September 22, 2011
It seems appropriate to use this 200th anniversary to reflect on the College’s enduring legacy—in particular, Hamilton’s namesake: Mr. Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804). Admittedly, I was an Alexander Hamilton fan long before I stepped foot on campus; his views on government and finance appealed to me more than Jefferson’s or Madison’s.
This summer, though, I read Ron Chernow’s extensive biography “Alexander Hamilton” and came away with an even greater appreciation for the man who is too often remembered simply for the dramatic way he died and the fact that his face stares back at us each time we make a $10 transaction.
Besides his instrumental role as a creator of and advocate for the Constitution, Hamilton worked assiduously with his allies to craft an effective and responsive government over the objections of the states’ rights fanatics. Had it not been for Hamilton’s plan to have the state debts assumed by the national government after independence, the U.S. would have withered under regionalism. Moreover, Hamilton held a downright clairvoyant outlook for America’s future.
Ron Chernow writes, “At a time when Jefferson and Madison celebrated legislative power as the purest expression of the popular will, Hamilton argued for a dynamic executive branch and an independent judiciary, along with a professional military, a central bank, and an advanced financial system. Today, we are indisputably heirs to Hamilton’s America, and to repudiate his legacy is, in many ways, to repudiate the modern world.”
Beyond his political accomplishments and vision of federalist government, though, Mr. Hamilton’s personal life should stand as a paragon of excellence for all Hamilton students. Born on the island of Nevis, he rose up from poverty as a bastard child on talent and will.
As Chernow tells it, “While other founding fathers were reared in tidy New England villages or cosseted on baronial Virginia estates, Hamilton grew up in a tropical hellhole of dissipated whites and factious slaves.”
At the age of 20, when it came time to defend the country he was not even born in, he fought valiantly in the Revolutionary War and worked with George Washington as his Aide de Camp. The same cannot be said for Thomas Jefferson. Hamilton wrote in a 1796 newspaper piece, that when real danger approached, “[Jefferson] fled for safety from a few light-horsemen and shamefully abandoned his trust!”
After the war, Mr. Hamilton continued to dedicate his life to public service, often forgoing the exuberant fees he could have collected as a trial lawyer in order to help create a credible American state. How pleasantly ironic that the man who helped turn America into a capitalist power disavowed abundant wealth in his own life.
On top of this civic attitude, Hamilton was also an excellent writer, often composing detailed essays in his head before furiously committing them to parchment. It strikes me as rather fitting that the College continues this writing legacy today.
Without a doubt, Hamilton had failings, like every single Founder we canonize today: extramarital affairs, a hearty ego and personal debt. Alas, politicians were not Gods then, and they sure are not now. More so, Hamilton worked in conjunction with many others; no Founding Father deserves sole credit for a country that has blossomed into home for 300 million people. Yet, what stands out to me most about Alexander Hamilton is the fact that he approached every single act he did in his (too-short) life with energy and passion, never abandoning his fidelity to excellence.
So as current students, alumni, parents and faculty enjoy this weekend’s festivities, let us not forget to tip our hat to the noble man whose name adorns this outstanding institution.