Completed: January 4, 2026
Recommendation: Recommended
Recommended By: Washington Independent Review of Books
Media: Audio
Review:
There is an argument to be made that Hamilton and Jefferson were opposites and this book does a pretty good job of explaining that argument. I feel like they disagreed on some stuff and agreed on other stuff. There is little doubt that Hamilton went to great lengths to support the Constitution's ratification whereas Jefferson did less. There is no doubt that they differed strongly on the National Bank which is where Rosen makes his case. I think his effort to draw a through line to modern politics is weak and reflective of politicians quoting the founding fathers when the quotations are useful (Rosen, for example, points out that he collected quotations from Hamilton for Biden's use). That is different then modern politicians adopting the positions of the founding fathers. As a practice, I do not see modern politicians (with the reasonable exception of Trump who seems to go with Andrew Jackson without really knowing very much about him) as making an effort to adopt a founding father's position. It seems to me (as Rosen demonstrates) that politicians quote a founding father when that quotation is useful.
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