Hamilton's rise to prominence could never have been forecast. A twice orphaned child in the West Indies, Hamilton's ascension to de facto aide de camp to George Washington was as unlikely as it was meteoric. Yet by the retreat following the Battle of Brooklyn, Hamilton was there, at the enigmatic Washington's side. While he was not lacking in courage, it was rather Hamilton's management acumen which won him a prominent place in Washington's inner circle. As Washington's star became increasingly luminous, so too did Hamilton reflect some of the General's light. Gifted with this narrow entry to American high society, the aspiring, young, recently trained lawyer, was not to be denied. Shortly, Hamilton would become a renowned New York lawyer and legal thinker. When debates over the ratification of the Constitution were at their apex, Hamilton wrote some 51 of the Federalist Papers. If he did nothing else, this would indelibly put the Hamiltonian stamp on the American republic. While his years as Treasury Secretary, and his young death, have gained much greater remembrance, his crucial role before the Republic was inaugurated bears recognition. Yet, Chernow also masterfully gives life to Hamilton's years as the first Treasury Secretary. By providing details as to how Hamilton's power coalesced, and how the size of his department grew, Chernow suggests that Hamilton, more so than any other figure knit together the federal branch of the American government in those early years.
Yet, Hamilton's meteoric rise would not be matched by a longevity of influence. By the end of his service to Washington the Secretary was a divisive public figure with little constituency to call his own. Chernow tries to make Hamilton's unpopularity a virtue, yet Hamilton often comes off as an alienating public figure. As Washington's star set, so too did Hamilton's, and with the President's retirement Hamilton was largely relegated to the sidelines of history. It is worth wondering whether the declining influence of Hamilton's latter years were as simply political as Chernow suggests. One is given the impression of an exhausted, and increasingly out-of-touch, mind. Hamilton seems perfectly suited for the fomentation of rebellion and the formation of government, but signally unequipped for the rigors of political life.
As Robert Caro's work on the life of President Lyndon Johnson has demonstrated, biographers continue to play a central role in the contemporary formation of historical memory. Such works are both products of and creative factors in our own social and political moment. As a product this is true of Chernow's work more than Caro's. How we feel about Alexander Hamilton as Chernow presents him, will be tied to our feelings about the American economic system. Time and again, Chernow reiterates the solid foundation which Hamilton helped create which would assist in ushering America into its modernized economic strength. This celebration is founded largely on the imperative of finance as a driver of economic logic. While the economic system may have been well tailored to address the vagaries of a changing world, perhaps Hamilton also helped drive the country towards that system in which wealth could accumulate not among the ancient aristocratic, but among the newly minted captains of industry. Certainly Chernow has been successful in providing a work which brings the life of Hamilton into the modern American moment. We are reminded that the life and efforts of Hamilton are with us still.
