The next time you pay for something using a $10 bill, take a look at the picture on the front. Do you know who it is? If not, read the name: Hamilton. Then ask - who is that? He wasn’t a president. He wasn’t even born in the US. So what did he do that placed him in the pantheon of US currency portraits? Then again, if you study his life story, you might wonder why he’s not on a higher currency bill.
Alexander Hamilton was one of the most brilliant and influential founding fathers. Born on the small Caribbean island of Nevis, he worked for a trading company and then made his way to schools in New Jersey and New York. He joined the volunteer militia in 1775, became an artillery captain, and played a key role in the pivotal Battle of Trenton. After the war Hamilton was elected to the Continental Congress and then to the New York legislature. In 1788, he teamed with James Madison to write The Federalist Papers which helped gain popular support to ratify the US Constitution. A year later, he was appointed by President Washington as the first Secretary of the Treasury. He is credited for creating the Federalist political party, which favored banking and manufacturing interests, and often decried the other newly emerging Democratic-Republican party, headed by Thomas Jefferson. After leaving public service, Hamilton used his political influence to get like-minded candidates (such as John Adams) elected and to work against political enemies (such as Jefferson). Hamilton died in 1804 after his famous duel with Aaron Burr (another political enemy). Hamilton was a polarizing figure, and although he was not universally liked, he was universally respected.
What strikes me most about founding fathers like Hamilton (and Washington) is their leadership despite a lack of role precedence. That is, they were asked to fill jobs that had never existed before. And not just ordinary jobs - these people were making decisions that, if done wrong, could kill the newly created republic. When Hamilton became Secretary of the Treasury, war debts were substantial and several states were in deep financial trouble. Without the benefit of precedent, Hamilton took initiative and created programs to combine state debt into a national debt, established a central bank, developed the first federal currency, imposed tariffs, duties, and taxes to raise revenues, and created an armed maritime service to protect against smuggling (this eventually became the US Coast Guard). These actions, although controversial to many, established the US as a credible nation in the eyes of the world, and created a stable financial structure by which the young nation could fund its own rapid growth. There was no textbook procedure for Hamilton to follow. There was no prior path for him to study. His boss, Washington, could not provide much direction. Basically, Hamilton used his intelligence and his instinct to create programs he thought would work best. And he pushed them through despite heavy criticism. Fortunately, Hamilton was right about a lot of these key issues and his actions set the foundation for the entire US federal monetary system.
