Alexander Hamilton: A Biography

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing and misleading
Review: Be careful of this book. Hamilton was a great man -- and one much misunderstood in his own time ... and today.

McDonald, unfortunately, goes too far in Hamilton's defense. He attempts to paint a picture where Hamilton was responsible for virtually everything that was done right -- and who cautioned against most of the missteps. Everyone else (not just Jefferson!) is painted as incompetent, stupid, conspiring, and selfish.

Nor does McDonald at least acknowledge (except in some endnotes) where he departs from the "conventional" view point. And, as other reviewers note, there is little discussion of Hamiltons personal life and habits, his family, etc.

If you are very familair with the personalities and issues of the time, this book provides an interesting viewpoint and a very good discussion of the banking issues involved.

But don't start here.

Rating:
Summary: A much needed reexamination of Hamilton
Review: Being primarily interested in U.S. constitutional history I picked up this book to better understand Hamilton's contribution to the Constitution and the development of the American government. McDonald more than delivered what I was looking for. This biography lays out Hamilton's public life and places his actions into the context of the political events of the time. I also learned some things I had never read before. Particularly, that Hamilton was one of a handful of founders who strongly denouced slavery. I highly recomend this book to anyone interested in early american politics.

One should note that the detractors of this work are those who are obvious believers in the cult of Jefferson. Modern America has so deified Jefferson, that when a historian suggests he acted with impure motives or used dirty tactics, he is attacked as a "partisan." For example, McDonald details the controversy surronding the Bank. He demonstrates that the constitutional objections raised by Madison and Jefferson were a result of a fear that the Bank would be used to keep the capital in Philadelphia rather than move it to the Potomac. Madison, Jefferson, and Washington all were engaged in land deals in the area that would be harmed if the move didn't occur. What does this prove: Only that they weren't angels. Simply pointing this out shouldn't warrant McDonald being attacked as "partisan" or this book as "Hagiography."

Rating:
Summary: Alexander Hamilton : A Biography
Review: Forrest McDonald's "Alexander Hamilton" should not be called a biography, but a partisan harangue, and libel on liberty. In this McDonald champions Hamilton, and ambitious,self centered,anti republican Founding Father. McDonald libels Thomas Jefferson, and attempts to degrade his views in the early American Republic by inflating the character of Hamilton. Hamilton, contrary to McDonald's belief was seriously anti-republican. In the Constitutional Convention Hamilton propsed an unlimited government based on the British monarchy. He was distrustful of common people even calling them "a great beast". McDonald, like all admirers of Hamilton, attempts to gloss over Hamilton's anti-liberty and repblican ideals and instead elevate him as a defender of them. Hamilton was an avid supporteer of the wealthy's domination of government, and McDonald strongly supports this view.McDonald is not objective in the least, and overall has produced a deplorable partisan biography.

Rating:
Summary: Writer is biased, yet still does a good job.
Review: I agree with some of the other reviewrs here about their statments regarding McDonalds biases regarding Hamilton. He does try to glorify Hamilton and atempts to explain away some critizimems aginst him that stem from what is considerd conventional knowlege. For example McDonald atemps to absolve Hamilton of his atempt to prevent John Adams from winning the 1796 election by trying to swing the Federalist vote in favor of Thomas Pickering. Most historians agree that this is what happend but McDoland (lamly) tries to argue otherwise.

McDonald also tries in genral to suport Hamilton's policies but what i found intresting was that from the information that McDonald provides I came to despise Hamilton's ideas and was stumped how mcDonald Could write down these same facts (such as how the people "seldom judge right", and his desire to have a president elected for life) and still defend the man.

This I why irecomend this book, because though McDonald has an obvious bias, he nontheless presents the facts and the reader is able to come to his/her own conclusions despite McDonlds pro-hamilton stance. Anthoer positve aspect of this book is the wonderful LACK of personal details. I don't care who hamilton slept with, I don't care how many kids he had etc. I just want to know of his role in founding the courupt society we live in, and despite McDonalds statments to contray, his "Alexander Hamilton" does just that.

Rating:
Summary: Great Man, Great Book
Review: I wanted to learn more about Hamilton as the founder of the US financial system, and to understand more of his background in relation to the other founding fathers. This book did a great job of both, the author being a well published historian who has focused on the early American economy.

Mr. McDonald does a very good job of developing Hamilton's life, and the various philosophical influences that influenced him most significantly. Starting with his early life on St. Croix, his early abandonment and subsequent David Copperfield-esque determination to achieve fame in life, we are able to watch as Hamilton starts first by pursuing glory in the Revolutionary War, his close service with Washington, and how he then went to work as an attorney, and following Washington's election returned to serve his country as the first Secretary of the Treasury.

Hamilton's ambitions for the fledgling financial system are solidly shaped by his own background and hard work. It is quickly apparent how different his own background was from other founding fathers, most notably those of the South, and most poignantly Thomas Jefferson. Hamilton held himself to very high standards, his own need to be honest about an extra-marital affair is a lesson to our current politicians, and he frequently ran afoul of others because of his strong will and confidence that he was morally in the right. Hamilton was above repute with his financial dealings, preventing himself from benefitting from his own legislation and actions in an age when such was the norm. His ability to clearly divine a situation and act decisively led him to be not only an excellent litigator and legislator, but also an indispensable agent for the Government, his importance being most noted during Washington's second term in office.

All in all the author does a very good job of putting Hamilton into both the proper historical context, and helping the reader understand how he was viewed in his own time.

Favorite Excerpts:

"I would willingly risk my life tho' not my Character to exalt my Station... I wish there was a War." - Hamilton (page 5)

"He never ceased to dream of grand and heroic accomplishments, but he tempered his dreams with regular habits, reliable behavior, systematic and persistent application, and constant attention to self-improvement. He despised laziness, disorderliness, unpredictability, impropriety, procrastination, drunkennes, sloght - the ways of the islands and, as he would come to believe by 1779, the ways of most Americans as well." - McDonald on Hamilton (page 10)

"As a general marches at the head of his troops, so ought wise politicians... insomuch that they ought not to wait the event, to know what measures to take; but the measures which they have taken, ought to produce the event." - Demosthenes (page 35)

"Nothing is more common than for men to pass from the abuse of a good thing to the disuse of it." - Hamilton (page 42)

"As Hamilton learned in doing his research for the report [to congress], few American farmers knew whether farming was more or less profitable than other enterprises, for almost none kept any records. The lack of information did not, however, prevent them from having opinions." McDonald (page 233)

Jefferson had, "a womanish attachment to France and a womanish resentment of Great Britain." - Hamilton on Jefferson (page 265)

"Having contributed to place those of the Nation on a good footing, I go to take a little care of my own; which need my care not a little." - Hamilton on his resignation (page 303)

"Real firmness is good for everything - Strut is good for nothing." - Hamilton (page 334)

Rating:
Summary: "Of no sect am I"-Alexander Pope
Review: It took me two years to read this book, I nearly underlined every sentence. It was my absolute favorite until I surfed the web and discovered McDonald's political sentiments. I thought I couldn't go wrong with someone who finally said nice things about my old, distant cousin, and who describes himself as an unreconstructed Hamiltonian Federalist. (The federalist party doesn't exist anymore; the present day republican and democratic parties are both offshoots from the previously named democratic-republican party). I'm no expert at politics or law, not really my domain. I'm honestly trying to learn, and McDonald's book, Novus Ordo Seclorum, looks like a good one to read on understanding the origins of the Constitution. I was really upset when I read what McDonald had to say about Bill Clinton and hope he didn't help mastermind the impeachment attempt a few years back. If the constitution were to expel any president who cheated on his wife, this country would probably have never had a head of state; no one would have qualified. And Alexander's Reynolds affair makes the Lewinsky one look tame by comparison!!! I'm beginning to wonder which wells in Texas McDonald drank out of when he was little!!! So I guess I must continue searching for a Hamilton biographer that I can absolutely trust for getting the story perfectly straight. (I firmly believe that Senator Kennedy, more than any others, would keep the oath of defending the constitution if he had ever taken it; some presidents who have, have not known the proper pecking order given in it when a president dies or is incapacitated. A George Clymer, from Pennsylvania, was a signer of said document)!!!

That's not to say that the facts are not straight in this story, as McDonald relates them. Professor McDonald has been in the business of colonial American history for decades and is an expert on the Constitution. One has only to look at his notes to see how meticulously he has researched this story all his life. That time period in American history is truly his domain. There are no overtures to professing his own political opinions really in the book, although he glamorizes Hamilton's marriage to Betsy Schuyler to a certain extent, neglecting that Hamilton might have had an affair with Betsy's sister, Angelica. Kind of legitimizing Hamilton with family values stuff. There is a well known quote from Betsy's two sisters, that's quite funny. A bow fell off one of their shoes, Peggy placed it in Alexander's buttonhole, "There, I have knighted thee." The other sister replied, "There are no Knights of the Garter in this country." The other said, "True, but he would if you let him." The Order of Knight of the Garter was given to the Duke of Hamilton who was killed in a duel during Queen Anne's reign, see Stater's Duke Hamilton is Dead. The 13th amendment ratified in 1809, five years after Hamilton's death, forbade anyone from receiving any titles, bribes etc. from any foreigner, or representing any "special interest"! Of course, the Revolutionary War period shows how much most citizens disliked that favored British practice of bestowing titles on court favorites. Interestingly, that amendment was deleted following the Civil War, replaced with the one for slavery. Hmm.....Strange. I'm sure Hamilton would have supported the current 13th amendment in that he disliked the practice altogether as McDonald relates.

Anyway, back to the book, this book is the one to read about Hamilton's financial program, how Hamilton approached the problem, the debates surrounding the various solutions given, etc. McDonald uncovers Hamilton's whole life too, from his birth in Nevis, West Indies to his death in Weehawken, NJ, not far from where his first born son Phillip died a few years previously. I loved this book, but I love Bill Clinton too, (not like Monica, don't misunderstand me)!

Rating:
Summary: Lack of objectivity overshadows any good points
Review: The author of this book is so enamored of Hamilton that it completely blinds him to any faults Hamilton may have had. Furthermore, anyone who showed any opposition at all to anything Hamilton proposed is deemed either delusional or a traitor. His treatment of Jefferson and Adams is amazingly disrespectful. Even Washington comes accross as a feeble leader at times without the constant support and advice of his most trusted advisor Hamilton.

As the book progresses, the bias gets worse and almost preachy.

Shockingly, the famous duel with Aaron Burr gets only about 3 pages worth of description.....probably since it was not exactly a high point in his life.

Avoid this book if you want a well-balanced biography.

Rating:
Summary: An Administrator Who Does No Wrong
Review: There are times when I read this book and threw up my hands, threw the book on the floor, and cursed. Some paragaphs in the book are total insansity. Not that they are factually wrong but that they defend Hamilton no matter what he does and when he does something wrong it isn't his fault. For instance he cheats on his wife - but it is because he was niave and duped. But the book is a useful piece if you want to understand Hamilton's debt and banking programs.

The problems I had with the book is the authors obssesive and depressingly consistent program of praising Hamilton and putting down everyone else. Apparently just about everything good that happened in the formative and early years of our Republic Hamilton was responsbile for and anyone who opposed any of his policies was living in fantasies or was totally selfish. When people oppose Hamilton's policies they do so for financial gain - but Hamilton always has pure motives. At least that is the way this author portrays things!

The only person besides Hamilton who comes off good is George Washington and that is because he listened to Hamilton over Thomas Jefferson when it came to banking and the French Revolution. If it wasn't for Hamilton poor Old George would have been lost it seems.

Hamilton may have been right on many of these issues - but the authors tendency to prop him on a pedestal makes the reader miss out and the history of the time deserves better. The founders were a diverse group of people with varied economic interests and opinions on what paths the nation should take. This gets lost here. A great exposition of these themes is John Ellis's Founding Brothers - which is a great book and I'd recommend as an introduction in the founding fathers.

Many of the problems in McDonald's book are common to biographies of the founding fathers. One could make similar complaints about David McCollough's recent work on John Adams.

The strength of this book is that it gives you a nice detailed understanding of Hamilton's policies and how he tried to centralize the government and create a nation through laws and debt - which he thought could be used to meld the states together. It is worth reading for this. I wouldn't recommend it as an introduction to the founding fathers though. If you have a hard wood floor don't read the book while others are asleep. If you are like me you'll wake them up from the noise of the book periodically hitting the ground.

Rating:
Summary: The Real Alexander Hamilton
Review: This book drastically changed my opinion about Alexander Hamilton. Up to the time I opened it (after four idle years on my book shelf), James Madison and Thomas Jefferson had been considered the primary gilt-edged heroes of the Revolution and main pillars upon which the Constitution was formed. Mr. Hamilton? Well, he was relegated to the less-than-heroic rank as a self-promoting, money-centered, cold and heartless calculator, notable only for his unpopular battle to establish a federal bank and his life-ending duel with Aaron Burr.

But Mr. McDonald's fascinating review of Alexander Hamilton's life added texture to the stereotype and a sympathetic understanding of Hamilton's character and intellectual brilliance.

Perhaps it was because he had few intellectual peers that Hamilton was feared and disliked by the likes of Madison and Jefferson. Perhaps it was precisely for that reason Hamilton became a favorite of George Washington and served as his aid and advisor. As General and as President, Washington maintained an Olympus view of the men of his times. He appreciated Jefferson and Madison for what they offered to our young nation. But he seems to have valued Hamilton more.

Hamilton's view of government, money and banking, his integrity and his admirable regard for honor have never really been accurately nor fully told in school room history.

But thanks to Mr. McDonald, they are easily discovered in this well-written effort, a book which is highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A Brilliant But Unbalanced Account
Review: This is a well-written and thought-provoking book, but at the same time one that I found unsatisfactory on certain levels. For one thing, as a biography, it's limited in scope, providing little information about Hamilton's life beyond his administrative and political affairs. His childhood and youth are dispensed with in about 15 pages, and the American Revolution - in which Hamilton participated as an senior aid to Washington and as combat officer - is already over by page 25, bypassing what one assumes should have been a wealth of fascinating material. His wife is mentioned no more that the few times, his children hardly at all, and we learn very little about his personal relationships with the other leading figures of his era. A life-and-times style biography was obviously not part of the author's design in the first place, and this criticism may thus be irrelevant, but a more substantive problem is the bias that pervades his book. While it's common enough for biographers to fall in love with their protagonists, Professor McDonald to carries his enthusiasm to an extreme. I'm not a historian by any means, but I've read enough to know that the men surrounding Alexander Hamilton were a prodigiously gifted array of politicians. Yet a reader who knew nothing of the period beyond the contents of this book would have the impression that they were a collection of relative mediocrities who paled in the light of Hamilton's genius. Even Washington, who comes off better than most, seems to have achieved success only through his willingness to acquiesce, most of the time, to Hamilton's unerring behind-the-scenes guidance. Hamilton's enemies are portrayed as conniving villains, and the arch-villain, Thomas Jefferson, appears to have had no purpose to his life other than to foil Hamilton's otherwise infallible blueprint for a happy and prosperous nation. The fact that Hamilton himself probably more-or-less saw his world in this light is more understandable than how a historian two centuries later could succumb the this same lack of objectivity. Despite these failings, Professor McDonald has nonetheless produced a remarkable study here, and I learned a great deal from it. What emerges is the portrait of a man who, even allowing for the author's partiality, was indeed probably the most forward-looking of his peers in his understanding of what the United States was to become. Modern Americans take for granted their colossal economic might and geopolitical dominance. Yet post-revolutionary America was a weak, divided country run by agrarians generally hostile to the formation of the finance capital and industrial enterprise. The essence of the Federalist vision for America was that establishment of a strong central government was necessary to facilitate economic development. And Hamilton's unique contribution to this vision was his understanding of the critical importance that a dynamic system of national credit and currency would play in bringing about prosperity. Hamilton was a supremely ambitious man, yet his aspirations propelled him not to be a king or a president or a conquering general. When the new American government formed following the revolution, the only post he desired - easily granted to him by Washington - was Treasury Secretary. It was from this position that he believed he could establish the monetary foundations critical to the fledging economic powerhouse he sought to nurture. His political opponents, led by Jefferson, understood this vision only too well as one that would result in a tumultuous transfer of wealth and power to industrialists and bankers, at the expense of the agrarian order they hoped to perpetuate. One insight implicit in this story, even though the author doesn't draw it for us, is the obvious nature of the link between this post-revolutionary conflict and the great civil war what was to ignite half a century later. It couldn't be clearer that it was the Federalist dream for America, well-rooted by the mid-nineteenth century, that drove the Southern Confederacy to revolt. That same dream finally emerged in full flower in the following century as Yankee industrialism triumphed and Hamilton's Dollar achieved preeminence. Hamilton's death in 1805 following a duel with Aaron Burr has to have been one of the weirdest and most dramatic incidents in American history. Yet it is characteristic of this biography that the event is described only briefly and dryly in the epilogue. Hamilton was a brilliant man, but one whose personal arrogance probably contributed unnecessarily to the partisan hatred of the post-war years and no doubt as well to his own premature demise. For me it was interesting to learn that Hamilton's son also died in a dual, three years before his father, at a time when this violent custom had become rare. This remarkable co-incidence suggests a fiery dynamic in the Hamilton family which this book leaves us totally in the dark about, as it does about many other dimensions of his life and character. To the extent Professor McDonald sought to trace Hamilton's development as a political thinker and the practical impact of his work on the nation's founding, this well-written biography succeeds admirably. However, readers seeking a balanced and full account of the man's life will have to look to other sources.