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

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

anotherpanacea — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:39:26 -0800

Who was Alexander Hamilton? Bastard, immigrant, Federalist, Secretary of the Treasury, speechwriter, philanderer, industrialist, duelist.

By: ericb

ericb — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:48:37 -0800

Who shot Alexander Hamilton in that famous duel? Hewo, Aaawon Buuwh, Aaawon Buuwh, hod on, Aaawon Buuwh.

By: jazon

jazon — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:59:23 -0800

He's just this guy, ya know?

By: JaredSeth

JaredSeth — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:02:28 -0800

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!

By: allen.spaulding

allen.spaulding — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:12:26 -0800

He got shot for being too real and I've always loved him for it.

By: ph00dz

ph00dz — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:14:00 -0800

Nah... fuck that dude. Burr was right to put a cap in his ass.

By: klangklangston

klangklangston — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:22:22 -0800

Two dolla dolla bill y'all!

By: localhuman

localhuman — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:24:08 -0800

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...

By: Smart Dalek

Smart Dalek — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:27:11 -0800

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.

By: 517

517 — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:44:19 -0800

Thanks for the market revolution and wage slavery jackass.

By: Balisong

Balisong — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:49:56 -0800

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.

By: Benny Andajetz

Benny Andajetz — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:54:50 -0800

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.

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 17:55:21 -0800

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.

By: blaneyphoto

blaneyphoto — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:07:52 -0800

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... :)

By: Postroad

Postroad — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:08:15 -0800

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.

By: aaronetc

aaronetc — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:37:08 -0800

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

By: anotherpanacea

anotherpanacea — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:50:14 -0800

I'm pretty sure that Kindergarten Cop will pick up the slack if Article II fails.

By: eddydamascene

eddydamascene — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:55:10 -0800

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

By: atchafalaya

atchafalaya — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 19:06:26 -0800

Don't forget the guy was an artillery captain at twenty-one, and a lieutenant colonel a year later.

By: LarryC

LarryC — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 20:10:46 -0800

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.

By: ibmcginty

ibmcginty — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 20:13:32 -0800

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.

By: Eideteker

Eideteker — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 21:08:28 -0800

Dude was so money.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 21:41:51 -0800

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.

By: CitizenD

CitizenD — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 00:10:37 -0800

"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.

By: matteo

matteo — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 00:47:50 -0800

Chernow's book is not bad at all

By: GeckoDundee

GeckoDundee — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 04:47:18 -0800

Hamilton? He wasn't no president.

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 06:51:47 -0800

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!

By: psmealey

psmealey — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 07:32:14 -0800

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.