Book SummaryAlexander Hamilton, by Ron Chernow

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Alexander Hamilton

In this comprehensive biography, journalist Ron Chernow argues that Alexander Hamilton has been significantly overlooked compared to the other Founding Fathers. While Hamilton never served as president, he was hugely influential in designing the structure of the federal government and the US economy. Though Hamilton had fallen out of political favor by the time he died in 1804, his prolific writings on law and the US Constitution are still cited to this day. Ultimately, Chernow believes that America today fulfills Hamilton’s vision more so than the visions of his political rivals, particularly Thomas Jefferson.

(Shortform note: Ironically, the success of Chernow’s book means that as of the 2020s, his central premise—that Hamilton has been overlooked by history—is no longer true. In 2015, the biography was adapted into the hit Broadway musical Hamilton, which made over a billion dollars in global revenue and won dozens of awards, including the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Chernow’s biography, originally published in 2004, became a bestseller for the second time. Today, Hamilton is perhaps the best-known Founding Father after Washington and Jefferson.)

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Alexander Hamilton Summary Hamilton’s Early Life

Throughout the biography, Chernow emphasizes that Hamilton was something of an outsider among the Founding Fathers (the revolutionary leaders who founded the United States) who nonetheless made essential contributions to the formation of the new country. While most Founding Fathers came from aristocratic backgrounds, Hamilton was born to a poor family around 1757 and was raised on the islands of St. Kitts, Nevis, and St. Croix in the Caribbean. The exact details of Hamilton’s parentage have been debated by scholars, and throughout his life he was mocked for being illegitimate (his parents were never officially married) and possibly mixed-race, though Chernow dismisses the latter claim.

(Shortform note: Several US presidents were also suggested to be mixed-race during their lifetimes, including Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln, but these suggestions came primarily from political enemies. In the deeply racist 18th and 19th centuries, any African or Native American ancestry could [disqualify a person from participating in...

Alexander Hamilton Summary The Revolutionary War and Service With Washington

War finally broke out between Great Britain and American revolutionaries in the spring of 1775, and Hamilton dropped out of school to join his local volunteer militia. While Hamilton served in several battles, Chernow argues that the most significant event of the war for Hamilton would be his appointment to the staff of General George Washington in 1777. Washington was Commander in Chief of the entire Revolutionary Army and would become the first president of the United States in 1789. His lifelong friendship with Hamilton made the latter’s political career possible, as Hamilton went from being a poor little-known writer to the trusted advisor to the most powerful man in the country.

(Shortform note: In 2016, historians Stephen F. Knott and Tony Williams dedicated an entire book to the Washington-Hamilton relationship, in which they...

Alexander Hamilton Summary Post-War Restructuring

Having won the war by 1783, the newly independent American government was faced with the problem of developing a functional government in the face of bankruptcy and political unrest. Chernow argues that it was at this time that Hamilton became a significant political figure, most notably as a delegate to the 1787 Constitutional Convention and the primary author of The Federalist Papers, a series of essays defending and explaining the Constitution to the general public.

Though Hamilton did not write the Constitution—Virginia delegate James Madison was its primary author—the final document largely conformed to his vision of what the US government should look like in the coming decades. This meant a strong, centralized power with the authority to unite the entire American population, which at that time was divided into 13 semi-autonomous states.

(Shortform note: The thirteen states began as thirteen colonies, established by Europeans on North American soil beginning in the early 17th century. Though various nations and religious groups were represented in...

Alexander Hamilton Summary Hamilton as Treasury Secretary

After the Constitution was ratified by a majority of the states, politicians began formally organizing the government, and in 1789 Washington was elected the first president of the US. Chernow argues that Washington was the only possible choice for the job by the turbulent 1780s, since he commanded near-universal respect after leading the Revolutionary Army to victory. Washington appointed a cabinet of ministers to assist him in decision-making, including Hamilton as the first Secretary of the Treasury. This was the highest office Hamilton would ever hold, and Chernow claims that Hamilton left a permanent mark on the US economy, driving it toward capitalism, industrialization, and trade.

Imposing New Taxes

As Treasury Secretary, Hamilton worked to establish the US banking system and impose federal taxes on trade. In a series of reports to Congress, he advised selling government bonds to help finance its operations for the next few years, printing paper money that could replace gold and silver as acceptable tax payments, consolidating individual state debts into a single national debt that Congress would have the responsibility of paying off, imposing taxes on foreign...

Alexander Hamilton Summary Federalism Versus Republicanism

While serving as Treasury Secretary, Hamilton also became an important figure in the emergence of the first American political parties, which had begun to develop during the Constitutional ratification process and became powerful forces under the Washington administration. They were not formal organizations, but loose alliances of politicians who shared beliefs about the US economy, foreign relations, the future of slavery, and so on. Loyalty tended to consolidate around powerful figures, and Chernow argues that Hamilton and Jefferson were the unofficial heads of the Federalist and Republican parties, respectively. Both men dominated American politics even after they each left their positions in Washington’s cabinet.

(Shortform note: The terms “federalist” and “republican” accurately describe the US government, since it is both a federation (a union of states under a central government) and a republic (a democracy in which citizens elect officials to represent them). The Federalists of the 1790s [took their name from the...

Alexander Hamilton Summary Hamilton’s Death and Legacy

Chernow argues that Hamilton’s death in a duel with politician Aaron Burr would be his most famous misstep, overshadowing accounts of his life up until the modern day. This is partly due to the sensationalism of the crime, as both Hamilton and Burr were famous public figures, dueling had recently been outlawed in New York, and Hamilton was relatively young (47) at the time of his death.

Duel With Burr

Burr was a frequent target of Hamilton’s criticism, as he switched party allegiances throughout his career. Hamilton was even harsher toward Burr than toward leading Republicans, describing him as a morally bankrupt opportunist who behaved in whatever way was politically convenient for him. Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel over the personal nature of the insults and his belief that Hamilton had cost him two critical elections—though Chernow suggests that his loss of the presidency in 1800 and the governorship of New York in 1804 had more to do with Burr’s general unpopularity.

(Shortform note: While he finished his term as Jefferson’s Vice President, Burr [never held political office again after the...

Shortform Exercise: Connect the Past and Present

Chernow repeatedly stresses the importance of Hamilton’s life to understanding the politics and structure of the modern United States. Despite the centuries that have passed since the Revolutionary era, he argues that there are direct throughlines from Hamilton’s politics to the lives of average Americans.

Do you see any connection between Hamilton’s life and the modern world besides the ones Chernow names (in politics, culture, economics, and so on)? Are these connections the direct result of his policies, or more indirect?