cphenly 's review for:

Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow

5.0

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This is the book upon which Lin Manuel Miranda based the musical Hamilton. It's very long (though not as long as my dates of reading might suggest--I had it on audio and listened only while walking. I was then laid up for 6 weeks with illness, so that delayed my finishing by a great deal.) This is a fascinating book. One feature is somewhat comforting: the politics of the era (during the first three presidencies) were nearly as outrageous and contentious as they are right now. The founding fathers (with the exception of Washington) do not come off in this rendition as being calm, rational, morally exceptional men. They (and especially Jefferson and Adams) are portrayed as being extremely arrogant and fragile, reacting to any slight with massive emotional overreaction. Jefferson, for instance, is show to have actually paid someone for slander to be published about Hamilton. When challenged with it publicly, he gave a public denial, at which point, the accuser brought forth documents in Jefferson's hand proving it. Jefferson especially but also Adams are shown to have been conspiracy theorists inclined to believe anything they heard that was negative about their perceived enemies, and to ignore facts whenever they did not suit. Aaron Burr, having shot Hamilton, and on the run from New York and New Jersey where he had been indicted for inciting a duel and murder (respectively), presided over the senate, including a trial to impeach a Supreme Court Justice for minimal improprieties (of which the Justice was acquitted). The trial, apparently, was instigated by Jefferson, who wanted to get rid of all the Federalist appointees to the Supreme Court. Having ostracized Burr, his Vice President, publicly for nearly four years, Jefferson suddenly embraced him after he shot Hamilton--in part because he (Jefferson) hated Hamilton with an unreasoning passion, and in part because he though Burr would help him get rid of the justice. Fraught with self-serving and fact-denying politicians, politically divided to an incredible degree: the age was similar to our own. This gives me some hope that we may survive this yet. Hamilton's story is the story of how he managed, in the middle of all the outrage (and he was apparently the lightning rod for most of this hatred), to spearhead the establishment of a governmental system, especially its finances, that was capable of upholding the constitution and surviving the vast amount of political rancor. Quite fascinating.