ALEXANDER HAMILTON AND THOMAS JEFFERSON

Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson



Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson

Introduction

On 23 November 1789, Jefferson and his family arrived in Norfolk, Virginia to find a rather unexpected letter. By then the United States had changed considerably. The Constitution had been ratified, and George Washington, elected the first president of the United States by a unanimous vote of the Electoral College, was putting together his new national government. Jefferson thought he would come home for a few months, at most—just enough time to settle his daughters and put affairs at Monticello back in order before returning to France to serve American interest. A revolution had just broken out there that he believed had great promise for spreading the ideals of the American Revolution throughout Europe, and it required his continued attentions. But when he arrived in Norfolk, he found waiting for him an offer he could not refuse: a note from George Washington informing him that he had been named and confirmed as the first secretary of state. According to the historian Joseph Ellis, there was only one inviolable rule in early American politics: thou shalt not cross George Washington. Jefferson accepted the post and moved to New York City, the temporary capital of the new republic, on 21 March 1790.

Analysis

It was not a good time to be the secretary of state. That revolution in France was quickly becoming The French Revolution, and it dominated Europe's diplomatic concerns. Jefferson's foreign policy agenda languished unfulfilled. Still, his service as secretary of state was the most consequential so far in his life. Even though his foreign policy objectives went unaddressed, as secretary of state he served in Washington's cabinet, and so participated in all policy discussions, foreign and domestic. It was the perfect space in which to air his new ideas about democracy. He thought he might have a chance to shape government policy. He couldn't have realized that he would instead shape what is usually considered the most important conflict in American politics (Robert Bernstein, 2003).

You can blame Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton was Washington's secretary of the treasury, and was as unlike Jefferson as you could get. Jefferson was well-born, Hamilton was a bastard—literally. Jefferson was measured and graceful, Hamilton was impulsive and insecure. Jefferson preferred farms and rural life. Hamilton lived for New York City. But the fight between Hamilton and Jefferson was less about personalities than competing ...