Customer Reviews

Alexander Hamilton, American

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What a wonderful book! "Alexander Hamilton, American" manages to pack quite a bit into 217 pages: the story of Hamilton, a plausible version of his essence and personality, and a survey of the clashes of Revolutionary War generation titans. Richard Brookshiser accomplishes all this beautifully in this brief, highly readable book.

Brookshiser is not interested in all the little details of Hamilton's life and times. He is not interested in reproducing volumes of Hamilton's writings, letters to Hamilton, or articles about Hamilton. He is interested in telling a story, and then making points about the role of words, rights, and passion in Hamilton's character.

I'm guessing that most Americans don't know the story of Alexander Hamilton, the relatively poor immigrant who became one of this nation's most important founders. Hamilton today is respected, but not always revered as some of his opponents like Jefferson and Madison are. Brookshiser reveres him. But he writes with a kind of awe for many who did not share the same feelings for each other. "It is impossible not to love John Adams," (p. 130) Brookshiser writes. Really? Who loved him back then? Not Hamilton, not Jefferson. Hamilton and Jefferson were, of course, at odds with each other, too. But not enough so as to prevent them from joining forces against Aaron Burr in 1800, who eventually killed Hamilton in a duel four years later.

The soap opera intrigue of the founders as highlighted by this book stands out as more severe than any product of current politics. Indeed, all of what people don't like about politics today was magnified and exaggerated in Hamilton's' time: back-biting and betrayal, partisan extremism, grandstanding and demagoguery, biased media, long political careers, abuse of power, corruption, racism, and sex scandals.

Hamilton was the central figure in America's first sex scandal. During his tenure as Washington's first Secretary of the Treasury (Washington alone rises above the fray in Brookshiser's early America), Hamilton was accused of financial shenanigans. Proof lay in payments he made to a shady character named James Reynolds. Hamilton's defense was a detailed confession to an affair with Reynolds' wife - the payments were more or less hush money. Reynolds himself was guilty of many things, including apparently using his wife as bait in this sordid blackmail scheme. Hamilton denied financial malfeasance, but admitted adultery like no American politician since.

I'm not sure if Brookshiser intended his Hamilton to be compared to Bill Clinton, but I couldn't get the comparison out of my head. Hamilton and Clinton share much in common up to a point. Both came from highly inauspicious beginnings but rose to the pinnacles of power. Both came from broken homes with unreliable father-figures who abandoned them early in life. Both were highly intelligent Ivy-League lawyers. Both had faith in the federal government. And both were accused of using their office for personal financial gain, only to have a love affair reveled instead. If this comparison is intentional, Brookshiser may be inviting a contrast between Hamilton's choices at crucial moments and Clinton's. Hamiton, during his war, joined the army and served faithfully under General Washington. Hamilton did not lie about his affair, or even hide any of the details about it (although neither was he proud of the matter - he seemed genuinely regretful). Hamilton was a principled lawyer who used words and law to try to unveil natural rights, not simply win or propel his ambition. To illustrate this last point, Brookshiser uses Burr as Hamilton's foil. But Brookshiser's Burr could also be a more violent stand-in for Bill Clinton. Even if the specter of Clinton is purely illusionary (Brookshiser does not mention him), the personalities and situations of the founders as Brookshiser writes about them are highly accessible to the modern reader.

Brookshiser doesn't let the reader forget that we're reading a book. Brookshiser includes asides, such as the number of words in the book (78,000 - p. 156). Many of these asides are highly humorous, in a very contemporary way - "William Cobbett...wrote under the name Peter Porcupine (not drawn form Plutarch or Livy)" (p. 138); "Tallyrand would serve a republic, an emperor, and three kings, though the only king to whom he was loyal was Brie, the king of cheeses" (p. 136). Somehow, none of this detracts from the book. Brookshiser includes many examples of the founders' own humor as well, suggesting that his writing is in the same vein.

But ultimately "Alexander Hamilton, American" is a serious and respectful book about a serious and important historical figure. Brookshiser clearly believes in the "great man" theory of leadership, and further believes that Hamilton qualifies. Regardless of whether Hamilton was great, this book is a great introduction to the man, and a good story too!

I think some of the criticism leveled here is from people with expertise on Hamilton: In only 217 pages, much detail is necessarily left out. For the newcomer, however, Brookshiser sheds light on one of the most interesting on the "Founders," a self-made man who became the leading exponent of Federalism and brought economic structure to the foundling (and sometimes floundering) country.

Brilliant, visionary, and enormously articulate, Hamilton was quick to argue his positions, most notably in "The Federalist Papers," in a series of anonymous letters to newspapers, and in the courtroom. His belief in a strong central government drew him into conflict with other luminaries, including Virginia Thomas Jefferson. His politics and simmering rivalry with Aaron Burr culminated in a famous duel. Today, when we think of Jefferson et al. as apolitical "statesmen," it is instructive to view the ferocious politics of the era.

Brookshiser's non-academic, breezy style enlivens the characterization of the people, the times, and the economic issues. Unfortunately, this style sometimes works against him: Describing the Hamilton/Burr communiques preceding the duel, Brookshiser merely states "It would dignify the mummeries that followed to describe them in detail." Still, Brookshiser's book is a welcome addition to the literature on the Revolution and early American politics. Recommended.

Richard Brookhiser's "Alexander Hamilton, American" ultimately fails to convince the reader that this book was well researched or written. The vagueness and ambiguity of the author's language on the man who is the least understood, most important and inspiring of the founding fathers does not give Hamilton his due. Brookhiser simply gives the basic facts about Hamilton, but unfortunately does not offer any real concrete scholarly insights. When compared to earlier works such as Clinton L. Rossiter's "Alexander Hamilton and the Constitution," Brookhiser's account will soon be forgotten. For those students who wish to get a more comprehensive study on Alexander Hamilton's life and philosphy, the definitve book is "Alexander Hamilton and the Constitution" if it can still be found in print! Also, two recent books seemingly capture Hamilton at his best. The first is "Duel: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr and the Future of America" by Thomas Fleming and "Founding Brothers," by Joseph J. Ellis. Both books are well written and researched, and describe Hamilton in the context of his time with new scholarly insight.

I enthusiastically bought this book as I enjoyed Brookhiser's biography of George Washington. I did expect and found that Brookhiser would gloss over some of Hamilton's faults as Brookhiser is rather pro Federalist. Despite this Brookhiser does leave the reader to decide for himself. Brookhiser does admit some of Hamilton's faults and gives opposing views in places.

My disappointment with the book was how it was written. It pales to his Washington biography. I knew I would not learn much new in only a 217 page book, but this book fell much too short. I learned very little new about Hamilton. On the other hand, a person who knows a limited bit of Hamilton and his times who reads this book hoping to find out more may also be disappointed . Brookhiser writes with the assumption the reader already knows about the times. If the readers does not then he or she will be lost or having to scramble to a text book to find out what Brookhiser is writing about.

His chapters on "Words", "Rights" and "Passions" are great food for thought and each could begin as the basis for books on the subjects. However, in this book they only serve to fill in pages that could be better used to provide better detail about Hamilton. Brookhiser seems torn between writing about Hamilton's life and Hamilton's time. He comes up short in both areas.

Short biographies, led by the "Penguins Lives" series, are making a comeback and Brookhiser's life of Hamilton is a welcome non-Penguin addition. Short lives seem to fall into one of two categories: We are presented the life and pretty much left on our own to conclude why the subject was worth writing about (literary, juvenile and sports biographies are of this type) or we are presented with only sketches of the life as the author writes an interpretive essay on the subject. Brookhiser's book falls into the latter category. Indeed, three of the ten chapters are self-contained essays on Hamilton's words, views on rights, and passions. The result of this essay approach is often that the subject never quite leaps off the pages. Brookhiser seems more interested in Hamilton as a historical figure - someone who made his way onto the 10 dollar bill - than as a flesh and blood human being who dies in a duel. Still, once we accept the limitation's of the "brief lives" approach, there is much to like. Brookhiser has interesting ideas about Hamilton's status as an outsider and his views on American society and slavery. He makes effective points on why we should know about Hamilton. He seems to have read and digested Hamilton's writings, although as one previous reviewer noted, he does seem to cite back to the same sources too often. He understands about politics in the age of passion. It's a good, if not complete, picture of Hamilton.

This book is long overdue. While our bookstores are glutted with books on Jefferson, we had only McDonald's bio of Hamilton left in print. Flexner's odd "Young Hamilton" was recently rereleased, not much of a comfort to Hamiltonians. Michael Lind's "Hamilton's Republic" gave me hope that perhaps Alexander was finally being dragged out of obscurity into the much deserved limelight he always craved. I've read most of the biographies on Hamilton and I'd rate Brookhiser number one on readability and vivid portrayal. If you're looking for more detail, try to track down Hendrickson's long out of print two volume work. It's a tad eccentric but a hell of a good read. Forrest McDonald's bio is excellent as is John Miller's. If you stumble onto Frederick Scott Oliver's 1921 bio, gobble it up. It's way too worshipful but it illustrates excellently how an earlier generation held Hamilton in much higher esteem than they did Jefferson. Broadus Mitchell shows you don't have to be conservative to find Hamilton an inspiration. When you finish with Mr. Brookhiser, if you have time to read only one more book on Hamilton, without a doubt the one to read is Clinton Rossiter's "Alexander Hamilton and the Constiution." A brilliant, brillaint study. After reading Rossiter I was a Hamitonian for life. I hope Brookhiser has a similar effect on a new generation of readers. Sadly, as stated above, most of these books are out of print so Brookhiser's work is very much appreciated.

Brookhiser offers a very opinionated view of Alexander Hamilton, defending him from his detractors over the years, and showing just how instrumental a role Hamilton had in the American Revolution and the post-Revolutionary government. Brookhiser skips lightly over Hamilton's early years in the Caribbean, which are rather cloudy to begin with, and also his formative years in America. He focuses on Hamilton's role in promoting the new Constitution in the Federalist Papers and before the New York Convention, which eventually approved it, overcoming the staunch anti-Federalists in the state such as Aaron Burr. Hamilton emerges as a man who saw the forest through the trees, one step ahead of his political opponents until they eventually caught up to him in the early 19th century. He was a man of immense intellect who has to be considered the father of our economy, with so many far-reaching ideas that they are still with us today. The book is a little short for a man of such national importance, but it is easily accessible and will provide the reader with a good overall impression of the man, who was our nation's first Secretary of the Treasury.

Like Brookhiser's previous book on George Washington, this is essentially a superficial and extended essay. Nevertheless, the book does illustrate the awesome versatility of Hamilton: ardent patriot in the Revolution, key author of the Federalist papers and one of the men who got the US Constitution ratified and as first Secretary of the Treasury, the father of the American capitalist system. Unfortunately, Brookhiser does not do this distinguished career justice; Hamilton's role at Trenton and his assault on Redoubt No. 9 at Yorktown is barely mentioned. Hamilton's admission of responsibility in the nation's first public sex scandal is interesting in light of the contemporary Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. However, by the end of the book, Brookhiser is quite tedious.

Brookhiser's book is important because it reminds the reader of the democratic side of Hamilton which has been lost by other recent biographers. One must go back at least to the 1926 "Jefferson and Hamilton" by a Harvard professor to get a fair, thorough, accurate and definitive treatment of Hamilton and his most important work. And yet, this book also throws in references to sedan chair transportation in fin de siecle New York, mentions that Madison was Burr's roommate at Princeton, and points out that Philadelphia was the world's second largest English-speaking city in 1800, with a population of only 30,000.

The book is heavy, and should not have left out McClay's diary entry about Washinton's halting delivery of his First Inaugural (I was glad to see he was not first in EVERYTHING!) What Brookhiser DOES see is this West Indian bastard's deep appreciation for a land where a youth of superior ability can rise to the right hand of the nation's surpreme leader without the background of a "good" family. Hamilton is too often portrayed as a pawn of the monied interests, with contempt for the people. He was, in fact, a key architect of this self-governing republic, whose disagreements with, say, Jefferson, were more about degree than really fundamental principles. Brookshiser sees this, and reminds us, which is this book's value.

I agree with the observations of some of the other reviewers, that the book is superficial in some regards and almost blithe about Hamilton's personality.

However, it is a fantastic introduction to a rather maligned founding father. A complex character who has been stereotyped into the high school history dichotomy along with Jefferson; Jefferson the one receiving the most slack. A&E's recent movie on Washington presents Hamilton as a subdued dullard. So it is refreshing to read a work that goes against the pro-Jefferson assumptions and illustrates a complicated genius and a dedicated American.