Visionary, revolutionary, courtier, and protean bureaucrat
Review of Review of Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow
Hamilton is one of those extraordinary achievers you find every few decades in politics. He had the energy and drive of Lyndon Johnson and the scholarly credentials and writing ability of Thomas Jefferson. To be sure, it was luck that placed him in the thick of a revolution that created a new form of government, but he got himself there without privileged connections or money. He became a war hero and trusted aide to George Washington, and friends with virtually all of the great personages in the US at the time.
Most important, Hamilton influenced the interpretation of the US Constitution, which he helped to craft from his writing and political activity. Once in power – as Secretary of the Treasury, that is, a politician-bureaucrat with his hold on Washington's ear – he created a number of precedents that decisively shaped the American political system. Chernow approves of them all, which he argues form the foundation of the industrial economy as it evolved.
First, Hamilton decided not to discriminate against speculators who bought up the promissory notes for the back pay owed to Revolutionary War veterans, which while highly controversial established the principle of a free market for federal securities.
Second, he got the Federal Government to "assume" the war debt of the separate states, which established it as the highest arbiter of taxes and public debt, decisively improving America's credit worthiness. This was accomplished in exchange for a political accommodation with the Virginians, to make DC the nation's capital.
Third, he created the Bank of the United States (BUS), that is, the prototype for the Federal Reserve Bank, a fundamentally useful economic actor that was not completely under the control of politicians; this made easier credit available to entrepreneurs, among other things. Even more significant, with the incorporation of the BUS, he established "implied powers" – the principle of going beyond what was explicitly authorized as written in the Constitution – for the Federal Government; this enabled it to adapt its policies in accordance with rapidly evolving developments in the society and economy.
Taken together, he was the great enabler of federal action, that is, a key architect of how the entire political system should function.
Equally fascinating are the portraits of Hamilton's political opponents. First and foremost were Jefferson and Madison, both political geniuses in their own right and shrewd infighters. Essentially, they feared that Hamilton was expanding the government's power to levels that would lead to monarchy or dictatorship at the expense of both individuals and states of the union. They argued that the Federal Government should not be allowed to do anything that was not directly mandated by the Constitution; in other words, they were the first "strict constructionists." As the reader can see, these fault lines exist even today. They also accused Hamilton of designs to become an “American Napoleon”, with a corrupt political base that would render him invulnerable.
Chernow's take on the players is multifaceted and extremely valuable. Hamilton is viewed as a political and economic visionary of the highest order, which I believe he was. However, he was also thin skinned and lacked the political sense of when to keep his mouth shut or wait for the right timing – hence, by railing against the accusations of his political adversaries, he expounded on the details of the extramarital affair that severely damaged his career. He just got it all out and was easily insulted and sidetracked by personal slights to his honor. There can be no doubt that he had a self-destructive streak, which led directly to his fatal duel with Aaron Burr.
He also needed the anchor of Washington, whose authority held many of his impulses in check, channeling his energy as great managers can do.
Jefferson receives the heaviest criticism, coming off as a kind of demagogue prototype that would rival, say, Newt Gingrich today. He stood for similar libertarian impulses, manipulated things behind the scenes while letting others do the dirty work, and created a political persona that brought him to power with blatant hypocrisy. While I am undecided about Jefferson, Chernow does quite a job on him and has forever changed my perception of him. I will have to investigate further, which is the greatest sign of a successful reading experience in my view. But it is crystal clear that Jefferson's economic vision – for an agrarian republic without speculators and financial fat cats, less reliant on international trade, unsupportive of urbanization – was ludicrously unrealistic and deficient. Hamilton's vision of an activist government and urban-based economy of trade and manufacturing won out hands down.
Chernow has come under attack for providing conventional, near-hagiographic bios of important Americans. If these kinds of vanilla jobs seem typical of many American biographers, I don’t think Chernow is guilty of this. His Alexander Hamilton goes deep into the details of what he accomplished in context, without obscuring myth or wisdom in hindsight. Chernow is definitely a partisan in favor of Hamilton – it is this book that inspired the musical – but he is by no means a fawning sentimentalist, particularly when compared to lighterweights like David McCullough or Jon Meacham.
This is absolutely first-rate biography and a history of an incredibly tumultuous time, an intellectual adventure that is not to be missed. Hamilton comes off as a complex man, driven by demons perhaps related to his illegitimacy and humble origins. Chernow’s writing is eloquent and his exposition of the mechanics of the economy and politics of that time is masterful.