"I never expect to see a perfect work from an imperfect man."

December 19, 2007 4:39 PM

Who was Alexander Hamilton? Bastard, immigrant, Federalist, Secretary of the Treasury, speechwriter, philanderer, industrialist, duelist.
posted by anotherpanacea (27 comments total)

Who shot Alexander Hamilton in that famous duel?

Hewo, Aaawon Buuwh, Aaawon Buuwh, hod on, Aaawon Buuwh.
posted by ericb at 4:48 PM on December 19, 2007

He's just this guy, ya know?
posted by jazon at 4:59 PM on December 19, 2007

I heard recently that Hamilton's former home, the Grange, is being moved from it's current location on Convent Avenue to St. Nicholas Park.

I was thinking about doing a January 11th post on the subject for Hamilton's birthday. Damn you, panacea!
posted by JaredSeth at 5:02 PM on December 19, 2007

He got shot for being too real and I've always loved him for it.
posted by allen.spaulding at 5:12 PM on December 19, 2007

Nah... fuck that dude. Burr was right to put a cap in his ass.
posted by ph00dz at 5:14 PM on December 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

Two dolla dolla bill y'all!
posted by klangklangston at 5:22 PM on December 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

After reading his bio a year or two ago, I felt like a complete nincom-poop. The dude had like taken over the internal workings of a brand new country by the time he was 27!

Anyways, after therapy, I realized I could never be as productive as Hamilton was. (Or any of the founding fathers, I guess).

His story is super interesting, and almost makes me want to grow up in the Caribean, mother-and-fatherless, a bastard, in the middle of the 16th century, and without MeFi...
posted by localhuman at 5:24 PM on December 19, 2007

Maybe so, but that's nothin' Now, Railroad Bill, he was a mighty mean man - he one shot the light right out of the poor brakeman's hand. Bill was the toughest old bastard anyone ever did see...wouldn't so much as get a cat in a tree.
posted by Smart Dalek at 5:27 PM on December 19, 2007

Thanks for the market revolution and wage slavery jackass.
posted by 517 at 5:44 PM on December 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

We need more presidents willing to face the business end of a musket, (or broadswords in a pit) in duels to win their points of view.

Nowadays, secret service and blackwater take all the fun out of the spectator sport of watching politics in action.
posted by Balisong at 5:49 PM on December 19, 2007

Hamilton was an important thinker and agitator in the formation of our country. His ongoing disagreements with Jefferson led to the formation of our first political parties - Hamilton's Federalists and Jefferson's Democrat-Republicans. Without Jefferson's ying to Hamilton's yang, though, I think we would have ended up a much more authoritarian state.

Hamilton promulgated the typical ruling caste of businessmen, while Jefferson pushed the truly revolutionary agenda of putting power in the peoples' hands.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 5:54 PM on December 19, 2007

ericb I swear to GOD I was just going to post that. It's been the first thing I think of when I hear Alexander Hamilton's name ever since.
posted by miss lynnster at 5:55 PM on December 19, 2007

Hewo, Aaawon Buuwh, Aaawon Buuwh, hod on, Aaawon Buuwh .
posted by ericb

This was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw this posted... :)
posted by blaneyphoto at 6:07 PM on December 19, 2007

It was because of hatred for this guy that Congress passed law stating that you could not be president unless born in the United States..and that keeps Arnold from White House.
posted by Postroad at 6:08 PM on December 19, 2007

I've pretty sure that Arnold is restricted by Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution, which wouldn't have applied to Hamilton:

No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President

posted by aaronetc at 6:37 PM on December 19, 2007

I'm pretty sure that Kindergarten Cop will pick up the slack if Article II fails.
posted by anotherpanacea at 6:50 PM on December 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

I like Hamilton's take on free speech.

"...sentiments dangerous to social happiness have not been diminished... opposition to the government... a gangrene begun and progressive." - Hamilton
posted by eddydamascene at 6:55 PM on December 19, 2007

Don't forget the guy was an artillery captain at twenty-one, and a lieutenant colonel a year later.
posted by atchafalaya at 7:06 PM on December 19, 2007

I like the Hogeland piece in the first link very much. Hamilton was up to his eyeballs in the Newburg conspiracy, wanted to personally lead an army to slaughter the whiskey rebels, and was a devout believer in aristocracy and oligarchy his whole life. An amazing man in many ways, almost a force of nature, but currently obscured under a heavy coat of white wash.
posted by LarryC at 8:10 PM on December 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

Not just a bastard-- a bastard brat of a Scottish peddlar, according to the second president of the US. Is that insult on languagehat's list, or is it too specific?

A co-worker I was talking to yesterday was saying that his friend saw some armchair historian presenting the theory that Alexander Hamilton wasn't actually James Hamilton's son. A big part of his theory was that Alexander Hamilton's brother wound up a low-level carpenter, a position usually held by indentured servants, so it was unlikely that the two had the same parents. My co-worker's friend raised his hand and said, "But what about the Mannings?"

Here's a little bio focusing on the Caribbean years.
posted by ibmcginty at 8:13 PM on December 19, 2007

Dude was so money.
posted by Eideteker at 9:08 PM on December 19, 2007

So here was a founding father grew up in the Caribbean, and I bet he still couldn't have told you the difference between a conga and some bongos.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 9:41 PM on December 19, 2007

"Bastard, immigrant, Federalist, Secretary of the Treasury, speechwriter, philanderer, industrialist, duelist. "

let's just leave it at "bastard," shall we? i blame AH for a number of serious problems in this country.
posted by CitizenD at 12:10 AM on December 20, 2007

Chernow's book is not bad at all
posted by matteo at 12:47 AM on December 20, 2007

Hamilton? He wasn't no president.
posted by GeckoDundee at 4:47 AM on December 20, 2007

Two dolla dolla bill y'all!

Ten. Thomas Jefferson is on the two.

I love having a big wad of cash-money tens, peeling off Hamzo's, boo-ya! It's all abou the Hamiltons baby!
posted by Pollomacho at 6:51 AM on December 20, 2007 [1 favorite]

that keeps Arnold from White House.

That really can't be the only thing that keeps Arnold from the White House... But, now that the bar has been so lowered the past seven years, you could well be right.
posted by psmealey at 7:32 AM on December 20, 2007