NEW YORK CITY The Grange" in Upper Manhattan is the only home that Alexander Hamilton ever owned.
Standing in front of it an impeccably dressed elderly man says its hard to pin down exactly who Hamilton was.
The one thing he wasnt was a politician" said Steve Laise an historian and park ranger who serves all of New York Citys national park sites. But oh was he brilliant."
Hamiltons home newly relocated after being squished between an apartment building and a church a block away once was a 90-minute carriage ride from lower Manhattan. Over at Federal Hall where the original Congress met and George Washington was inaugurated as president Laise said most people think of Hamilton as having died in a duel and of imposing a tax that led to the Whiskey Rebellion.
He felt that if our new country had to pay down its debt because of the costs of the Revolutionary War well then doggone it everyone was going to pay" explained Laise.
Hamilton and Washington (and a healthy-sized army) rode to Pennsylvania to show rebelling farmers that they meant business. It was an act of leadership that todays politicians would be loath to consider except perhaps New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
As Americas first treasury secretary Hamilton established a monetary system that still exists today said Dr. Ronald Surmacz a Duquesne University expert on American economic history. And he was one of the primary authors of the Federalist Papers the literary defense of the Constitution and helped create parts of the Constitution."
As such Surmacz contends Hamilton was as much a Founding Father if not more so than Jefferson Madison Adams or Franklin.
Despite preferring urban life to that of a farmer Hamilton was the original self-made man.
Jefferson so often described as a man of the people" was a plantation owner and unlike Hamilton a master politician.
Unlike Jefferson Hamilton actually fought in the revolution no desk-jockey" he and was Washingtons most trusted lieutenant after Nathaniel Green.
Last week marked 220 years since Hamilton delivered his Report on Manufactures to Congress at Federal Hall. Two years in the making it laid out a vision for a national economy based on immigrant labor ingenuity a vibrant manufacturing sector and agriculture resources.
Standing atop the stairs of Federal Hall where the iconic statue of George Washington overlooks the New York Stock Exchange you can look right toward Wall Street and Broadway Avenue and see the Trinity Church graveyard where Hamilton was buried.
A few blocks away are the remnants of the Occupy Wall Street commune whose protesters blame Wall Street for greed and unfairness.
President Barack Obama seized on their rhetoric Wednesday in a speech in Kansas that some pundits hail as his comeback moment. Embracing progressive and populist tones Obama emphasized the lack of fairness in our economic infrastructure.
Hamilton likely would have laughed at the thought of fairness" or lack of opportunities. Born in the West Indies the illegitimate son of a neer-do-well his circumstances were hardly fair" when he came to this country.
He succeeded despite not being part of the moneyed set and through his own hard work … made himself into the greatest secretary of the treasury" according to Surmacz.
It is his ideas on money and the economy that have served as the foundation not only for this nation but many others."
Hamilton started as a West Indies shipping-office clerk and used that experience to establish Americas coast guard and customs service. He learned the importance of a uniform currency in stimulating trade and the necessity of credit.
He understood how government credit is like individual credit and why it is important for government to build trust in the world through its timely repayment of loans.
And while Hamilton believed in a limited sphere for the federal government he believed that within its sphere the government should be powerful and effective and efficient.
He never saw government within its limited sphere as a distributor of fairness. Instead he figured you should make it on your own without the government holding your hand.
Not that doing so would be easy.
After all it hadnt been easy for him but that never stopped him.
Salena Zito is a political analyst reporter and columnist.
NEW YORK CITY The Grange" in Upper Manhattan is the only home that Alexander Hamilton ever owned.
Standing in front of it an impeccably dressed elderly man says its hard to pin down exactly who Hamilton was.
The one thing he wasnt was a politician" said Steve Laise an historian and park ranger who serves all of New York Citys national park sites. But oh was he brilliant."
Hamiltons home newly relocated after being squished between an apartment building and a church a block away once was a 90-minute carriage ride from lower Manhattan. Over at Federal Hall where the original Congress met and George Washington was inaugurated as president Laise said most people think of Hamilton as having died in a duel and of imposing a tax that led to the Whiskey Rebellion.
He felt that if our new country had to pay down its debt because of the costs of the Revolutionary War well then doggone it everyone was going to pay" explained Laise.
Hamilton and Washington (and a healthy-sized army) rode to Pennsylvania to show rebelling farmers that they meant business. It was an act of leadership that todays politicians would be loath to consider except perhaps New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
As Americas first treasury secretary Hamilton established a monetary system that still exists today said Dr. Ronald Surmacz a Duquesne University expert on American economic history. And he was one of the primary authors of the Federalist Papers the literary defense of the Constitution and helped create parts of the Constitution."
As such Surmacz contends Hamilton was as much a Founding Father if not more so than Jefferson Madison Adams or Franklin.
Despite preferring urban life to that of a farmer Hamilton was the original self-made man.
Jefferson so often described as a man of the people" was a plantation owner and unlike Hamilton a master politician.
Unlike Jefferson Hamilton actually fought in the revolution no desk-jockey" he and was Washingtons most trusted lieutenant after Nathaniel Green.
Last week marked 220 years since Hamilton delivered his Report on Manufactures to Congress at Federal Hall. Two years in the making it laid out a vision for a national economy based on immigrant labor ingenuity a vibrant manufacturing sector and agriculture resources.
Standing atop the stairs of Federal Hall where the iconic statue of George Washington overlooks the New York Stock Exchange you can look right toward Wall Street and Broadway Avenue and see the Trinity Church graveyard where Hamilton was buried.
A few blocks away are the remnants of the Occupy Wall Street commune whose protesters blame Wall Street for greed and unfairness.
President Barack Obama seized on their rhetoric Wednesday in a speech in Kansas that some pundits hail as his comeback moment. Embracing progressive and populist tones Obama emphasized the lack of fairness in our economic infrastructure.
Hamilton likely would have laughed at the thought of fairness" or lack of opportunities. Born in the West Indies the illegitimate son of a neer-do-well his circumstances were hardly fair" when he came to this country.
He succeeded despite not being part of the moneyed set and through his own hard work … made himself into the greatest secretary of the treasury" according to Surmacz.
It is his ideas on money and the economy that have served as the foundation not only for this nation but many others."
Hamilton started as a West Indies shipping-office clerk and used that experience to establish Americas coast guard and customs service. He learned the importance of a uniform currency in stimulating trade and the necessity of credit.
He understood how government credit is like individual credit and why it is important for government to build trust in the world through its timely repayment of loans.
And while Hamilton believed in a limited sphere for the federal government he believed that within its sphere the government should be powerful and effective and efficient.
He never saw government within its limited sphere as a distributor of fairness. Instead he figured you should make it on your own without the government holding your hand.
Not that doing so would be easy.
After all it hadnt been easy for him but that never stopped him.
Salena Zito is a political analyst reporter and columnist.
