This was another audio book which I obtained for next to nothing during a recent trip to the library.
And you know what?
It was entertaining, plus informative. Indeed, I learned something. Quite a few things, actually. That includes some stuff regarding his philosophy and relevant debates both during and after the United States had achieved independence, as well as the serious challenges and difficulties that the new nation faced in the first few years after winning it's independence from Great Britain.
What I learned was about Hamilton's personal relations - and squabbles - with some of the towering figures of the times, including some of the most respected and even venerated Founding Fathers. That includes, of course, George Washington, with whom Hamilton had a close relationship both during the Revolutionary War, as well as during Washington's term as the first President of these United States. It also delves a bit into their own personal squabble, which evidently happened right at what is now known as Washington's Headquarters in Morristown, which prompted me to take a small detour and take pictures of the house a couple of weeks ago or so, after work on one Sunday.
Hamilton was not from any of the original thirteen colonies. He was born in St. Kitts and Nevis, and indeed lived the earliest part of his life not in the colonies, but in the Caribbean, which was far more important politically and economically then, due mostly to sugar. Eventually, Hamilton made his way to the colonies, and obviously came to play a very prominent part in the American Revolution, which would help to shape his life.
You learn about the other Founding Fathers, as well, most of whom had even contentious relations with Hamilton. It surprised me to learn this, that Hamilton seemed to make serious political enemies. He had good relations originally with James Madison, and the two collaborated on many of the most iconic Federalist papers in favor of the Constitution. Yet not too much later, the two were bitterest of political enemies, and this lasted for the rest of their years. Hamilton and Jefferson also were serious political enemies, as were Hamilton and James Monroe, George Clinton, and of course, most infamously, Aaron Burr. The tensions between Monroe and Hamilton were so serious that even decades after the death of Hamilton, his wife rejected overtures for a burying of the hatch and peace made by Monroe, as she held him largely responsible for the tensions.
This, of course, was due to an affair which Hamilton had, and in which he really showed surprisingly poor judgement. The affair was with Maria Reynolds, but it was one in which Hamilton was manipulated and used, yet he seemed somehow to refuse to believe it. This made the situation infinitely worse, as he was blackmailed by her and her husband, as well as another man who entered the picture a bit later. And Hamilton showed equally bad judgement in being a little too open about this affair. During those puritanical times, this seriously came to be his undoing, and my explain why he never went further politically, possibly even succeeding Washington as the president. Hamilton believed that Monroe was more responsible for compromising - even hijacking - Hamilton's political career in this regard. The hard feelings between the two literally were to last the rest of their lives.
In this book, you really get the in depth analysis and behind the scenes tensions that make these tensions and rivalries. It is easier to understand just how delicate the political situation for the newly independent - yet hardly strongly united - fledgling nation was in those days. So you come to understand the thinking behind the Federalists and the anti-Federalists, and the suspicions of and bitterness between the two different sides.
Finally, there is the rivalry which Hamilton had with Aaron Burr, the Vice-President This wound up being so serious, that it ended up resulting in arguably the most famous duel in American history. It cost Hamilton his life, and he seemed to know it beforehand. Hamilton's life ended as a result of the fatal wound he received from it, but Burr effectively committed political suicide as a result of this duel. The way it came across, Burr was regarded as little more than a murderer of one of Ameirca's most influential Founding Fathers.
One thing which rather surprised me to learn was that Hamilton rarely was regarded in heroic terms, as Washington, Franklin, and Jefferson were. There were times when he did receive public adulation. At one point, some people actually advocated renaming New York City in his honor. I believe they wanted it to be renamed Hamiltoniana, which would have been interesting. Obviously, that did not happen. And that was one of the few times when Hamilton received the public adulation and support which, admittedly, I had wrongly assumed he had enjoyed before reading this book.
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