trying to help him accommodate on his terms. During 97 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:16,560 Speaker 1: his time at King's College, Hamilton's eloquence and genius took 98 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:20,640 Speaker 1: a political application as the debates became more poised about 99 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:22,800 Speaker 1: the role of the British Empire and whether or not 100 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:25,719 Speaker 1: we should become independent. While he was a sophomore in 101 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:30,600 Speaker 1: the college, Hamilton delivered an impromptu speech that passionately outlined 102 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:34,520 Speaker 1: the case of the colonies against parliamentary injustices. Remember this 103 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:37,599 Speaker 1: is a time when Americans are arguing with themselves. Are 104 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:41,360 Speaker 1: they really English and merely petitioning the crown to do 105 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:44,479 Speaker 1: whatever the crown wants? Or are they really this new 106 00:06:44,520 --> 00:06:49,400 Speaker 1: creature called an American. Hamilton sided as somebody whoself had 107 00:06:49,400 --> 00:06:52,960 Speaker 1: no great roots anywhere that he was an American. He 108 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:55,919 Speaker 1: also became well known for his publishing a series of 109 00:06:56,040 --> 00:07:00,720 Speaker 1: scathing but reasoned responses to the Continental Congress were published 110 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:04,640 Speaker 1: when Hamilton was eighteen years old. Well Hamilton was in college, 111 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:08,320 Speaker 1: the Revolutionary War began, and in seventeen seventy five he 112 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:12,280 Speaker 1: quit school to join the Army. Now, Hamilton was an 113 00:07:12,280 --> 00:07:15,760 Speaker 1: impressive leader. He was well organized, He knew how to 114 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:18,760 Speaker 1: get supplies the troops. He could get an amazing number 115 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:22,520 Speaker 1: of things done. And George Washington, who was in desperate 116 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:26,120 Speaker 1: need of competent help, asked Hamilton to become his assistant, 117 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 1: helping him plan battles, write letters, and manage Washington staff. 118 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:33,960 Speaker 1: Hamilton served in this position for four years. Now, remember 119 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:38,080 Speaker 1: they're in the field the entire time. They're together every 120 00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:41,200 Speaker 1: single day, they truly get to know each other. The 121 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:44,120 Speaker 1: Washington gets in the habit of relying heavily on Hamilton 122 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:47,240 Speaker 1: and realizing that this is one of the brightest people, 123 00:07:47,280 --> 00:07:50,160 Speaker 1: if not the brightest person, he's ever met. Hamilton often 124 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:53,200 Speaker 1: used his writing skills to write to the Continental Congress 125 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:57,800 Speaker 1: asking for food and supplies for General Washington's troops, and 126 00:07:57,920 --> 00:08:01,000 Speaker 1: he watched as the Continental Congress wrote the dechuation independence 127 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:04,960 Speaker 1: and debated how to run the country. Now, Hamilton was 128 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:08,800 Speaker 1: so smart and so widely read that with six months 129 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:12,280 Speaker 1: of studying he passed the Bar exam without formal training. 130 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:16,240 Speaker 1: It was just amazing. He had decided in January seventeenty 131 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:19,120 Speaker 1: two he wanted to become a lawyer. He petitioned the 132 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:21,360 Speaker 1: New York Supreme Court to let him take the bar 133 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:25,200 Speaker 1: exam without the required three year internship. And after all, 134 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:27,920 Speaker 1: he had served four years as an aide to Washington. 135 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:30,200 Speaker 1: So they sort of fudged and said, well, that kind 136 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:34,679 Speaker 1: of counts as an internship. Hamilton taught himself law now 137 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:38,120 Speaker 1: to aid in his studies. Hamilton studied old New York 138 00:08:38,160 --> 00:08:41,040 Speaker 1: court cases and wrote his analysis in a book he 139 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:45,040 Speaker 1: later published called Practical Proceedings in the Supreme Court of 140 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:47,840 Speaker 1: New York. He wrote it at the age of twenty five. 141 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:50,680 Speaker 1: This puts him in the same league as Theodore Roosevelt, 142 00:08:50,679 --> 00:08:53,360 Speaker 1: who wrote his famous history of the Naval War of 143 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:56,200 Speaker 1: eighteen twelve and was published when he was twenty five. 144 00:08:56,640 --> 00:09:00,719 Speaker 1: Hamilton saw his book become the standard text in New 145 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:03,560 Speaker 1: York legal studies for the rest of his life. In 146 00:09:03,600 --> 00:09:07,640 Speaker 1: October seventeen eighty two, Hamilton passed the bar and was 147 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:10,440 Speaker 1: legally allowed to practice law in New York. Now, by 148 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:14,400 Speaker 1: this stage, the war is winding down and which would 149 00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:16,400 Speaker 1: begin to be a national country, And this is part 150 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:20,839 Speaker 1: of what makes Hamilton's so important. Hamilton had a vision 151 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:25,119 Speaker 1: of America as a country, not a collection of thirteen colonies, 152 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:27,800 Speaker 1: or later on, not as a collection of thirteen states, 153 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:32,400 Speaker 1: but rather as a truly national system. In seventeen eighty one, 154 00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:36,640 Speaker 1: Hamilton proposed to Robert Morris, who was Congress as Superintendent 155 00:09:36,679 --> 00:09:39,839 Speaker 1: of Finance, that we needed a national bank. He also 156 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:42,960 Speaker 1: suggested the Congress of the power to raise taxes. At 157 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:46,360 Speaker 1: the time, the Continental Congress couldn't actually levy any taxes. 158 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 1: They had to ask that colonies and then later when 159 00:09:48,360 --> 00:09:51,880 Speaker 1: they became states, to voluntarily give the money. But they 160 00:09:51,880 --> 00:09:55,160 Speaker 1: didn't have any power to actually raise money. So Morris 161 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:59,320 Speaker 1: liked Hamilton's ideas and fought for them in Congress. Morris 162 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:03,359 Speaker 1: then appointed Hamilton to the possession of receiver of Continental 163 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:06,280 Speaker 1: taxes in New York in May of seventeen eighty two. 164 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:08,760 Speaker 1: Remember this is a few months before he even passes 165 00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:12,760 Speaker 1: the bar. So he's inventing the national bank, developing a 166 00:10:12,800 --> 00:10:16,480 Speaker 1: tax system, becoming the receiver of taxes in New York 167 00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:20,640 Speaker 1: while he's also studying to pass the bar. He accepted 168 00:10:20,679 --> 00:10:24,920 Speaker 1: the position, he didn't have much time to get collective taxes, 169 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:27,640 Speaker 1: and frankly, at the point there was no real power 170 00:10:28,080 --> 00:10:30,920 Speaker 1: in that job. He couldn't go in and subpoena people, 171 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:33,679 Speaker 1: or send him to jail, or do anything. I was 172 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:38,320 Speaker 1: all basically nagging. But from October seventeen eighty two to 173 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:41,160 Speaker 1: August of seventeen eighty three, basically from the time he 174 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:44,720 Speaker 1: passed the bar to seventy eighty three, he served in 175 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:48,720 Speaker 1: Congress as a represented the state of New York. While 176 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:51,240 Speaker 1: I was there, he helped draft the peace treaty between 177 00:10:51,240 --> 00:10:53,560 Speaker 1: the US and Great Britain that ended the war. He 178 00:10:53,679 --> 00:10:57,320 Speaker 1: proposed that naval activities be banned from the Great Lakes 179 00:10:57,360 --> 00:11:00,720 Speaker 1: between the US and British control of Canada. That suggestion 180 00:11:00,800 --> 00:11:04,080 Speaker 1: was ignored, and, by the way, by eighteen twelve, naval 181 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:06,320 Speaker 1: power on the Great Lakes would become a real issue 182 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:09,280 Speaker 1: and one of the major points of combat during the 183 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:12,640 Speaker 1: War of eighteen twelve. In August of seventeen eighty three, 184 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:16,200 Speaker 1: after eight months as a congressman, Hamilton returned to New 185 00:11:16,280 --> 00:11:19,440 Speaker 1: York and finally used his law degree to establish a 186 00:11:19,520 --> 00:11:23,600 Speaker 1: legal practice. He represented several tories. Remember there were about 187 00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:25,440 Speaker 1: a third of the American people actually were on the 188 00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:28,280 Speaker 1: side of the British, a third were for independence, and 189 00:11:28,360 --> 00:11:31,040 Speaker 1: a third just wanted to hide the fact is as 190 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:35,000 Speaker 1: a lawyer he felt people deserved representation, so he represented 191 00:11:35,040 --> 00:11:38,000 Speaker 1: a number of Tories who had various claims because their 192 00:11:38,000 --> 00:11:40,839 Speaker 1: property had been stolen or their bills hadn't been paid. 193 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:44,079 Speaker 1: And a lot of people thought that Hamilton was betraying 194 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:48,120 Speaker 1: the New Country by this kind of representation, but Hamilton 195 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:51,199 Speaker 1: really taking a position that John Adams had taken after 196 00:11:51,240 --> 00:11:54,160 Speaker 1: the Boston massacre when he had defended the British soldiers 197 00:11:54,679 --> 00:11:58,560 Speaker 1: in Boston. Hamilton thought that the lawyer had applied the 198 00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:03,440 Speaker 1: law that people deserved representation, and that the war was over, 199 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:05,760 Speaker 1: that the time had come to move forward, to look 200 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:09,719 Speaker 1: to the future, and that going after the loyalists, as 201 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:13,160 Speaker 1: the Tories were called, would simply weaken the country because 202 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:15,280 Speaker 1: it would drive people away, which they did. A very 203 00:12:15,320 --> 00:12:19,720 Speaker 1: substantial number of the wealthier loyalist left America went to 204 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:24,480 Speaker 1: Britner to Canada. Hamilton, in fact had a very different view. 205 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:27,960 Speaker 1: In June of seventeen eighty four, he defended a loyalist 206 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:31,720 Speaker 1: in the Rutgers versus Waddington case, which rose from the 207 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:36,679 Speaker 1: Trespass Act of seventeen eighty three. Hamilton argued that Trespacked 208 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:39,959 Speaker 1: Act was inconsistent with things in the Treaty of Peace 209 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:42,640 Speaker 1: that he had helped write. Remember, he helps write the treaty, 210 00:12:42,720 --> 00:12:45,960 Speaker 1: helps pass the treaty. So he's now in court debating 211 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:48,360 Speaker 1: what the treaty means, and he clearly has a great 212 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:51,240 Speaker 1: deal of expertise. He was very worried that if the 213 00:12:51,320 --> 00:12:54,920 Speaker 1: case was one and the loyalist was punished, it would 214 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:59,240 Speaker 1: drive thousands of loyalists away from New York, negatively impacting trade. 215 00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:02,480 Speaker 1: He lost, but Hamilton used the arguments he made in 216 00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:05,560 Speaker 1: the case as the basis for the Federalist Papers number 217 00:13:05,559 --> 00:13:08,640 Speaker 1: twenty two and seventy eight, where he argued, quote, the 218 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:12,760 Speaker 1: interpretation of the law is the proper and peculiar province 219 00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:15,920 Speaker 1: of the courts. The case also set the state precedent 220 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:20,080 Speaker 1: for judicial review established by the Supreme Court in eighteen 221 00:13:20,080 --> 00:13:24,560 Speaker 1: oh three. Now, Hamilton wanted a strong and powerful federal government. 222 00:13:24,679 --> 00:13:29,160 Speaker 1: Truth is, Hamilton felt more comfortable with an aristocratic government 223 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:30,679 Speaker 1: if he could have figured out a way to get there. 224 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:33,480 Speaker 1: He'd love to have had George Washington as a new king, 225 00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:37,880 Speaker 1: but that's not where the country is going. His deeper 226 00:13:38,160 --> 00:13:42,679 Speaker 1: impact that really mattered was that he wanted to have 227 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:46,920 Speaker 1: the nation come together, and he looked for things that 228 00:13:47,040 --> 00:14:11,560 Speaker 1: would bring together everybody into thinking themselves as Americans. Hamilton 229 00:14:11,679 --> 00:14:14,440 Speaker 1: maneuvered and worked very hard. He ended up playing a 230 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:19,840 Speaker 1: major role in the Constitutional Convention, and he really understood 231 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:25,400 Speaker 1: that it was very, very important that we become a 232 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:29,720 Speaker 1: unified country. His role in the Convention was important. And 233 00:14:30,080 --> 00:14:32,800 Speaker 1: the Convention is an interesting example of two things we 234 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:35,840 Speaker 1: tend not to remember. One, it was a coup. Data 235 00:14:36,560 --> 00:14:39,120 Speaker 1: The people who went to the Convention were sent to 236 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:43,760 Speaker 1: the Convention to reform the Articles of Confederation. When they 237 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:45,480 Speaker 1: got there, they looked around and said, this is crazy. 238 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:48,280 Speaker 1: These things will never work. So without any kind of 239 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:52,320 Speaker 1: basic approval from back home, they decided they'd write a 240 00:14:52,360 --> 00:14:56,960 Speaker 1: new constitution and completely replaced the Articles of Confederation. They 241 00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:59,160 Speaker 1: did a second thing which we often tend to forget. 242 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:03,560 Speaker 1: The decided they'd meet in secret. So the most important 243 00:15:03,680 --> 00:15:08,920 Speaker 1: document defining America, the Constitution, is written in secret by 244 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:13,640 Speaker 1: a group of people who have basically violated their rules 245 00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:16,200 Speaker 1: by giving themselves a much bigger assignment than they were 246 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:19,600 Speaker 1: elected for. They have to work out an amazing number 247 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:26,400 Speaker 1: of details and it involves very deep political negotiation. They 248 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:31,440 Speaker 1: finally come together with a program and they pass out 249 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:36,080 Speaker 1: a constitution now because they understood a little bit different 250 00:15:36,080 --> 00:15:39,200 Speaker 1: than some of our current leadership that you couldn't sustain 251 00:15:39,360 --> 00:15:43,120 Speaker 1: something if it wasn't supported by the people. They said, 252 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:45,800 Speaker 1: all the states have to in fact endorse it. I 253 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:48,680 Speaker 1: think nine of them had to endorse the constitution for 254 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:52,120 Speaker 1: it to go into effect. Well, that meant you had 255 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:54,120 Speaker 1: to go back. Each state would have a different way 256 00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:56,360 Speaker 1: of doing it. Some would do it by vote, some 257 00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:59,440 Speaker 1: would do it by having the state legislature involved. But 258 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:03,600 Speaker 1: each state had to find a way to ratify the constitution. 259 00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:06,600 Speaker 1: So here's this document which had been drafted in secret, 260 00:16:06,960 --> 00:16:09,960 Speaker 1: it suddenly sprung in the country. It is outlining a 261 00:16:10,160 --> 00:16:14,400 Speaker 1: very complicated system which, frankly, even today in government class 262 00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:17,440 Speaker 1: people have a hard time mastering all the details of 263 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:22,160 Speaker 1: the Constitution. And Hamilton, along with two other people, John 264 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:28,120 Speaker 1: Jay of New York and James Madison of Virginia, decide 265 00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:32,080 Speaker 1: to write what is in fact the most elegant and 266 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:36,400 Speaker 1: most powerful campaign brochure ever written. And it's important to 267 00:16:36,400 --> 00:16:40,000 Speaker 1: think about that way. The Federalist papers nowadays seem like 268 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:46,840 Speaker 1: this very sophisticated academic document that people study, but that's 269 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:49,680 Speaker 1: not what it was. It was a collection of eighty 270 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:55,000 Speaker 1: five articles essays written by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay. They 271 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:59,360 Speaker 1: appeared anonymously in New York newspapers in seventeen eighty seven 272 00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:03,560 Speaker 1: and seventeen eighty eight under the pen name Publius. And 273 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:06,639 Speaker 1: I have to say, having spent large parts of my 274 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:11,919 Speaker 1: life dealing with the Federalist papers, they're unbelievably brilliant. Now 275 00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:17,360 Speaker 1: the vast majority of them were written by Hamilton. Fifty 276 00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:19,760 Speaker 1: two out of the eighty five are written by Hamilton. 277 00:17:20,400 --> 00:17:23,720 Speaker 1: They address every major question about the nature of the 278 00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:27,480 Speaker 1: new government. They walk people through the reasoning that led 279 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:29,960 Speaker 1: the government to be designed the way it was. They 280 00:17:29,960 --> 00:17:34,360 Speaker 1: are far and away the best primary source for understanding 281 00:17:34,359 --> 00:17:38,439 Speaker 1: what the founding fathers intended, and they weren't. I remember, 282 00:17:38,480 --> 00:17:40,520 Speaker 1: this is the country where probably only about a third 283 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:43,720 Speaker 1: of the people could read. And here you have this document. 284 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:46,159 Speaker 1: When I say campaign brochure, you just pick it up 285 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:49,480 Speaker 1: and look at it. This wasn't some two page, fancy 286 00:17:49,520 --> 00:17:54,879 Speaker 1: colored document with seven pictures. This is pure print. And 287 00:17:55,119 --> 00:17:58,760 Speaker 1: what happened was, of course, relatively smart people read it 288 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:02,440 Speaker 1: and then was around the tavern and explain it. So 289 00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:05,800 Speaker 1: the people who couldn't read were listening and asking questions 290 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:08,439 Speaker 1: from the people who could read, and the net result 291 00:18:08,600 --> 00:18:12,159 Speaker 1: was one of the greatest educational moments in history. The 292 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:16,320 Speaker 1: American people came together. They concluded both that it was 293 00:18:16,359 --> 00:18:19,560 Speaker 1: the right thing to do and that it was creating 294 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:24,000 Speaker 1: a government which was legitimate. Now. The Federalist papers originally 295 00:18:24,240 --> 00:18:27,639 Speaker 1: were published primarily in two New York state newspapers, the 296 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:30,600 Speaker 1: New York Packet and the Independent Journal. They were then 297 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:33,679 Speaker 1: reprinted in other newspapers in New York and in cities 298 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:37,120 Speaker 1: around the country. Then a bound edition was produced with 299 00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:40,320 Speaker 1: revisions and corrections by Hamilton, and that was published in 300 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:44,200 Speaker 1: seventeen eighty eight. Another edition would be published some thirty 301 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:47,600 Speaker 1: years later by Jacob Gideon in eighteen eighteen with revisions 302 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:50,520 Speaker 1: and corrections by Madison, which was the first one that 303 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:54,000 Speaker 1: actually identified each essay by its author's name. So think 304 00:18:54,040 --> 00:18:57,000 Speaker 1: about that. You get this series of articles in newspapers 305 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:00,960 Speaker 1: and then a book by Publius, and you end up 306 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:04,000 Speaker 1: reading what the arguments are and you go, well, you 307 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:07,280 Speaker 1: know they've really thought this through. And in fact, if 308 00:19:07,280 --> 00:19:09,520 Speaker 1: you take the time to read it, you'll realize that 309 00:19:09,560 --> 00:19:12,720 Speaker 1: Hamilton was a genius. He and Madison are the two 310 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:18,399 Speaker 1: primary writers, and their grasp of the most important fundamentals 311 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:23,399 Speaker 1: of freedom is just astonishing. I think as long as 312 00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:26,440 Speaker 1: humans want to understand how to be free, the Federalist 313 00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:28,600 Speaker 1: papers will have a role to play and will be 314 00:19:28,680 --> 00:19:32,120 Speaker 1: a primary source document on the nature of freedom. Now, 315 00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:34,040 Speaker 1: while he's in the middle of creating a new country, 316 00:19:34,359 --> 00:19:36,639 Speaker 1: he also becomes a member of the board of trustees 317 00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:39,800 Speaker 1: of what used to be King's College when he went 318 00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:42,640 Speaker 1: to it, but now was Columbia College, which of course 319 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:47,160 Speaker 1: has evolved into Columbia University. He helped develop a detailed 320 00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:50,520 Speaker 1: outline of the new academic departments and faculty appointments. He 321 00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:55,359 Speaker 1: assisted analyzing their finances and budget allocations. And he would 322 00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:58,119 Speaker 1: work on the board at Columbia and serve Columbia for 323 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:01,240 Speaker 1: the next twenty years until he died. While people always 324 00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:05,359 Speaker 1: identify Jefferson with founding the University of Virginia, the fact 325 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:09,760 Speaker 1: is Hamilton was on the board of Columbia College long 326 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:13,760 Speaker 1: before Jefferson got around to creating the University of Virginia. 327 00:20:14,040 --> 00:20:18,280 Speaker 1: Hamilton's most famous role is First Secretary of the Treasury. 328 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:21,960 Speaker 1: Washington brought him in immediately. There were two great important jobs. 329 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:24,560 Speaker 1: I think the most important was Secretary of Treasury. The 330 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:28,440 Speaker 1: second most important was the Secretary of State. Jefferson has 331 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:31,960 Speaker 1: made Secretary of State, Hamilton has made Secretary of the Treasury, 332 00:20:32,359 --> 00:20:37,320 Speaker 1: and they are amazingly different in their approach to things. 333 00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:42,200 Speaker 1: Jefferson is an intellectual. He spent a great deal time 334 00:20:42,359 --> 00:20:45,240 Speaker 1: representing the United States in France. He watched the early 335 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:48,879 Speaker 1: stages of the French Revolution. He was actually sympathetic in 336 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:51,720 Speaker 1: the early days against the monarchy, even though the monarchy 337 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:54,880 Speaker 1: had supported the United States in its War of Independence. 338 00:20:55,359 --> 00:20:57,960 Speaker 1: And then I think Jefferson, like everybody else, was horrified 339 00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:01,919 Speaker 1: as the French Revolution went crazy and began guilloteeing people, 340 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:06,439 Speaker 1: imposing a dictatorship of the left. But he came home 341 00:21:06,880 --> 00:21:09,960 Speaker 1: he was very concerned about a strong central government. This 342 00:21:10,080 --> 00:21:13,440 Speaker 1: is one of the first places where he and Hamilton 343 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:17,440 Speaker 1: have a profound disagreement. Jefferson agrees to support the new 344 00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:22,920 Speaker 1: Constitution only if Madison will carry a series of amendments 345 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:25,600 Speaker 1: which became known as the Bill of Rights. And it's 346 00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:29,040 Speaker 1: important to recognize it. Where Hamilton is trying to strengthen 347 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:34,320 Speaker 1: the government, Jefferson is really worried that a strong government 348 00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:38,920 Speaker 1: will infringe on our liberties. By contrast, Hamilton had a 349 00:21:39,000 --> 00:21:43,480 Speaker 1: more idealized vision that humans could have power without being 350 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:46,200 Speaker 1: corrupted by it. I would say that Jefferson was almost 351 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:50,320 Speaker 1: certainly more correct about humans than Hamilton. But Hamilton was 352 00:21:50,359 --> 00:21:53,800 Speaker 1: almost certainly more correct about the economy and about how 353 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:56,359 Speaker 1: money worked. And that makes it one of the most 354 00:21:56,480 --> 00:21:59,760 Speaker 1: amazing things in American history that you end up at 355 00:21:59,760 --> 00:22:03,159 Speaker 1: this magic moment, first of all, with Washington, who is 356 00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:08,480 Speaker 1: the moral giant, the man of honor, the person everybody 357 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:11,960 Speaker 1: relies on, the person on whose shoulders all of us stand, 358 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:15,600 Speaker 1: the genuine father of his country. But Washington recognizes he 359 00:22:15,680 --> 00:22:18,800 Speaker 1: doesn't know all these details. That's not his strength. He'd 360 00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:21,280 Speaker 1: led a war for eight years. He was a great planner. 361 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:24,840 Speaker 1: He's actually a very innovative planner who bread an entire 362 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:28,399 Speaker 1: new species of more powerful mule. For example, he worked 363 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:32,640 Speaker 1: very assiduously at understanding the business of running the largest 364 00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:37,000 Speaker 1: plantation in America. But Washington was a very good, very 365 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:42,040 Speaker 1: shrewd selector of people. He knew that Jefferson loved foreign affairs, 366 00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:46,280 Speaker 1: and Jefferson understood Europe, and he knew that Hamilton could 367 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:51,240 Speaker 1: master finance. At a time when we'd had enormous inflation, 368 00:22:51,720 --> 00:22:55,000 Speaker 1: the money issued by the Continental Congress had collapsed in value. 369 00:22:55,480 --> 00:22:57,800 Speaker 1: There was a huge amount of debt held by the public, 370 00:22:58,200 --> 00:22:59,879 Speaker 1: There was a huge amount of debt held by the 371 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:03,800 Speaker 1: Dutch and others. And the question was were we going 372 00:23:03,840 --> 00:23:08,359 Speaker 1: to dissolve into being incapable of paying our debts, having 373 00:23:08,359 --> 00:23:13,080 Speaker 1: our currency collapse and not being acceptable as a financial 374 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:16,520 Speaker 1: risk around the world, or were we going to in 375 00:23:16,560 --> 00:23:21,160 Speaker 1: fact fund the debt, pay it off, and pay off 376 00:23:21,160 --> 00:23:25,000 Speaker 1: the debt that we accrued overseas? And along comes Hamilton. 377 00:23:25,880 --> 00:23:28,760 Speaker 1: Hamilton is a student of Adam Smith, who published The 378 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:32,000 Speaker 1: Wealth of Nations in seventeen seventy six as one of 379 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:34,959 Speaker 1: the Great Magic Moments. The book, which most explains the 380 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:38,320 Speaker 1: importance of freedom and markets, was published the same year 381 00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:41,840 Speaker 1: as The Declaration of Independence, which explains the importance of 382 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:44,960 Speaker 1: political freedom, and the two go hand in hand. They 383 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:49,120 Speaker 1: reinforce each other, and Hamilton understands what Smith is doing. 384 00:23:49,440 --> 00:23:53,000 Speaker 1: Smith's not a theoretician. He's not writing about theory. Smith 385 00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:55,800 Speaker 1: is an observer of a world that is emerging, the 386 00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:59,520 Speaker 1: world of manufacturing, the world of commerce, and he's describing 387 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:02,280 Speaker 1: how it's working. When Smith has a section on the 388 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:05,440 Speaker 1: needle factory and how efficient it is and how productive 389 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:07,560 Speaker 1: it is. It's because he's actually been in a needle 390 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:12,040 Speaker 1: factory and washed it work. And so Hamilton comes along. Remember, 391 00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:15,800 Speaker 1: now he's been a lawyer, he's been an artilleryman, he's 392 00:24:15,840 --> 00:24:20,320 Speaker 1: been a personal aide to General Washington, he's become a lawyer. 393 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:24,040 Speaker 1: Now he pivots and he becomes a financier, and he's 394 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:26,200 Speaker 1: brilliant enough that he gets right to the heart of 395 00:24:26,200 --> 00:24:30,160 Speaker 1: the matter. There were twelve volumes of Hamilton's personal papers. 396 00:24:30,760 --> 00:24:34,640 Speaker 1: They were introduced by Henry Cabot Lodge, who wrote this 397 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:40,880 Speaker 1: extraordinary explanation of Hamilton about eighteen eighty two, and Lodge says, 398 00:24:42,600 --> 00:24:48,600 Speaker 1: Hamilton's genius was understanding facts, and he allowed facts to 399 00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:52,080 Speaker 1: then develop theories. He didn't start with theories and try 400 00:24:52,119 --> 00:24:55,880 Speaker 1: to twist the facts. And so Hamilton looked at if 401 00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:58,199 Speaker 1: you want a healthy country, and you want to be 402 00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:01,000 Speaker 1: able to have a sound credit, and in a crisis, 403 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:02,600 Speaker 1: you want to be able to borrow money from the 404 00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:05,800 Speaker 1: Dutch and others, what do you have to do? And 405 00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:08,440 Speaker 1: he said, well, first of all, you have to acknowledge 406 00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:10,760 Speaker 1: all of the debts coming out of the Continental Congress 407 00:25:10,840 --> 00:25:13,800 Speaker 1: during the war. Second, you have to acknowledge all the 408 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:16,840 Speaker 1: debts that you signed your name for in terms of 409 00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:19,480 Speaker 1: the Dutch and others, and then you have to build 410 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:22,680 Speaker 1: an ability to gradually pay them off. And you did 411 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:26,320 Speaker 1: that by always running a small surplus and taking that 412 00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:29,000 Speaker 1: small surplus and what was called a sinking fund and 413 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:32,680 Speaker 1: paying down the debt. Now, Hamilton also had the advantage 414 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:35,200 Speaker 1: of studying what William Pitt the Younger had done in 415 00:25:35,280 --> 00:25:38,280 Speaker 1: Great Britain in the seventeen eighties, so he knew this 416 00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:42,000 Speaker 1: could work. His problem was how do you get it 417 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:46,920 Speaker 1: through a Congress, which isn't all that excited about. First 418 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:49,679 Speaker 1: of all, the domestic debt, because what had happened was 419 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:53,680 Speaker 1: a lot of the veterans who'd earned these IOUs had 420 00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:57,280 Speaker 1: sold them out of despair. So you had speculators, many 421 00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:00,520 Speaker 1: of them in New York and Massachusetts, who had across 422 00:26:00,560 --> 00:26:04,480 Speaker 1: the South, buying up these IOUs sometimes a ten or 423 00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:07,479 Speaker 1: fifteen cents on the dollar. And now if you're going 424 00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:11,840 Speaker 1: to actually pay them off, that means that the veteran's 425 00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:14,880 Speaker 1: not going to get very much, but all these speculators 426 00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:19,280 Speaker 1: are going to get rich. Similarly, in a Great American tradition, 427 00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:23,520 Speaker 1: Congress wasn't all that excited about raising hard taxes from 428 00:26:23,520 --> 00:26:25,840 Speaker 1: its own people in order to ship the money to 429 00:26:25,880 --> 00:26:28,280 Speaker 1: the Dutch who had loaned us the money with which 430 00:26:28,320 --> 00:26:31,359 Speaker 1: we fought the war. So Hamilton had to put together 431 00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:35,679 Speaker 1: a political movement that would be in favor of a 432 00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:38,880 Speaker 1: national economy, be in favor of what we would call 433 00:26:39,040 --> 00:26:43,040 Speaker 1: sound money. And he started by writing a report on 434 00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:46,960 Speaker 1: the Public Credit, which is an amazing document. It's probably 435 00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:50,400 Speaker 1: as good an introduction to thinking about finance as anybody 436 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:52,879 Speaker 1: ever has. He followed it up about a year later 437 00:26:53,119 --> 00:26:56,639 Speaker 1: by writing a report on Manufactures, which is the best 438 00:26:56,680 --> 00:27:00,000 Speaker 1: document ever written on how a country can go about 439 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:04,200 Speaker 1: creating a strong manufacturing base. It's one which, by the way, 440 00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:09,560 Speaker 1: modern liberal economists hate because it argues for focusing on 441 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:13,800 Speaker 1: America first and using tariffs and other things to protect 442 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:17,760 Speaker 1: American jobs. Because if you had a purely free trade 443 00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:21,400 Speaker 1: environment in the seventeen nineties, the British were so much 444 00:27:21,440 --> 00:27:23,520 Speaker 1: more advanced than we were, they would have wiped out 445 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:26,320 Speaker 1: all of our industries and sell Hamilton, in a very 446 00:27:26,359 --> 00:27:29,840 Speaker 1: practical way, says that's not going to work. That what 447 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:31,560 Speaker 1: you have to do is find a way to grow 448 00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:36,159 Speaker 1: American jobs with American manufacturing, and then pay off the 449 00:27:36,240 --> 00:27:40,200 Speaker 1: debt from this growing economy. He also proposed that there'd 450 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:43,440 Speaker 1: be a national bank, something he talked about a decade earlier, 451 00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:46,120 Speaker 1: and that the bank would be independent from the government, 452 00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:49,680 Speaker 1: but the government would own twenty percent of the bank stock. Now, 453 00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:52,720 Speaker 1: potentially you could get it through the Congress. There are 454 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:55,880 Speaker 1: some people who argued that the Constitution does not give 455 00:27:55,920 --> 00:27:58,680 Speaker 1: them the power to establish a national bank. This was 456 00:27:58,760 --> 00:28:03,439 Speaker 1: Jefferson's position, but Washington stepped in and said, well, the 457 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:08,520 Speaker 1: Constitution can be loosely interpreted, and he approved Hamilton's plan. So, 458 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:12,399 Speaker 1: with Hamilton and Washington both in favor of the national bank, 459 00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:16,560 Speaker 1: it got created. Hamilton then turned his attention to establishing 460 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:19,440 Speaker 1: a national currency, because you gotta remember, up to this point, 461 00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:22,480 Speaker 1: you have all these states producing money, much as the 462 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:25,359 Speaker 1: Scottish banks had each been producing their own money, and 463 00:28:26,000 --> 00:28:30,560 Speaker 1: you had this extraordinarily weak and frankly useless money that 464 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:35,040 Speaker 1: the Continental Congress had created. So he establishes a national 465 00:28:35,119 --> 00:28:39,320 Speaker 1: mint and begins to put together with the Mint Act 466 00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:43,800 Speaker 1: of seventeen ninety two, creating a national currency. That led 467 00:28:43,840 --> 00:29:10,840 Speaker 1: to a fundamental split. There was a Federalist Party, which 468 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:15,600 Speaker 1: was deeply committed to the Constitution, deeply committed to a 469 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:20,080 Speaker 1: national economy, in many ways biased in favor of New 470 00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:23,480 Speaker 1: England and New York and to some extent Pennsylvania. And 471 00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:26,760 Speaker 1: then there was a Democratic Republican Party, which was really 472 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:30,600 Speaker 1: the anti Federalist and that was created by Jefferson and Madison. 473 00:29:30,880 --> 00:29:32,719 Speaker 1: It used to be said, and John F. Kennedy used 474 00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:35,920 Speaker 1: to use this line that Jefferson and Madison went to 475 00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:39,960 Speaker 1: New York butterfly collecting and happened to run into Aaronburgh, 476 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:42,200 Speaker 1: who ran the political machine in New York, and the 477 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:45,040 Speaker 1: three of them happened to create the Democratic Republican Party 478 00:29:45,480 --> 00:29:48,600 Speaker 1: while they were butterfly collecting. The butterfly Colleking, I think 479 00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:51,960 Speaker 1: never actually happened, but was the cover for their trip. 480 00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:56,160 Speaker 1: Well to show you how successful Jefferson was as a politician. 481 00:29:56,600 --> 00:30:00,560 Speaker 1: The Federalist Party basically disappears by around eighteen twelve, and 482 00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:04,680 Speaker 1: the Democratic Republican Party evolves into the Democratic Party, and 483 00:30:04,800 --> 00:30:08,480 Speaker 1: it is today the longest surviving political party in the 484 00:30:08,480 --> 00:30:12,800 Speaker 1: world and is an amazing capacity for adapting and mutating 485 00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:18,720 Speaker 1: and evolving, an enormous tenacity of survival. But Hamilton was 486 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:24,280 Speaker 1: the leader of the Federalist Party, and Hamilton has created 487 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:30,520 Speaker 1: an economic system heavily favoring the city's heavily favoring manufacturing. Remember, 488 00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:35,160 Speaker 1: if you're a farmer in the South, in particular, you 489 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:40,360 Speaker 1: are not all that happy to have manufacturing protected because 490 00:30:40,400 --> 00:30:43,320 Speaker 1: that raises the price of what you pay for. So 491 00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:46,080 Speaker 1: there's a certain bias in favor of lower tariffs and 492 00:30:46,200 --> 00:30:50,840 Speaker 1: agricultural areas and higher tariffs and manufacturing areas. The Federalist 493 00:30:50,840 --> 00:30:54,720 Speaker 1: Party represented the manufacturing side now at the same time, 494 00:30:55,320 --> 00:30:58,720 Speaker 1: in order to get all of this done, they had 495 00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:02,760 Speaker 1: to find some ability to have a mutual agreement, and 496 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:06,520 Speaker 1: the pact they created both a great deal of negotiating 497 00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:12,200 Speaker 1: was a dinner that Madison and Jefferson had with Hamilton. 498 00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:15,440 Speaker 1: At the time the government had moved initially to New York, 499 00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:19,080 Speaker 1: then had moved to Philadelphia. The Southerners really wanted the 500 00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:23,400 Speaker 1: government to be between Virginia and Maryland. The Northerners didn't 501 00:31:23,440 --> 00:31:26,400 Speaker 1: quickly wanted to go that far south, but the Southerners 502 00:31:26,440 --> 00:31:30,240 Speaker 1: didn't particularly want to follow Hamilton's financial plans, and so 503 00:31:30,520 --> 00:31:34,040 Speaker 1: they cut a deal. Again less said about the complexities 504 00:31:34,040 --> 00:31:37,720 Speaker 1: of history. They negotiated for several months. They finally thought 505 00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:40,960 Speaker 1: they had a deal, and they sat down, had dinner 506 00:31:41,560 --> 00:31:44,640 Speaker 1: and looked at each other. Now remember by this stage 507 00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:49,520 Speaker 1: they're both still in Washington's cabinet. Jefferson is still the 508 00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:52,200 Speaker 1: Secretary of State. Hamilton's still the Secretary of the Treasury. 509 00:31:52,760 --> 00:31:55,880 Speaker 1: Madison is in the Congress, but he's Jefferson's closest ally 510 00:31:56,200 --> 00:31:59,280 Speaker 1: and also probably the leading figure in the Congress. They're 511 00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:03,960 Speaker 1: both finance see newspapers. I mean Jefferson subsidizing a newspaper 512 00:32:04,200 --> 00:32:08,120 Speaker 1: whose job it is to attack Hamilton. Hamilton is subsidizing 513 00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:10,880 Speaker 1: a newspaper whose job it is to attack Jefferson. And 514 00:32:10,960 --> 00:32:13,800 Speaker 1: they all know this. It's a very small town, but 515 00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:17,280 Speaker 1: they have this bigger problem. They've got to find a 516 00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:20,160 Speaker 1: way to create a sound currency, to create a sound 517 00:32:20,200 --> 00:32:23,800 Speaker 1: economic policy, and they need a place to put the government. 518 00:32:24,600 --> 00:32:28,920 Speaker 1: And so finally they agree. Jefferson gets the capital Washington, DC, 519 00:32:29,640 --> 00:32:33,840 Speaker 1: between Virginia and Maryland, and Hamilton gets his economic policies, 520 00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:37,120 Speaker 1: and with that you have the birth of the modern 521 00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:42,560 Speaker 1: American system. Now in the middle of all that, Washington 522 00:32:42,640 --> 00:32:47,600 Speaker 1: leaves and his successor was his vice president. Partially, I 523 00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:51,560 Speaker 1: think as a function of geographic equity, because Washington was 524 00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:55,240 Speaker 1: from Virginia and John Adams is from Massachusetts. So again 525 00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:59,320 Speaker 1: it's a step towards binding the country together. However, the 526 00:32:59,360 --> 00:33:03,280 Speaker 1: Federalist part, which had been largely created by Hamilton, who 527 00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:07,280 Speaker 1: had in fact, as a part of that process, created 528 00:33:07,680 --> 00:33:12,000 Speaker 1: all sorts of mechanisms of propaganda, had built a political machine. 529 00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:15,120 Speaker 1: But he and Adams had a big falling out, and 530 00:33:15,280 --> 00:33:20,080 Speaker 1: as a result, Hamilton was very bitter about Adams. Adams 531 00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:25,120 Speaker 1: found himself being undermined, and in seventeen ninety six he 532 00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:28,760 Speaker 1: had replaced Washington because he had been vice president by 533 00:33:28,800 --> 00:33:33,960 Speaker 1: eighteen hundred, he has lost so much popularity that he 534 00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:37,520 Speaker 1: loses to Thomas Jefferson in what in some ways is 535 00:33:37,560 --> 00:33:42,400 Speaker 1: the first modern example of a genuine opposition party peacefully 536 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:47,680 Speaker 1: taking power. Jefferson becomes president. Hamilton is now basically out 537 00:33:47,720 --> 00:33:53,440 Speaker 1: of power. The Federalists are in fact declining rapidly, and 538 00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:57,480 Speaker 1: Hamilton goes back to New York to make money, and 539 00:33:58,280 --> 00:34:01,000 Speaker 1: ends to make a lot of money. He founds the 540 00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:03,800 Speaker 1: New York Evening Post and this becomes the New York Post, 541 00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:07,200 Speaker 1: a New York post found in eighteen oh one, oldest 542 00:34:07,360 --> 00:34:11,799 Speaker 1: continuous newspaper in the United States still publishing, and it 543 00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:16,360 Speaker 1: is the fourth largest newspaper to America. Founded by Alexander Hamilton, 544 00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:21,160 Speaker 1: who on the very first day had a statement of principles. 545 00:34:22,200 --> 00:34:25,319 Speaker 1: This was co authored by the editor William Coleman and 546 00:34:25,440 --> 00:34:29,560 Speaker 1: Alexander Hamilton, says quote, the design of this paper is 547 00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:34,359 Speaker 1: to diffuse among the people correct information on all interesting subjects, 548 00:34:34,440 --> 00:34:38,799 Speaker 1: to inculcate just principles in religion, morals, and politics, and 549 00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:43,120 Speaker 1: to cultivate a taste for sound literature. Hamilton at this 550 00:34:43,200 --> 00:34:49,480 Speaker 1: stage is successful, has been a national figure, has helped 551 00:34:49,560 --> 00:34:54,239 Speaker 1: invent the modern American system, and probably could have lived 552 00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:59,320 Speaker 1: a very long life except for the tragedy that Hamilton 553 00:34:59,400 --> 00:35:03,440 Speaker 1: tended to spire hatred. Jefferson had people who disliked him, 554 00:35:03,480 --> 00:35:06,839 Speaker 1: but generally they didn't hate him Hamilton, partly, I think, 555 00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:09,640 Speaker 1: because he was so smart and he was so aggressive, 556 00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:12,880 Speaker 1: he was so arrogant, that people who couldn't compete with 557 00:35:12,960 --> 00:35:18,319 Speaker 1: him intellectually just burned with hatred. Tragically, for him, his 558 00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:20,640 Speaker 1: son was killed in a duel in eighteen oh one 559 00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:27,000 Speaker 1: defending his father's honor, and then Hamilton It's crosswise of 560 00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:31,120 Speaker 1: Aaron Burn Now, Aaron Burr is a genuine scoundrel, a 561 00:35:31,160 --> 00:35:34,160 Speaker 1: truly bad man. He'd been the boss of New York. 562 00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:37,680 Speaker 1: He'd helped Jefferson and Madison create the Democratic Party. But 563 00:35:37,800 --> 00:35:40,120 Speaker 1: it was typical of how bad he was that when 564 00:35:40,120 --> 00:35:43,080 Speaker 1: he and Jefferson both agreed to run Jefferson for president 565 00:35:43,120 --> 00:35:45,680 Speaker 1: Burr for vice president. Nobody had thought through that. The 566 00:35:45,719 --> 00:35:50,440 Speaker 1: original Constitution didn't provide for any way to tell who 567 00:35:51,120 --> 00:35:54,319 Speaker 1: was running for president who was not, and it was 568 00:35:54,360 --> 00:35:58,319 Speaker 1: all done based on the number of electoral votes you got. 569 00:35:58,400 --> 00:36:00,560 Speaker 1: I think the theory and the only days being that 570 00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:03,040 Speaker 1: whoever came in first would be president, whoever came in 571 00:36:03,080 --> 00:36:05,920 Speaker 1: second would be vice president, which is what had happened 572 00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:10,120 Speaker 1: in seventeen ninety six when Adams became president and Jefferson 573 00:36:10,160 --> 00:36:13,840 Speaker 1: became vice president. But an eighteen hundred, in a truly 574 00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:18,959 Speaker 1: weird moment, Burr and Jefferson were tied. Now everybody knew 575 00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:22,120 Speaker 1: Burr was supposed to be the vice president, but Burr 576 00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:28,319 Speaker 1: saw an opportunity, so he tried to become president. He 577 00:36:28,400 --> 00:36:32,200 Speaker 1: was outmaneuvered. Hamilton spoke out against him, further increasing how 578 00:36:32,280 --> 00:36:36,640 Speaker 1: much Bird disliked Hamilton. Jefferson gets elected, Burr becomes vice president. 579 00:36:37,320 --> 00:36:40,880 Speaker 1: He then goes back to New York, runs for governor 580 00:36:40,920 --> 00:36:44,360 Speaker 1: and loses, with Hamilton once against speaking out against it. 581 00:36:44,960 --> 00:36:48,800 Speaker 1: Hamilton is the person that Birth thinks has ruined his life, 582 00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:52,239 Speaker 1: so Burr challenges him to a duel. A dueling back 583 00:36:52,239 --> 00:36:56,320 Speaker 1: then was very common. It begins to disappear about forty 584 00:36:56,400 --> 00:36:58,400 Speaker 1: years later, and one of the people who helped in 585 00:36:58,600 --> 00:37:02,640 Speaker 1: dueling was Abra'm Lincoln. When he was challenged to a duel, 586 00:37:03,040 --> 00:37:05,560 Speaker 1: the person being challenged always gets to choose the weapons. 587 00:37:06,040 --> 00:37:09,640 Speaker 1: Lincoln chose shotguns at three feet and the other guy said, 588 00:37:09,680 --> 00:37:13,000 Speaker 1: why that would be murdered. Lincoln said, right, you challenge me, 589 00:37:13,040 --> 00:37:14,719 Speaker 1: you want to have a duel, so he shotguns at 590 00:37:14,760 --> 00:37:17,319 Speaker 1: three feet. The guys said, okay, I didn't actually mean it, 591 00:37:17,480 --> 00:37:22,400 Speaker 1: and the duel disappeared. But at seven am on July eleventh, 592 00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:25,959 Speaker 1: eighteen o four, in Weehawken, New Jersey, a town where 593 00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:29,120 Speaker 1: Hamilton's son had already been killed in a duel three 594 00:37:29,160 --> 00:37:33,960 Speaker 1: years earlier, Hamilton and Burr stood ten paces apart, announced 595 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:38,480 Speaker 1: they were ready, turned and fired. Hamilton missed, probably deliberately. 596 00:37:39,080 --> 00:37:42,120 Speaker 1: Burr shot Hamilton just above his right hip, and the 597 00:37:42,239 --> 00:37:46,040 Speaker 1: next day, Hamilton died in agony at forty nine years 598 00:37:46,080 --> 00:37:50,120 Speaker 1: of age. Now that of course sets up the drama 599 00:37:50,480 --> 00:37:54,160 Speaker 1: which becomes the musical. And it's interesting in some ways, 600 00:37:54,480 --> 00:37:57,920 Speaker 1: a little bit like Lincoln being killed immediately after winning 601 00:37:57,920 --> 00:38:01,920 Speaker 1: the war and the second Inaugural, which then permanently placed 602 00:38:01,920 --> 00:38:04,719 Speaker 1: Lincoln in the unique position of being a martyr to 603 00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:09,160 Speaker 1: the country. Hamilton's death blocked him from any future involvement, 604 00:38:09,200 --> 00:38:11,200 Speaker 1: so we have no idea since he was only forty nine, 605 00:38:11,280 --> 00:38:13,080 Speaker 1: we have no idea what the next twenty or thirty 606 00:38:13,160 --> 00:38:16,319 Speaker 1: years or forty years would have been liked. But it 607 00:38:16,480 --> 00:38:20,239 Speaker 1: also meant that for a while he sort of disappeared. 608 00:38:20,480 --> 00:38:23,440 Speaker 1: It's one of the comments that Henry Cabot Lodge makes 609 00:38:23,440 --> 00:38:27,840 Speaker 1: in his introduction to Hamilton's twelve Volumes, and that was unfortunately, 610 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:31,680 Speaker 1: I mean, the dominance of the Jeffersonians led to and 611 00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:34,640 Speaker 1: remember that they win with Jefferson, then they come back 612 00:38:34,719 --> 00:38:37,600 Speaker 1: and they win with Madison, and then they come back 613 00:38:37,600 --> 00:38:41,120 Speaker 1: and win again with Monroe. So you have a very 614 00:38:41,239 --> 00:38:44,920 Speaker 1: long Virginia dynasty which had followed eight years of George 615 00:38:44,920 --> 00:38:49,120 Speaker 1: Washington with only four years by Adams from Massachusetts. And 616 00:38:49,160 --> 00:38:53,440 Speaker 1: in that process Hamilton's sort of ceases to be the 617 00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:58,960 Speaker 1: brilliant financial revolutionary who had unified the country, the extraordinary 618 00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:02,919 Speaker 1: propagandist who written the Federalist papers, the efficient staffer who'd 619 00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:06,120 Speaker 1: helped George Washington win the Revolutionary War, and Hamilton just 620 00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:09,160 Speaker 1: kind of faded for a while. He then began to 621 00:39:09,160 --> 00:39:11,960 Speaker 1: come back after the Civil War, as we became a 622 00:39:12,040 --> 00:39:16,320 Speaker 1: much more unified national country and people thought in national terms. 623 00:39:16,880 --> 00:39:20,839 Speaker 1: I think Hamilton is an immortal. I think that what 624 00:39:20,960 --> 00:39:26,160 Speaker 1: he did in creating the core system, funding the debt, 625 00:39:26,719 --> 00:39:29,440 Speaker 1: creating the framework in which America could be accepted by 626 00:39:29,440 --> 00:39:33,680 Speaker 1: other nations, establishing a national economy, creating a Bank of 627 00:39:33,680 --> 00:39:38,000 Speaker 1: the United States, all of these things came together, combined 628 00:39:38,040 --> 00:39:41,480 Speaker 1: with the sheer genius of the Federalist papers, and I 629 00:39:41,520 --> 00:39:44,000 Speaker 1: think that it's easy to look back and forget that 630 00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:50,520 Speaker 1: there was this relatively small handful of people Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Madison, 631 00:39:51,040 --> 00:39:55,000 Speaker 1: Hamilton among the key who changed the history of the world. 632 00:39:55,640 --> 00:39:57,960 Speaker 1: They made it possible for us to forget the divine 633 00:39:58,040 --> 00:40:00,360 Speaker 1: right of kings. They made it possible for us to 634 00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:03,000 Speaker 1: come to believe that we are truly all endowed by 635 00:40:03,040 --> 00:40:06,560 Speaker 1: our creator, with certain unalienable rights. They made it possible 636 00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:09,280 Speaker 1: for us to imagine that a continent and wide country 637 00:40:09,320 --> 00:40:12,440 Speaker 1: could govern itself, that the people of that country could 638 00:40:12,480 --> 00:40:16,160 Speaker 1: in fact be in a position to have better lives, 639 00:40:16,480 --> 00:40:20,520 Speaker 1: to create a nation, to develop a patriotism that transcended 640 00:40:20,920 --> 00:40:23,280 Speaker 1: any of the normal things which had split us apart. 641 00:40:23,960 --> 00:40:26,000 Speaker 1: And I think as we go through our own travis 642 00:40:26,120 --> 00:40:29,440 Speaker 1: and we have our own difficulties of figuring out who 643 00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:31,920 Speaker 1: we are and how we're going to operate, it's useful 644 00:40:31,960 --> 00:40:33,920 Speaker 1: to go back and look at these folks and realize 645 00:40:34,360 --> 00:40:37,360 Speaker 1: that every generation has to find some people who have 646 00:40:37,480 --> 00:40:40,840 Speaker 1: that kind of capacity, and that Hamilton is certainly worthy 647 00:40:40,840 --> 00:40:45,520 Speaker 1: of study as somebody who had a remarkable impact, born 648 00:40:45,560 --> 00:40:50,440 Speaker 1: out of wedlock, an orphan, self educated, and in the end, 649 00:40:50,840 --> 00:41:01,920 Speaker 1: one of the greatest of Americans. Thank you for listening 650 00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:04,759 Speaker 1: to this episode of The Immortals. You can learn more 651 00:41:04,760 --> 00:41:09,560 Speaker 1: about Alexander Hamilton on our showpage at newtsworld dot com. 652 00:41:09,680 --> 00:41:13,200 Speaker 1: Newts World is produced by Gingwish Street sixty and iHeartMedia. 653 00:41:13,560 --> 00:41:18,200 Speaker 1: Our executive producer is Garnsey Sloan, our producer is Rebecca Howell, 654 00:41:18,440 --> 00:41:21,960 Speaker 1: and our researcher is Rachel Peterson. The artwork for the 655 00:41:22,000 --> 00:41:25,840 Speaker 1: show was created by Steve Penley. Special thanks to the 656 00:41:25,840 --> 00:41:29,680 Speaker 1: team at gingwishtree sixty. If you've been enjoying Newtsworld, I 657 00:41:29,719 --> 00:41:32,799 Speaker 1: hope you'll go to Apple Podcast and both rate us 658 00:41:32,800 --> 00:41:36,240 Speaker 1: with five stars and give us a review so others 659 00:41:36,280 --> 00:41:39,560 Speaker 1: can learn what it's all about. Right now, listeners of 660 00:41:39,640 --> 00:41:42,720 Speaker 1: newts World can sign up for my three free weekly 661 00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:47,560 Speaker 1: columns at Gingwish three sixty dot com slash newsletter. I'm 662 00:41:47,640 --> 00:41:49,799 Speaker 1: Newt Gingrich. This is Newtsworld.