1 00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:05,280 Speaker 1: On this episode of Newtsworld. As part of Founding Fathers Week, 2 00:00:05,600 --> 00:00:08,200 Speaker 1: I'm talking about the lives and legacies of our original 3 00:00:08,240 --> 00:00:16,400 Speaker 1: founders and the impact they've had in our country. On 4 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:21,040 Speaker 1: this episode of Nutsworld, Alexander Hamilton's life is one of 5 00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:24,919 Speaker 1: the more extraordinary stories of a founding father's rise to greatness. 6 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:26,560 Speaker 2: He's truly an immortal. 7 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 1: He was born in the Caribbean, on the island of 8 00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:33,560 Speaker 1: Nevs in the British West Indies in January seventeen fifty 9 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:37,559 Speaker 1: five or seventeen fifty seven to parents who were unmarried 10 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:40,479 Speaker 1: at the time, and then he was orphaned. 11 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:41,879 Speaker 2: The idea that. 12 00:00:41,840 --> 00:00:44,839 Speaker 1: An orphan child would grow up to become one of 13 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:48,040 Speaker 1: the most influential leaders in the founding of the United 14 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:51,600 Speaker 1: States of America is stunning, and he really personifies the 15 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:55,920 Speaker 1: American dream before we had defined what that meant. Hamilton 16 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:59,200 Speaker 1: was a lawyer by training, but also got very involved 17 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:02,240 Speaker 1: in financial miney markets, founded the Bank of New York, 18 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 1: and later would serve as the first Secretary of the 19 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:09,440 Speaker 1: Treasury under President George Washington. More importantly, it's what he 20 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:12,800 Speaker 1: did behind the scenes to establish the United States that's significant. 21 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:16,320 Speaker 1: He served in the Revolutionary War, both in the field 22 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:19,160 Speaker 1: as an artillery officer and as a senior aide to 23 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:23,000 Speaker 1: General George Washington. After the war, he was elected as 24 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: a representative from New York to the Congress of the Confederation. 25 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:30,160 Speaker 1: He led the Annapolis Convention of seventeen eighty six and 26 00:01:30,640 --> 00:01:35,280 Speaker 1: wrote fifty one of the eighty five Federalist papers. Most 27 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:39,200 Speaker 1: of us these days No Hamilton from the Broadway musical 28 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:44,720 Speaker 1: by Lynn Manuel Miranda, which debuted in twenty fifteen. Miranda 29 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:48,640 Speaker 1: was inspired by the two thousand and four ron Chernou 30 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:52,400 Speaker 1: biography of Hamilton. The musical has introduced a new generation 31 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:56,640 Speaker 1: to Alexander Hamilton's life and legacy and made it an 32 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:08,079 Speaker 1: entertaining le Hamilton, in a sense has had a new 33 00:02:08,160 --> 00:02:12,919 Speaker 1: burst of fame. But he's somebody who really never should 34 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:19,359 Speaker 1: have disappeared. First of all, he was extraordinarily bright. Hamilton 35 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 1: may have been, in sheer iq, the smartest of all 36 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:28,959 Speaker 1: the founding fathers. He was just deeply admired by Washington. 37 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:33,120 Speaker 1: He was invaluable to Washington as a staff officer. He 38 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 1: was endlessly competent. And I think that's a key part 39 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:39,880 Speaker 1: of this is that Hamilton was a person who was 40 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:43,120 Speaker 1: very ambitious, but he was also a person who worked 41 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:48,160 Speaker 1: very hard and who applied his considerable intelligence to whatever 42 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:52,400 Speaker 1: job he had. Now, he actually had not gotten to 43 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:56,960 Speaker 1: the US very much before the Revolution began. He was born, 44 00:02:57,040 --> 00:03:00,520 Speaker 1: we think, either in seventeen fifty five or seventeen fifty 45 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:04,720 Speaker 1: seven on Neivas. His father was a Scottish trader named 46 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 1: James Hamilton. His mother Rachel Faussett Levine. They were not 47 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 1: married at the time. Rachel, in fact, was married to 48 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 1: another man at the time of Hamilton's birth, but had 49 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:17,320 Speaker 1: left her husband after he spent much of her family 50 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: fortune and he had had her in prison for adultery. 51 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:24,160 Speaker 1: Now you may be curious why James Hamilton settled in Neavis. 52 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 1: The British gained control of the island in seventeen thirteen, 53 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:31,880 Speaker 1: and Nevas and Saint KITT's soon were the leading areas 54 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:35,120 Speaker 1: of sugar production in the Caribbean. The colonists and others 55 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:38,120 Speaker 1: wanted sugar to sweeten their tea in cough. Its hard 56 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:40,920 Speaker 1: for us to remember, but these islands were considered so 57 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:45,160 Speaker 1: amazingly valuable that at one point in negotiations the British 58 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:49,120 Speaker 1: kept some islands in the Caribbean as being of greater 59 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:53,520 Speaker 1: value than all of Canada. Unfortunately, the islands also had malaria, 60 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:56,400 Speaker 1: so a number of people died over the two hundred 61 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:59,839 Speaker 1: years in which they were producing sugar there. Hamilton's father 62 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:03,119 Speaker 1: and his family in seventeen sixty six. His mother died 63 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:06,880 Speaker 1: of yellow fever two years later in February seventeen sixty eight, 64 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:10,240 Speaker 1: so he was orphaned, probably at either eleven or thirteen, 65 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:14,120 Speaker 1: depending on which year of birth was accurate. Hamilton and 66 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:17,000 Speaker 1: his older brother, James Junior moved in with a cousin 67 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:19,920 Speaker 1: who eventually died, and then an uncle who also died. 68 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:22,800 Speaker 1: As I said, this is an area that had suffered 69 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:27,960 Speaker 1: huge casualties, largely from various tropical diseases. After the death 70 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,080 Speaker 1: of his uncle, Hamilton was taken in by Thomas Stevens, 71 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:34,800 Speaker 1: a merchant, and he was apprenticed with him. Hamilton viewed 72 00:04:34,839 --> 00:04:38,120 Speaker 1: this as the most formative part of his education, learning 73 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:42,000 Speaker 1: how to track freight, chart courses for ships, and calculate 74 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:46,240 Speaker 1: prices by different currencies. In his youth, Hamilton sent poems 75 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:49,440 Speaker 1: and letters to the local newspaper. It was remarkable because 76 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:52,560 Speaker 1: Hamilton did not have a formal education. It's just that 77 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:55,680 Speaker 1: he was really smart and he kept learning. He never 78 00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:58,560 Speaker 1: attended school in the island, but when his mother was alive, 79 00:04:58,680 --> 00:05:01,120 Speaker 1: she taught him French and bought books for him and 80 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 1: his older brother to read. In seventeen seventy two, impressed 81 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:09,920 Speaker 1: by Hamilton's quick learning abilities and intelligence, Hamilton's boss sponsored 82 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:12,240 Speaker 1: the young clerk's trip to the United States to attend 83 00:05:12,279 --> 00:05:16,359 Speaker 1: school there. Hamilton began his preparation for college at a 84 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:19,560 Speaker 1: grammar school in New Jersey and enrolled in what was 85 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:24,160 Speaker 1: then called King's College in seventeen seventy four. It becomes 86 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:28,840 Speaker 1: eventually Columbia University. Hamilton's enrollment of King's College speaks to 87 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:32,799 Speaker 1: his astounding skills and intelligence. He wanted to be admitted 88 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:35,520 Speaker 1: to a university on his own terms, to be allowed 89 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:37,920 Speaker 1: to enroll in any class for which he was qualified, 90 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:41,880 Speaker 1: and to graduate as soon as he'd completed the minimum requirements. 91 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:46,719 Speaker 1: After being denied admission at Princeton because of his unorthodox request, 92 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:50,880 Speaker 1: Hamilton was admitted to King's College under the proposed arrangement 93 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:54,479 Speaker 1: and subsequently assigned a special tutor. No. Imagine, here's this 94 00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:57,800 Speaker 1: guy who shows up from the Caribbean and immediately begin 95 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:01,160 Speaker 1: setting his own terms of life and gets away with it. 96 00:06:01,600 --> 00:06:04,080 Speaker 1: People are so impressed with how smart he is and 97 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:07,400 Speaker 1: how hard he works that they keep bending over trying 98 00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:10,719 Speaker 1: to help him accommodate on his terms. During his time 99 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 1: at King's College, Hamilton's eloquence and genius took a political 100 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:18,120 Speaker 1: application as the debates became more poised about the role 101 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:20,440 Speaker 1: of the British Empire and whether or not we should 102 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:24,080 Speaker 1: become independent. While as a sophomore in the college, Hamilton 103 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:28,200 Speaker 1: delivered an impromptu speech that passionately outlined the case of 104 00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:32,080 Speaker 1: the colonies against parliamentary injustices. Remember this is a time 105 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:36,000 Speaker 1: when Americans are arguing with themselves. Are they really English 106 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 1: and merely petitioning the crown to do whatever the crown wants? 107 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,960 Speaker 1: Or are they really this new creature called an American? 108 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:47,919 Speaker 1: Hamilton cited as somebody whomself had no great roots anywhere 109 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:51,280 Speaker 1: that he was an American. He also became well known 110 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:55,240 Speaker 1: for his publishing a series of scathing but reasoned responses 111 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:58,920 Speaker 1: to the Continental Congress that were published when Hamilton was 112 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:02,520 Speaker 1: eighteen years old. While Hamilton was in college, the Revolutionary 113 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 1: War began, and in seventeen seventy five he quit school 114 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:10,440 Speaker 1: to join the army. Now, Hamilton was an impressive leader. 115 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:13,600 Speaker 1: He was well organized, He knew how to get supplies 116 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 1: that troops. He could get an amazing number of things done. 117 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:21,040 Speaker 1: And George Washington, who is in desperate need of competent help, 118 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:24,960 Speaker 1: asked Hamilton to become his assistant, helping him plan battles, 119 00:07:25,160 --> 00:07:29,200 Speaker 1: write letters, and manage Washington's staff. Hamilton served in this 120 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:32,560 Speaker 1: position for four years. Now, remember they're in the field 121 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:37,040 Speaker 1: the entire time. They're together every single day, they truly 122 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:39,559 Speaker 1: get to know each other. Washington gets in the habit 123 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:42,920 Speaker 1: of relying heavily on Hamilton and realizing that this is 124 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 1: one of the brightest people, if not the brightest person, 125 00:07:45,480 --> 00:07:48,840 Speaker 1: he's ever met. Hamilton often used his writing skills to 126 00:07:48,920 --> 00:07:52,520 Speaker 1: write to the Continental Congress asking for food and supplies 127 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:56,280 Speaker 1: for General Washington's troops, and he watched as the Continental 128 00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:59,600 Speaker 1: Congress wrote the Decoration Independence and debated how to run 129 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:04,000 Speaker 1: the country. Now, Hamilton was so smart and so widely 130 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:07,680 Speaker 1: read that with six months of studying he passed the 131 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 1: Bar exam without formal training. It was just amazing. He 132 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:14,360 Speaker 1: had decided in January seventeen eighty two he wanted to 133 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:17,360 Speaker 1: become a lawyer. He petitioned the New York Supreme Court 134 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:19,880 Speaker 1: to let him take the bar exam without the required 135 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:23,560 Speaker 1: three year internship. And after all, he had served four 136 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:26,200 Speaker 1: years as an aid to Washington. So they sort of 137 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:28,600 Speaker 1: fudged and said, well, that kind of counts as an internship. 138 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:33,199 Speaker 1: Hamilton taught himself law now to aid in his studies. 139 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:36,960 Speaker 1: Hamilton studied old New York court cases and wrote his 140 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:41,160 Speaker 1: analysis in the book he later published called Practical Proceedings 141 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:43,880 Speaker 1: in the Supreme Court of New York. He wrote it 142 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:45,679 Speaker 1: at the age of twenty five. This puts him in 143 00:08:45,679 --> 00:08:48,800 Speaker 1: the same league as Theodore Roosevelt, who wrote his famous 144 00:08:49,280 --> 00:08:51,880 Speaker 1: history of the Naval War of eighteen twelve and was 145 00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:55,600 Speaker 1: published when he was twenty five. Hamilton saw his book 146 00:08:55,640 --> 00:08:59,040 Speaker 1: become the standard text in New York legal studies for 147 00:08:59,080 --> 00:09:02,120 Speaker 1: the rest of his life. In October seventeen eighty two, 148 00:09:02,679 --> 00:09:06,040 Speaker 1: Hamilton passed the bar and was legally allowed to practice 149 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:08,360 Speaker 1: law in New York. Now, by this stage, the war 150 00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:12,000 Speaker 1: is winding down and which would begin to be a 151 00:09:12,080 --> 00:09:14,560 Speaker 1: national country, And this is part of what makes Hamilton 152 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:20,000 Speaker 1: so important. Hamilton had a vision of America as a country, 153 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:23,360 Speaker 1: not a collection of thirteen colonies, or later on, not 154 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:26,200 Speaker 1: as a collection of thirteen states, but rather as a 155 00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:30,960 Speaker 1: truly national system. In seventeen eighty one, Hamilton proposed to 156 00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:34,920 Speaker 1: Robert Morris, who was Congress's Superintendent of Finance, that we 157 00:09:34,960 --> 00:09:38,240 Speaker 1: needed a national bank. He also suggested the Congress of 158 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:41,440 Speaker 1: the power to raise taxes. At the time, the Continental 159 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:44,120 Speaker 1: Congress couldn't actually levy any taxes. They had to ask 160 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:46,680 Speaker 1: that colonies and then later when they became states, to 161 00:09:46,760 --> 00:09:49,880 Speaker 1: voluntarily give them money. But they didn't have any power 162 00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:54,160 Speaker 1: to actually raise money. So Morris liked Hamilton's ideas and 163 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:58,200 Speaker 1: fought for them in Congress. Morris then appointed Hamilton to 164 00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:01,560 Speaker 1: the possession of receiver of funtinental taxes in New York 165 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:04,400 Speaker 1: in May of seventeen eighty two. Remember this is a 166 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:08,200 Speaker 1: few months before even passes the bar. So he's inventing 167 00:10:08,240 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 1: the national bank, developing a tax system, becoming the receiver 168 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:15,640 Speaker 1: of taxes in New York while he's also studying to 169 00:10:15,679 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 1: pass the bar. He accepted the position, he didn't have 170 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:23,520 Speaker 1: much time to get collected taxes, and frankly, at the point, 171 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:26,480 Speaker 1: there was no real power in that job. He couldn't 172 00:10:26,520 --> 00:10:29,080 Speaker 1: go in and subpoena people, or send him to jail, 173 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:33,679 Speaker 1: or do anything. I was all basically nagging. But from 174 00:10:33,720 --> 00:10:37,160 Speaker 1: October seventeen eighty two to August of seventeen eighty three, 175 00:10:37,280 --> 00:10:40,120 Speaker 1: basically from the time he passed the bar to seventeen 176 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:44,000 Speaker 1: eighty three, he served in Congress as a representative state 177 00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:47,360 Speaker 1: of New York. While I was there, he helped draft 178 00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:49,480 Speaker 1: the peace treaty between the US and Great Britain that 179 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:53,280 Speaker 1: ended the war. He proposed that naval activities be banned 180 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:56,720 Speaker 1: from the Great Lakes between the US and British controlled Canada. 181 00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:00,679 Speaker 1: That suggestion was ignored him. By the way, by twelve, 182 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:03,120 Speaker 1: naval power on the Great Lakes would become a real 183 00:11:03,160 --> 00:11:06,360 Speaker 1: issue and one of the major points of combat during 184 00:11:06,360 --> 00:11:09,920 Speaker 1: the War of eighteen twelve. In August of seventeen eighty three, 185 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:13,360 Speaker 1: after eight months as a congressman, Hamilton returned to New 186 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:16,559 Speaker 1: York and finally used his law degree to establish a 187 00:11:16,640 --> 00:11:20,720 Speaker 1: legal practice. He represented several tories. Remember there were about 188 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:22,600 Speaker 1: a third of the American people actually were on the 189 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:25,480 Speaker 1: side of the British, a third were for independence, and 190 00:11:25,559 --> 00:11:28,199 Speaker 1: the third just wanted to hide. The fact is as 191 00:11:28,240 --> 00:11:32,160 Speaker 1: a lawyer, he felt people deserve representation, so he represented 192 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:35,120 Speaker 1: a number of Tories who had various claims because their 193 00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:38,000 Speaker 1: property had been stolen or their bills hadn't been paid. 194 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:41,239 Speaker 1: And a lot of people thought that Hamilton was betraying 195 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:45,280 Speaker 1: the New Country by this kind of representation, but Hamilton 196 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:48,360 Speaker 1: really taking a position that John Adams had taken after 197 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:51,320 Speaker 1: the Boston massacre when he had defended the British soldiers 198 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:55,679 Speaker 1: in Boston. Hamilton thought that the lawyer had applied the 199 00:11:55,800 --> 00:12:00,560 Speaker 1: law that people deserved representation, and that the war was over, 200 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:02,920 Speaker 1: that the time had come to move forward, to look 201 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:06,880 Speaker 1: to the future, and that going after the loyalists, as 202 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:10,319 Speaker 1: the Tories were called, would simply weaken the country because 203 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:12,439 Speaker 1: it would drive people away, which they did. A very 204 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:16,880 Speaker 1: substantial number of the wealthier loyalist left America went to 205 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:21,679 Speaker 1: Britainer to Canada. Hamilton, in fact had a very different view. 206 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:25,120 Speaker 1: In June of seventeen eighty four, he defended a loyalist 207 00:12:25,200 --> 00:12:28,880 Speaker 1: in the Rutgers versus Waddington case, which rose from the 208 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:33,559 Speaker 1: Trespass Act of seventeen eighty three. Hamilton argued that trest 209 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:36,800 Speaker 1: backed Act was inconsistent with things in the Treaty of 210 00:12:36,840 --> 00:12:39,760 Speaker 1: Peace that he had helped. Remember, he helps write the treaty, 211 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:43,120 Speaker 1: helps pass the treaty. So he's now in court debating 212 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:45,480 Speaker 1: what the treaty means, and he clearly has a great 213 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:48,440 Speaker 1: deal of expertise. He was very worried that if the 214 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:52,080 Speaker 1: case was one and the loyalist was punished, it would 215 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:57,160 Speaker 1: drive thousands of loyalists away from New York, negatively impacting trade. 216 00:12:57,240 --> 00:12:59,599 Speaker 1: He lost, but Hamilton used the arguments he made in 217 00:12:59,640 --> 00:13:02,679 Speaker 1: the case as the basis for the Federalist Papers number 218 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:05,880 Speaker 1: twenty two and seventy eight, where he argued, quote, the 219 00:13:05,920 --> 00:13:09,920 Speaker 1: interpretation of the law is the proper and peculiar province 220 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:12,960 Speaker 1: of the courts. The case also set the state precedent 221 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:17,200 Speaker 1: for judicial review established by the Supreme Court in eighteen 222 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:21,760 Speaker 1: oh three. Now, Hamilton wanted a strong and powerful federal government. 223 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:25,960 Speaker 1: The truth is Hamilton felt more comfortable with an aristocratic 224 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:26,480 Speaker 1: government if. 225 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:27,880 Speaker 2: He could have figured out a way to get there. 226 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:30,640 Speaker 1: He'd love to have had George Washington as a new king, 227 00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:35,000 Speaker 1: but that's not where the country is going. His deeper 228 00:13:35,320 --> 00:13:39,960 Speaker 1: impact that really mattered was that he wanted to have 229 00:13:40,160 --> 00:13:44,160 Speaker 1: the nation come together, and he looked for things that 230 00:13:44,200 --> 00:14:01,079 Speaker 1: would bring together everybody into thinking themselves as Americans. Hi, 231 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:03,600 Speaker 1: this is NEWT. In my new book, March the Majority, 232 00:14:03,679 --> 00:14:07,160 Speaker 1: The Real Story of the Republican Revolution, I offer strategies 233 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:10,880 Speaker 1: and insights for everyday citizens and for season politicians. It's 234 00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:13,959 Speaker 1: both a guide for political success and for winning back 235 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:17,240 Speaker 1: the Majority. In twenty twenty four, March to the Majority 236 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:21,280 Speaker 1: outlines the sixteen year campaign to write the Contract with America. 237 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:25,160 Speaker 1: Explains how we elected the first Republican House majority in 238 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:28,760 Speaker 1: forty years in how we worked with President Bill Clinton 239 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:34,280 Speaker 1: to pass major reforms, including four consecutive balance budgets. March 240 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:37,320 Speaker 1: to the Majority tells the behind the scenes story of 241 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:40,280 Speaker 1: how we got it done. Go to ginglishtree sixty dot 242 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:43,480 Speaker 1: com slash book and order your copy now. Order it 243 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:53,000 Speaker 1: today at gingishtree sixty dot com slash book. Hamilton maneuvered 244 00:14:53,040 --> 00:14:55,680 Speaker 1: and worked very hard. He ended up playing a major 245 00:14:55,760 --> 00:15:01,400 Speaker 1: role in the Constitutional Convention, and he really understood that 246 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:07,920 Speaker 1: it was very, very important that we become a unified country. 247 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:11,440 Speaker 1: His role in the Convention was important. And the convention 248 00:15:11,640 --> 00:15:13,960 Speaker 1: is an interesting example of two things we tend not 249 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:17,840 Speaker 1: to remember. One it was a coup d'eta. The people 250 00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:20,520 Speaker 1: who went to the Convention were sent to the Convention 251 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:24,880 Speaker 1: to reform the Articles of Confederation. When they got there, 252 00:15:24,920 --> 00:15:26,680 Speaker 1: they looked around and said, this is crazy. These things 253 00:15:26,680 --> 00:15:30,560 Speaker 1: will never work. So without any kind of basic approval 254 00:15:30,640 --> 00:15:34,000 Speaker 1: from back home, they decided they'd write a new constitution 255 00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:38,080 Speaker 1: and completely replaced the Articles of Confederation. They did a 256 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:41,160 Speaker 1: second thing which we often tend to forget. They decided 257 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:46,120 Speaker 1: they'd meet in secret. So the most important document defining America, 258 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:50,360 Speaker 1: the Constitution, is written in secret by a group of 259 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:55,520 Speaker 1: people who have basically violated their rules by giving themselves 260 00:15:55,520 --> 00:15:58,440 Speaker 1: a much bigger assignment than they were elected for. They 261 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:01,880 Speaker 1: have to work out an amazing number of details, and 262 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:08,360 Speaker 1: it involves very deep political negotiation. They finally come together 263 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:13,800 Speaker 1: with a program and they pass out a constitution. Now, 264 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:17,280 Speaker 1: because they understood a little bit different than some of 265 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:20,800 Speaker 1: our current leadership, that you couldn't sustain something if it 266 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:24,520 Speaker 1: wasn't supported by the people, they said, you know, all 267 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:26,840 Speaker 1: the states have to in fact endorse it. I think 268 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:29,640 Speaker 1: nine of them had to endorse the constitution for it 269 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:33,000 Speaker 1: to go into effect. Well, that meant you had to 270 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:35,000 Speaker 1: go back. Each state would have a different way of 271 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:37,440 Speaker 1: doing it. Some would do it by vote, some would 272 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:41,040 Speaker 1: do it by having the state legislature involved. But each 273 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:44,320 Speaker 1: state had to find a way to ratify the Constitution. 274 00:16:44,880 --> 00:16:47,400 Speaker 1: So here's this document which had been drafted in secret, 275 00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:50,800 Speaker 1: it's suddenly sprung in the country. It is outlining a 276 00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:55,200 Speaker 1: very complicated system which, frankly, even today in government class 277 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:58,240 Speaker 1: people have a hard time mastering all the details of 278 00:16:58,280 --> 00:16:58,960 Speaker 1: the Constitution. 279 00:16:59,680 --> 00:17:01,880 Speaker 2: And Hamilton, along. 280 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:05,240 Speaker 1: With two other people, John Jay of New York and 281 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:10,760 Speaker 1: James Madison of Virginia, decide to write what is in 282 00:17:10,840 --> 00:17:15,320 Speaker 1: fact the most elegant and most powerful campaign. 283 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:15,879 Speaker 2: Brochure ever written. 284 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:18,360 Speaker 1: And it's important to think about that way. The Federalist 285 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:25,639 Speaker 1: Papers nowadays seem like this very sophisticated academic document that 286 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:26,919 Speaker 1: people study. 287 00:17:27,240 --> 00:17:28,359 Speaker 2: But that's not what it was. 288 00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:33,040 Speaker 1: It was a collection of eighty five articles essays written 289 00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:37,520 Speaker 1: by Hamilton, Madison and Jay. They appeared anonymously in New 290 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:41,320 Speaker 1: York newspapers in seventeen eighty seven and seventeen eighty eight 291 00:17:41,800 --> 00:17:46,160 Speaker 1: under the pen name Publius. And I have to say, 292 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:48,280 Speaker 1: having spent large parts of my life dealing with the 293 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:54,560 Speaker 1: Federalist Papers, they're unbelievably brilliant, Now the vast majority of 294 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:58,760 Speaker 1: them were written by Hamilton. Fifty two out of the 295 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:03,040 Speaker 1: eighty five are written by Hamilton. They address every major 296 00:18:03,160 --> 00:18:06,000 Speaker 1: question about the nature of the new government. They walk 297 00:18:06,080 --> 00:18:09,080 Speaker 1: people through the reasoning that led the government to be 298 00:18:09,160 --> 00:18:11,800 Speaker 1: designed the way it was. They are far and away 299 00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:16,800 Speaker 1: the best primary source for understanding what the founding fathers intended. 300 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:20,080 Speaker 1: And they weren't. I remember, this is the country we're 301 00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:22,320 Speaker 1: probably only about a third of the people could read. 302 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:25,800 Speaker 1: And here you have this document. When I say campaign brochure, 303 00:18:26,119 --> 00:18:28,399 Speaker 1: you just picking up a look at it. This wasn't 304 00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:32,880 Speaker 1: some two page, fancy colored document with seven pictures. This 305 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:38,520 Speaker 1: is pure print. And what happened was, of course, relatively 306 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:41,240 Speaker 1: smart people read it and then would sit around the 307 00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:44,480 Speaker 1: tavern and explain it. So the people who couldn't read 308 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:47,800 Speaker 1: were listening and asking questions from the people who could read. 309 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:51,399 Speaker 1: And the net result was one of the greatest educational 310 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:55,800 Speaker 1: moments in history. The American people came together. They concluded 311 00:18:56,160 --> 00:18:59,359 Speaker 1: both that it was the right thing to do and 312 00:18:59,600 --> 00:19:03,119 Speaker 1: that it was creating a government which was legitimate. Now, 313 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:06,760 Speaker 1: the Federalist papers originally were published primarily in two New 314 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:10,720 Speaker 1: York State newspapers, the New York Packet and the Independent Journal. 315 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:13,480 Speaker 1: They were then reprinted in other newspapers in New York 316 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:16,720 Speaker 1: and in cities around the country. Then a bound edition 317 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:20,320 Speaker 1: was produced with revisions and corrections by Hamilton, and that 318 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:23,760 Speaker 1: was published in seventeen eighty eight. Another edition would be 319 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:26,879 Speaker 1: published some thirty years later by Jacob Gideon in eighteen 320 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:30,600 Speaker 1: eighteen with revisions and corrections by Madison, which was the 321 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:34,200 Speaker 1: first one that actually identified each essay by its author's name. 322 00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:37,159 Speaker 1: So think about that. You get this series of articles 323 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:41,119 Speaker 1: and newspapers and then a book by Publius, and you 324 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:44,679 Speaker 1: end up reading what the arguments are and you go, well, 325 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:47,880 Speaker 1: you know they've really thought this through. And in fact, 326 00:19:47,960 --> 00:19:50,240 Speaker 1: if you take the time to read it, you'll realize 327 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:53,320 Speaker 1: that Hamilton was a genius. He and Madison are the 328 00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:57,920 Speaker 1: two primary writers, and their grasp of the most important 329 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:04,040 Speaker 1: fundamentals of freedom is just astonishing. I think as long 330 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:06,720 Speaker 1: as humans want to understand how to be free, the 331 00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:09,400 Speaker 1: Federalist Papers will have a role to play and will 332 00:20:09,400 --> 00:20:12,760 Speaker 1: be a primary source document on the nature of freedom. Now, 333 00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:14,840 Speaker 1: while he's in the middle of creating a new country, 334 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:17,480 Speaker 1: he also becomes a member of the board of trustees 335 00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:20,640 Speaker 1: of what used to be King's College when he went 336 00:20:20,680 --> 00:20:23,480 Speaker 1: to it, but now was Columbia College, which of course 337 00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:27,960 Speaker 1: has evolved into Columbia University. He helped develop a detailed 338 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:31,320 Speaker 1: outline of the new academic departments and faculty appointments. He 339 00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:35,879 Speaker 1: assisted in analyzing their finances and budget allocations, and he 340 00:20:35,960 --> 00:20:38,760 Speaker 1: would work on the board at Columbia and serve Columbia 341 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:41,639 Speaker 1: for the next twenty years until he died. Will people 342 00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:45,800 Speaker 1: always identify Jefferson with founding the University of Virginia. The 343 00:20:45,880 --> 00:20:49,919 Speaker 1: fact is Hamilton was on the board of Columbia College 344 00:20:50,280 --> 00:20:54,280 Speaker 1: long before Jefferson got around to creating the University of Virginia. 345 00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:56,720 Speaker 2: Hamilton's most famous. 346 00:20:56,320 --> 00:21:00,919 Speaker 1: Role is first Sector of the Treasury. Washington brought men immediately. 347 00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:03,600 Speaker 1: There were two great important jobs. I think the most 348 00:21:03,640 --> 00:21:06,800 Speaker 1: important was Secretary of Treasury. The second most important was 349 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:10,359 Speaker 1: the Secretary of State. Jefferson has made Secretary of State, 350 00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:14,800 Speaker 1: Hamilton has made Secretary of the Treasury, and they are 351 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:21,080 Speaker 1: amazingly different in their approach to things. Jefferson is an intellectual. 352 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:23,920 Speaker 1: He spent a great deal of time representing the United 353 00:21:23,960 --> 00:21:26,719 Speaker 1: States in France. He watched the early stages of the 354 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:30,359 Speaker 1: French Revolution. He was actually sympathetic in the early days 355 00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:33,760 Speaker 1: against the monarchy, even though the monarchy had supported the 356 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:36,600 Speaker 1: United States and its War of Independence. And then I 357 00:21:36,600 --> 00:21:39,680 Speaker 1: think Jefferson, like everybody else, was horrified as the French 358 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:44,760 Speaker 1: Revolution went crazy and began guillotining people, imposing a dictatorship 359 00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:48,520 Speaker 1: of the left. But he came home he was very 360 00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:51,159 Speaker 1: concerned about a strong central government. This is one of 361 00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:55,720 Speaker 1: the first places where he and Hamilton have a profound disagreement. 362 00:21:56,320 --> 00:22:01,080 Speaker 1: Jefferson agrees to support the new Constitution only if Madison 363 00:22:01,119 --> 00:22:04,719 Speaker 1: will carry a series of amendments which became known as 364 00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:07,639 Speaker 1: the Bill of Rights. And it's important to recognize it. 365 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:12,399 Speaker 1: Where Hamilton is trying to strengthen the government, Jefferson is 366 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:16,720 Speaker 1: really worried that a strong government will infringe on our liberties. 367 00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:23,160 Speaker 1: By contrast, Hamilton had a more idealized vision that humans 368 00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:25,760 Speaker 1: could have power without being corrupted by it. I would 369 00:22:25,760 --> 00:22:28,760 Speaker 1: say that Jefferson was almost certainly more correct about humans 370 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:32,880 Speaker 1: than Hamilton, but Hamilton was almost certainly more correct about 371 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:36,440 Speaker 1: the economy and about how money worked. And that makes 372 00:22:36,440 --> 00:22:39,200 Speaker 1: it one of the most amazing things in American history 373 00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:42,280 Speaker 1: that you end up at this magic moment. First of all, 374 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:48,080 Speaker 1: with Washington, who is the moral giant, the man of honor, 375 00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:51,840 Speaker 1: the person everybody relies on, the person on whose shoulders 376 00:22:51,920 --> 00:22:54,400 Speaker 1: all of us stand, the genuine father of his country. 377 00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:58,680 Speaker 1: But Washington recognizes he doesn't know all these details. That's 378 00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:00,840 Speaker 1: not his strength. That he'd let a war for eight years. 379 00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:03,320 Speaker 1: He was a great planner. He's actually a very innovative 380 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:07,840 Speaker 1: planner who bread an entire news species of more powerful mule. 381 00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:12,040 Speaker 1: For example, he worked very assiduously at understanding the business 382 00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:16,440 Speaker 1: of running the largest plantation in America. But Washington was 383 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:20,639 Speaker 1: a very good, very shrewd selector of people. He knew 384 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:25,240 Speaker 1: that Jefferson loved foreign affairs, and Jefferson understood Europe, and 385 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:29,359 Speaker 1: he knew that Hamilton could master finance. At a time 386 00:23:29,480 --> 00:23:33,560 Speaker 1: when we'd had enormous inflation, the money issued by the 387 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:37,000 Speaker 1: Continental Congress had collapsed in value. There was a huge 388 00:23:37,000 --> 00:23:39,399 Speaker 1: amount of debt held by the public, there was a 389 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:41,679 Speaker 1: huge amount of debt held by the Dutch and others. 390 00:23:42,200 --> 00:23:46,000 Speaker 1: And the question was were we going to dissolve into 391 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:50,440 Speaker 1: being incapable of paying our debts, having our currency collapse, 392 00:23:50,880 --> 00:23:55,320 Speaker 1: and not being acceptable as a financial risk around the world, 393 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:59,200 Speaker 1: or were we going to in fact fund the debt, 394 00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:02,560 Speaker 1: pay it all and pay off the debt that we 395 00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:07,800 Speaker 1: recrued overseas. And along comes Hamilton. Hamilton is a student 396 00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:10,600 Speaker 1: of Adam Smith, who published The Wealth of Nations in 397 00:24:10,680 --> 00:24:14,000 Speaker 1: seventeen seventy six as one of the Great Magic Moments. 398 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:17,560 Speaker 1: The book, which most explains the importance of freedom and markets, 399 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:21,000 Speaker 1: was published the same year as The Declaration of Independence, 400 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:24,440 Speaker 1: which explains the importance of political freedom, and the two 401 00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:27,960 Speaker 1: go hand in hand. They reinforce each other, and Hamilton 402 00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:31,960 Speaker 1: understands what Smith is doing. Smith's not a theoretician. He's 403 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:35,040 Speaker 1: not writing about theory. Smith is an observer of a 404 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:38,240 Speaker 1: world that is emerging, the world of manufacturing, the world 405 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:42,200 Speaker 1: of commerce, and he's describing how it's working. When Smith 406 00:24:42,240 --> 00:24:45,080 Speaker 1: has a section on the needle factory and how efficient 407 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:47,240 Speaker 1: it is and how productive it is, it's because he's 408 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:50,040 Speaker 1: actually been in a needle factory and watched at work. 409 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:54,480 Speaker 1: And so Hamilton comes along. Remember, now he's been a lawyer, 410 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:58,560 Speaker 1: he's been an artilleryman, he's been a personal aid to 411 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:02,600 Speaker 1: General Washington. He's become a lawyer. Now he pivots and 412 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:05,919 Speaker 1: he becomes a financier, and he's brilliant enough that he 413 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:07,800 Speaker 1: gets right to the heart of the matter. And there 414 00:25:07,800 --> 00:25:12,439 Speaker 1: were twelve volumes of Hamilton's personal papers. They were introduced 415 00:25:12,520 --> 00:25:17,920 Speaker 1: by Henry Cabot Lodge, who wrote this extraordinary explanation of 416 00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:25,240 Speaker 1: Hamilton about eighteen eighty two, and Lodge says, Hamilton's genius 417 00:25:25,840 --> 00:25:30,760 Speaker 1: was understanding facts, and he allowed facts to then develop theories. 418 00:25:31,160 --> 00:25:34,119 Speaker 1: He didn't start with theories and try to twist the facts. 419 00:25:34,520 --> 00:25:38,120 Speaker 1: And so Hamilton looked at if you want a healthy country, 420 00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:40,479 Speaker 1: and you want to be able to have a sound credit, 421 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:42,600 Speaker 1: and in a crisis, you want to be able to 422 00:25:42,600 --> 00:25:45,119 Speaker 1: borrow money from the Dutch and others, what do you 423 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:48,040 Speaker 1: have to do And he said, well, first of all, 424 00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:50,439 Speaker 1: you have to acknowledge all of the debts coming out 425 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:53,720 Speaker 1: of the Continental Congress during the war. Second, you have 426 00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:56,640 Speaker 1: to acknowledge all the debts that you signed your name 427 00:25:56,720 --> 00:25:59,520 Speaker 1: for in terms of the Dutch and others. And then 428 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:02,480 Speaker 1: you have to build an ability to gradually pay them off. 429 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:06,199 Speaker 1: And you did that by always running a small surplus 430 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:08,600 Speaker 1: and taking that small surplus and what was called a 431 00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:12,440 Speaker 1: sinking fund, and paying down the debt. Now, Hamilton also 432 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:15,600 Speaker 1: had the advantage of studying what William Pitt the Younger 433 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:18,360 Speaker 1: had done in Great Britain in the seventeen eighties, so 434 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:22,320 Speaker 1: he knew this could work. His problem was how do 435 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:25,919 Speaker 1: you get it through a Congress, which isn't all that 436 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:29,720 Speaker 1: excited about, first of all, the domestic debt, because what 437 00:26:29,720 --> 00:26:32,520 Speaker 1: had happened was a lot of the veterans who'd earned 438 00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:36,800 Speaker 1: these IOUs had sold them out of despair. So you 439 00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:39,840 Speaker 1: had speculators, many of them in New York and Massachusetts, 440 00:26:40,200 --> 00:26:43,920 Speaker 1: who had gone across the South, buying up these IOUs 441 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:47,439 Speaker 1: sometimes at ten or fifteen cents on the dollar. And 442 00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:51,119 Speaker 1: now if you're going to actually pay them off, that 443 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:53,720 Speaker 1: means that the veteran's not going to get very much, 444 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:58,040 Speaker 1: but all these speculators are going to get rich. Similarly, 445 00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:02,080 Speaker 1: in a Great American tradition, Congress wasn't all that excited 446 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:05,760 Speaker 1: about raising hard taxes from its own people in order 447 00:27:05,800 --> 00:27:08,240 Speaker 1: to ship the money to the Dutch who had loaned 448 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:10,479 Speaker 1: us the money with which we fought the war. So 449 00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:15,320 Speaker 1: Hamilton had to put together a political movement that would 450 00:27:15,440 --> 00:27:18,800 Speaker 1: be in favor of a national economy, be in favor 451 00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:22,080 Speaker 1: of what we would call sound money, and he started 452 00:27:22,560 --> 00:27:25,720 Speaker 1: by writing a report on the public credit, which is 453 00:27:25,920 --> 00:27:29,439 Speaker 1: an amazing document. It's probably as good an introduction to 454 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:32,639 Speaker 1: thinking about finance as anybody ever has. He followed it 455 00:27:32,720 --> 00:27:36,040 Speaker 1: up about a year later by writing a report on manufactures, 456 00:27:36,359 --> 00:27:39,560 Speaker 1: which is the best document ever written on how a 457 00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:44,000 Speaker 1: country can go about creating a strong manufacturing base. It's 458 00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:48,199 Speaker 1: one which, by the way, modern liberal economists hate because 459 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:53,120 Speaker 1: it argues for focusing on America first and using tariffs 460 00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:57,159 Speaker 1: and other things to protect American jobs. Because if you 461 00:27:57,240 --> 00:28:00,840 Speaker 1: had a purely free trade environment in the seventh nineties, 462 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:03,359 Speaker 1: the British were so much more advanced than we were, 463 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:05,800 Speaker 1: they would have wiped out all of our industries. And 464 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:09,120 Speaker 1: so Hamilton, in a very practical way, says that's. 465 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:09,760 Speaker 2: Not going to work. 466 00:28:10,359 --> 00:28:11,960 Speaker 1: The way you have to do is find a way 467 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:16,600 Speaker 1: to grow American jobs with American manufacturing, and then pay 468 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:20,640 Speaker 1: off the debt from this growing economy. He also proposed 469 00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:23,000 Speaker 1: that there'd be a national bank, something he'd talked about 470 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:26,199 Speaker 1: a decade earlier, and that the bank would be independent 471 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:28,879 Speaker 1: from the government, but the government would own twenty percent 472 00:28:28,880 --> 00:28:31,840 Speaker 1: of the bank stock. Now potentially he could get it 473 00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:34,920 Speaker 1: through the Congress. There were some people who argued that 474 00:28:35,160 --> 00:28:38,400 Speaker 1: the Constitution does not give them the power to establish 475 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:42,920 Speaker 1: a national bank. This was Jefferson's position, but Washington stepped 476 00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:46,480 Speaker 1: in and said, well, the Constitution can be loosely interpreted, 477 00:28:46,840 --> 00:28:51,000 Speaker 1: and he approved Hamilton's plan. So, with Hamilton and Washington 478 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:54,360 Speaker 1: both in favor of the national bank, it got created. 479 00:28:54,840 --> 00:28:58,400 Speaker 1: Hamilton then turned his attention to establishing a national currency, 480 00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:01,120 Speaker 1: because again, remember up to this, you have all these 481 00:29:01,160 --> 00:29:04,520 Speaker 1: states producing money, much as the Scottish banks had each 482 00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:08,840 Speaker 1: been producing their own money, and you had this extraordinarily 483 00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:12,960 Speaker 1: weak and frankly useless money that the Continental Congress had created. 484 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:18,360 Speaker 1: So he establishes a national mint and begins to put 485 00:29:18,400 --> 00:29:22,280 Speaker 1: together with the Mint Act of seventeen ninety two, creating 486 00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:23,560 Speaker 1: a national currency. 487 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:26,080 Speaker 2: That led to a fundamental split. 488 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:54,120 Speaker 1: There was a Federalist party which was deeply committed to 489 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:58,440 Speaker 1: the Constitution, deeply committed to a national economy, in many 490 00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:01,920 Speaker 1: ways bias in favor of New England and New York 491 00:30:02,320 --> 00:30:04,880 Speaker 1: and to some extent Pennsylvania. And then there was a 492 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:09,160 Speaker 1: Democratic Republican Party which was really the anti Federalist, and 493 00:30:09,200 --> 00:30:12,160 Speaker 1: that was created by Jefferson and Madison. It used to 494 00:30:12,240 --> 00:30:14,000 Speaker 1: be said in John F. Kennedy used to use this 495 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:18,080 Speaker 1: line that Jefferson and Madison went to New York butterfly 496 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:21,120 Speaker 1: collecting and happened to run into Aaron Burr, who ran 497 00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:23,360 Speaker 1: the political machine in New York, and the three of 498 00:30:23,360 --> 00:30:26,720 Speaker 1: them happened to create the Democratic Republican Party while they 499 00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:30,440 Speaker 1: were butterfly collecting. The butterfly collecting, I think never actually happened, 500 00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:34,240 Speaker 1: but was the cover for their trip. Well to show 501 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:38,160 Speaker 1: you how successful Jefferson was as a politician. The Federalist 502 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:42,560 Speaker 1: Party basically disappears by around eighteen twelve, and the Democratic 503 00:30:42,600 --> 00:30:45,959 Speaker 1: Republican Party evolves into the Democratic Party, and it is 504 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:50,200 Speaker 1: today the longest surviving political party in the world, and 505 00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:54,240 Speaker 1: it has an amazing capacity for adapting and mutating and evolving, 506 00:30:54,640 --> 00:31:00,000 Speaker 1: an enormous tenacity of survival. But Hamilton was the leader 507 00:31:00,120 --> 00:31:06,480 Speaker 1: of the Federalist Party, and Hamilton has created an economic 508 00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:11,720 Speaker 1: system heavily favoring the cities, heavily favoring manufacturing. Remember, if 509 00:31:11,760 --> 00:31:16,160 Speaker 1: you're a farmer in the South, in particular, you are 510 00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:21,280 Speaker 1: not all that happy to have manufacturing protected because that 511 00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:24,400 Speaker 1: raises the price of what you pay for. So there's 512 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:27,720 Speaker 1: a certain bias in favor of lower tariffs and agricultural 513 00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:31,880 Speaker 1: areas and higher tariffs and manufacturing areas. The Federalist Party 514 00:31:31,920 --> 00:31:36,320 Speaker 1: represented the manufacturing side. Now at the same time, in 515 00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:39,680 Speaker 1: order to get all of this done, they had to 516 00:31:39,720 --> 00:31:43,959 Speaker 1: find some ability to have a mutual agreement. And the 517 00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:48,320 Speaker 1: pact they created with a great deal of negotiating, was 518 00:31:48,560 --> 00:31:53,920 Speaker 1: a dinner that Madison and Jefferson had with Hamilton. At 519 00:31:53,920 --> 00:31:56,240 Speaker 1: the time, the government had moved initially to New York, 520 00:31:56,520 --> 00:32:00,160 Speaker 1: then had moved to Philadelphia. The Southerners really wanted the 521 00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:04,200 Speaker 1: meant to be between Virginia and Maryland. The Northerners didn't 522 00:32:04,200 --> 00:32:06,720 Speaker 1: particularly want it to go that far south, but the 523 00:32:06,760 --> 00:32:10,800 Speaker 1: Southerners didn't particularly want to follow Hamilton's financial plans, and 524 00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:14,120 Speaker 1: so they cut a deal. Again less than about the 525 00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:18,280 Speaker 1: complexities of history. They negotiated for several months. They finally 526 00:32:18,320 --> 00:32:21,400 Speaker 1: thought they had a deal, and they sat down, had 527 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:24,760 Speaker 1: dinner and looked at each other. Now, remember by this 528 00:32:24,880 --> 00:32:30,000 Speaker 1: stage they're both still in Washington's cabinet. Jefferson is still 529 00:32:30,160 --> 00:32:33,000 Speaker 1: the Secretary of State, Hamilton's still the Secretary of the Treasury. 530 00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:36,719 Speaker 1: Madison is in the Congress, but he's Jefferson's closest ally 531 00:32:37,040 --> 00:32:40,120 Speaker 1: and also probably the leading figure in the Congress. They're 532 00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:45,240 Speaker 1: both financing newspapers. I mean, Jefferson subsidizing a newspaper whose 533 00:32:45,360 --> 00:32:49,000 Speaker 1: job it is to attack Hamilton. Hamilton is subsidizing a 534 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:51,600 Speaker 1: newspaper whose job it is to attack Jefferson. 535 00:32:51,640 --> 00:32:52,280 Speaker 2: And they all know this. 536 00:32:52,360 --> 00:32:56,880 Speaker 1: It's a very small town, but they have this bigger problem. 537 00:32:57,160 --> 00:32:59,840 Speaker 1: They've got to find a way to create a sound currency, 538 00:33:00,200 --> 00:33:03,440 Speaker 1: to create a sound economic policy, and they need a 539 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:07,040 Speaker 1: place to put the government. And so finally they agree. 540 00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:12,080 Speaker 1: Jefferson gets the capital Washington, d c. Between Virginia and Maryland, 541 00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:16,440 Speaker 1: and Hamilton gets his economic policies, and with that you 542 00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:21,200 Speaker 1: have the birth of the modern American system. Now in 543 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:26,000 Speaker 1: the middle of all that, Washington leaves, and his successor 544 00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:29,680 Speaker 1: was his vice president. Partially, I think as a function 545 00:33:29,720 --> 00:33:34,040 Speaker 1: of geographic equity, because Washington was from Virginia and John 546 00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:37,360 Speaker 1: Adams is from Massachusetts. So again it's a step towards 547 00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:41,320 Speaker 1: binding the country together. However, the Federalist Party, which had 548 00:33:41,360 --> 00:33:45,640 Speaker 1: been largely created by Hamilton, who had in fact, as 549 00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:49,840 Speaker 1: a part of that process, created all sorts of mechanisms 550 00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:53,680 Speaker 1: of propaganda, had built a political machine. But he and 551 00:33:53,760 --> 00:33:56,880 Speaker 1: Adams had a big falling out, and as a result, 552 00:33:57,200 --> 00:34:02,640 Speaker 1: Hamilton was very bitter about Adams. Adams found himself being undermined, 553 00:34:03,320 --> 00:34:07,520 Speaker 1: and in seventeen ninety six he had replaced Washington because 554 00:34:07,560 --> 00:34:11,719 Speaker 1: he had been vice president. By eighteen hundred, he has 555 00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:16,440 Speaker 1: lost so much popularity that he loses to Thomas Jefferson 556 00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:19,960 Speaker 1: in what in some ways is the first modern example 557 00:34:20,440 --> 00:34:26,280 Speaker 1: of a genuine opposition party peacefully taking power. Jefferson becomes president. 558 00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:31,399 Speaker 1: Hamilton is now basically out of power. The Federalists are 559 00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:36,400 Speaker 1: in fact declining rapidly, and Hamilton goes back to New 560 00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:40,200 Speaker 1: York to make money and begins to make a lot 561 00:34:40,200 --> 00:34:43,120 Speaker 1: of money. He founds the New York Evening Post and 562 00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:45,720 Speaker 1: this becomes the New York Post, a New York Post 563 00:34:45,800 --> 00:34:49,560 Speaker 1: founded in eighteen oh one oldest continuous newspaper in the 564 00:34:49,640 --> 00:34:53,960 Speaker 1: United States still publishing, and it is the fourth largest 565 00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:58,920 Speaker 1: newspaper in America. Founded by Alexander Hamilton, who on the 566 00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:03,320 Speaker 1: very first day had a statement of principles which was 567 00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:07,160 Speaker 1: co authored by the editor William Coleman and Alexander Hamilton 568 00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:11,080 Speaker 1: says quote, the design of this paper is to diffuse 569 00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:15,399 Speaker 1: among the people correct information on all interesting subjects, to 570 00:35:15,440 --> 00:35:19,799 Speaker 1: inculcate just principles in religion, morals, and politics, and to 571 00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:24,600 Speaker 1: cultivate a taste for sound literature. Hamilton at this stage 572 00:35:24,920 --> 00:35:30,760 Speaker 1: is successful, has been a national figure, has helped invent 573 00:35:31,120 --> 00:35:35,120 Speaker 1: the modern American system, and probably could have lived a 574 00:35:35,200 --> 00:35:40,560 Speaker 1: very long life except for the tragedy that Hamilton tended 575 00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:44,360 Speaker 1: to inspire hatred. Jefferson had people who disliked him, but 576 00:35:44,440 --> 00:35:47,879 Speaker 1: generally they didn't hate him Hamilton, partly, I think, because 577 00:35:47,880 --> 00:35:50,719 Speaker 1: he was so smart and he was so aggressive. He 578 00:35:50,760 --> 00:35:53,880 Speaker 1: was so arrogant that people who couldn't compete with him 579 00:35:53,880 --> 00:35:59,480 Speaker 1: intellectually just burned with hatred. Tragically, for him, his son 580 00:35:59,640 --> 00:36:02,440 Speaker 1: was killed in a duel in eighteen oh one defending 581 00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:08,560 Speaker 1: his father's honor, and then Hamilton gets crosswives of Aaron. Now, 582 00:36:08,560 --> 00:36:13,040 Speaker 1: Aaron Burr is a genuine scoundrel, a truly bad man. 583 00:36:13,600 --> 00:36:16,040 Speaker 1: He'd been the boss of New York. He'd helped Jefferson 584 00:36:16,040 --> 00:36:19,240 Speaker 1: and Madison create the Democratic Party. But it was typical 585 00:36:19,280 --> 00:36:21,759 Speaker 1: of how bad he was that when he and Jefferson 586 00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:24,960 Speaker 1: both agreed to run Jefferson for president Burr for vice president, 587 00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:29,080 Speaker 1: nobody had thought through that The original Constitution didn't provide 588 00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:33,080 Speaker 1: for any way to tell who was running for president 589 00:36:33,160 --> 00:36:36,600 Speaker 1: who was not, and it was all done based on 590 00:36:36,680 --> 00:36:39,600 Speaker 1: the number of electoral votes you got. I think the 591 00:36:39,600 --> 00:36:42,200 Speaker 1: theory in the Oly days being that whoever came in 592 00:36:42,280 --> 00:36:44,480 Speaker 1: first would be president, whoever came in second would be 593 00:36:44,520 --> 00:36:48,200 Speaker 1: vice president, which is what had happened in seventeen ninety 594 00:36:48,239 --> 00:36:51,920 Speaker 1: six when Adams became president and Jefferson became vice president. 595 00:36:52,320 --> 00:36:55,920 Speaker 1: But in eighteen hundred, in a truly weird moment, Burr 596 00:36:56,040 --> 00:37:00,880 Speaker 1: and Jefferson were tied. Now everybody knew Burr was supposed 597 00:37:00,920 --> 00:37:04,480 Speaker 1: to be the vice president, but Burr saw an opportunity, 598 00:37:04,760 --> 00:37:09,960 Speaker 1: so he tried to become president. He was out maneuvered 599 00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:13,520 Speaker 1: Hamilton spoke out against him, further increasing how much Burr 600 00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:18,279 Speaker 1: disliked Hamilton. Jefferson gets elected, Burr becomes vice president. He 601 00:37:18,320 --> 00:37:22,400 Speaker 1: then goes back to New York, runs for governor and loses, 602 00:37:22,880 --> 00:37:26,960 Speaker 1: with Hamilton once again speaking out against it. Hamilton is 603 00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:30,080 Speaker 1: the person that Burr thinks has ruined his life, so 604 00:37:30,160 --> 00:37:33,200 Speaker 1: Burr challenges him to a duel, and dueling back then 605 00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:37,719 Speaker 1: was very common. It begins to disappear about forty years later, 606 00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:40,400 Speaker 1: and one of the people who helped end dueling was 607 00:37:40,440 --> 00:37:43,960 Speaker 1: Abraham Lincoln. When he was challenged to a duel, the 608 00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:47,280 Speaker 1: person being challenged always gets to choose the weapons. Lincoln 609 00:37:47,360 --> 00:37:50,680 Speaker 1: chose shotguns at three feet, and the other guy said, boy, 610 00:37:50,680 --> 00:37:53,799 Speaker 1: that would be murder. Lincoln said, right, you challenge me. 611 00:37:53,840 --> 00:37:55,520 Speaker 1: You want to have a duel, so these shotguns at 612 00:37:55,520 --> 00:37:58,239 Speaker 1: three feet. The guy said, okay, I didn't actually mean it, 613 00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:03,280 Speaker 1: and the duel disappeared. But at seven am on July eleventh, 614 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:06,439 Speaker 1: eighteen oh four, in Weehawk and New Jersey, a town 615 00:38:06,480 --> 00:38:09,080 Speaker 1: where Hamilton's son had already been killed in a duel 616 00:38:09,719 --> 00:38:14,080 Speaker 1: three years earlier, Hamilton and Burr stood ten paces apart, 617 00:38:14,320 --> 00:38:19,279 Speaker 1: announced they were ready, turned and fired. Hamilton missed, probably deliberately. 618 00:38:19,920 --> 00:38:23,000 Speaker 1: Burr shot Hamilton just above his right hip, and the 619 00:38:23,040 --> 00:38:26,879 Speaker 1: next day Hamilton died in agony at forty nine years 620 00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:30,920 Speaker 1: of age. Now that of course sets up the drama 621 00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:35,040 Speaker 1: which becomes the musical, and it's interesting in some ways, 622 00:38:35,320 --> 00:38:38,720 Speaker 1: a little bit like Lincoln being killed immediately after winning 623 00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:42,720 Speaker 1: the war and the second Inaugural, which then permanently placed 624 00:38:42,719 --> 00:38:45,520 Speaker 1: Lincoln in the unique position of being a martyr to 625 00:38:45,560 --> 00:38:49,960 Speaker 1: the country. Hamilton's death blocked him from any future involvement. 626 00:38:50,040 --> 00:38:51,879 Speaker 1: So we have no idea since he was only forty nine, 627 00:38:52,080 --> 00:38:53,920 Speaker 1: we have no idea what the next twenty or thirty 628 00:38:53,960 --> 00:38:57,160 Speaker 1: years or forty years would have been liked. But it 629 00:38:57,280 --> 00:39:01,000 Speaker 1: also meant that for a while he he sort of disappeared. 630 00:39:01,320 --> 00:39:03,560 Speaker 1: It's one of the comments that the Henry Cabot Lodge 631 00:39:03,600 --> 00:39:07,759 Speaker 1: makes in his introduction to Hamilton's twelve volumes. And that 632 00:39:07,920 --> 00:39:11,520 Speaker 1: was unfortunate. I mean, the dominance of the Jeffersonians led 633 00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:15,040 Speaker 1: to and remember that they win with Jefferson, then they 634 00:39:15,080 --> 00:39:18,000 Speaker 1: come back and they win with Madison, and then they 635 00:39:18,000 --> 00:39:21,200 Speaker 1: come back and win again with Monroe. So you have 636 00:39:21,360 --> 00:39:25,319 Speaker 1: a very long Virginia dynasty which had followed eight years 637 00:39:25,320 --> 00:39:29,440 Speaker 1: of George Washington with only four years by Adams from Massachusetts. 638 00:39:29,840 --> 00:39:33,480 Speaker 1: And in that process Hamilton sort of ceases to be 639 00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:38,719 Speaker 1: the brilliant financial revolutionary who had unified the country, the 640 00:39:38,840 --> 00:39:43,480 Speaker 1: extraordinary propagandist who'd written the Federalist papers, the efficient staffer 641 00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:46,840 Speaker 1: who'd helped George Washington win the Revolutionary War, and Hamilton 642 00:39:46,920 --> 00:39:49,800 Speaker 1: just kind of faded for a while. He then began 643 00:39:49,880 --> 00:39:52,680 Speaker 1: to come back after the Civil War, as we became 644 00:39:52,719 --> 00:39:56,080 Speaker 1: a much more unified national country and people thought in 645 00:39:56,200 --> 00:40:00,680 Speaker 1: national terms. I think Hamilton is an immortal. I think 646 00:40:00,760 --> 00:40:06,520 Speaker 1: that what he did in creating the core system, funding 647 00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:09,680 Speaker 1: the debt, creating the framework in which America could be 648 00:40:09,680 --> 00:40:14,160 Speaker 1: accepted by other nations, establishing a national economy, creating a 649 00:40:14,160 --> 00:40:17,600 Speaker 1: Bank of the United States, all of these things came together, 650 00:40:18,320 --> 00:40:22,120 Speaker 1: combined with the sheer genius of the Federalist papers, And 651 00:40:22,200 --> 00:40:24,320 Speaker 1: I think that it's easy to look back and forget 652 00:40:24,320 --> 00:40:31,320 Speaker 1: that there was this relatively small handful of people Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Madison, 653 00:40:31,840 --> 00:40:35,800 Speaker 1: Hamilton among the key who changed the history of the world. 654 00:40:36,480 --> 00:40:38,760 Speaker 1: They made it possible for us to forget the divine 655 00:40:38,840 --> 00:40:41,120 Speaker 1: right of kings. They made it possible for us to 656 00:40:41,160 --> 00:40:43,839 Speaker 1: come to believe that we are truly all endowed by 657 00:40:43,840 --> 00:40:47,360 Speaker 1: our creator with certain unalienable rights. They made it possible 658 00:40:47,360 --> 00:40:50,319 Speaker 1: for us to imagine that a continent wide country could 659 00:40:50,360 --> 00:40:53,440 Speaker 1: govern itself, that the people of that country could in 660 00:40:53,440 --> 00:40:57,440 Speaker 1: fact be in a position to have better lives, to 661 00:40:57,600 --> 00:41:02,000 Speaker 1: create a nation, to develop a patrint that transcended any 662 00:41:02,080 --> 00:41:04,920 Speaker 1: of the normal things which had split us apart. And 663 00:41:04,960 --> 00:41:07,040 Speaker 1: I think as we go through our own travise and 664 00:41:07,080 --> 00:41:10,360 Speaker 1: we have our own difficulties of figuring out who we 665 00:41:10,400 --> 00:41:12,840 Speaker 1: are and how we're going to operate. It's useful to 666 00:41:12,840 --> 00:41:15,279 Speaker 1: go back and look at these folks and realize that 667 00:41:15,440 --> 00:41:18,360 Speaker 1: every generation has to find some people who have that 668 00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:21,719 Speaker 1: kind of capacity, and that Hamilton is certainly worthy of 669 00:41:21,800 --> 00:41:26,520 Speaker 1: study as somebody who had a remarkable impact, born out 670 00:41:26,520 --> 00:41:31,239 Speaker 1: of wedlock, an orphan, self educated, and in the end, 671 00:41:31,680 --> 00:41:42,760 Speaker 1: one of the greatest of Americans. Thank you for listening 672 00:41:42,760 --> 00:41:45,560 Speaker 1: to this episode of The Immortals. You can learn more 673 00:41:45,600 --> 00:41:50,320 Speaker 1: about Alexander Hamilton on our show page at nutsworld dot com. 674 00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:54,560 Speaker 1: Newtsworld is produced by Genglish three sixty and iHeartMedia. Our 675 00:41:54,600 --> 00:41:58,879 Speaker 1: executive producer is Guarnsey Sloan, our producer is Rebecca Howell, 676 00:41:59,280 --> 00:42:02,759 Speaker 1: and our research is Rachel Peterson. The artwork for the 677 00:42:02,840 --> 00:42:06,640 Speaker 1: show was created by Steve Penley. Special thanks to the 678 00:42:06,640 --> 00:42:10,240 Speaker 1: team at Ginglish three sixty. If you've been enjoying Nutsworld, 679 00:42:10,400 --> 00:42:13,359 Speaker 1: I hope you'll go to Apple Podcast and both rate 680 00:42:13,440 --> 00:42:16,640 Speaker 1: us with five stars and give us a review so 681 00:42:16,719 --> 00:42:20,320 Speaker 1: others can learn what it's all about. Right now, listeners 682 00:42:20,320 --> 00:42:23,480 Speaker 1: of Newtsworld can sign up for my three free weekly 683 00:42:23,600 --> 00:42:27,680 Speaker 1: columns at gingrishthree sixty dot com slash newsletter. 684 00:42:28,200 --> 00:42:30,520 Speaker 2: I'm Newt Gingrich. This is Nutsworld.