As we watch a repulsive group of elected and unelected leftist elites purposely destroy the economy of our beloved country, we long for a return of the statesmen of our glorious past.

These would also be men who actually worked to create and enact policies designed to help, rather than harm, the United States of America.

Outstanding among them would be the extraordinary Alexander Hamilton, one of the greatest of our Founding Fathers.  A native of the Caribbean island of Nevus, Hamilton came from a union between a Scottish merchant, James Hamilton, and a beautiful young French Huguenot, Rachel Faucet,.in 1755, or 1757, (there is some discussion about the date of Hamilton’s birth).  The couple had not managed to bind their union legally, but despite the stigma of illegitimacy, Alexander Hamilton nonetheless achieved the greatest in everything he set out to achieve.  He not only demonstrated a genius for business and finance at an extremely early age, he proved to be a brilliant writer as well, publishing a well-received article in a local Nevian newspaper at the age of 13.  His precociousness was evident in these and other areas, resulting in a generous mentor arranging to.send him to the American colonies for his education, where he attended King’s College (later Columbia), finishing at that institution in record time.  

Hamilton became a passionate adherent to the patriot cause, actually writing two quite well-read pamphlets calling for American patriots to free themselves from the British yoke; he accomplished this at the age of 17.  He became a soldier in the Continental Army, and through the notice of General Nathaniel Greene, (Washington’s favorite General), Hamilton became the chief aide de camp to General George Washington, achieving the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.  With some slight interruption, Washington and his young aide were devoted friends for the rest of their lives, so much so that Hamilton was referred to as one of “His Excellency’s Boys,” a term referring to the number of often brilliant and always talented young men General Washington encouraged and helped place in positions of authority.  General Washington did this both during  the Revolutionary War, and later in his Presidency, and the young men included, among others, the Marquis de Lafayette, John Laurens, as well as Hamilton.

In addition to being a brilliant writer, (among other things, he wrote 51 of the 85 Federalist Papers), and superbly talented in business and finance, Alexander Hamilton was also a courageous and gifted soldier.  After serving several years as General Washington’s closest aide, he began to chafe at not being able to engage in battle, and was thus eventually given command of a battalion at the Battle of Yorktown.  Hamilton performed brilliantly, in fact taking one of the British redoubts, which helped greatly in achieving American success in what proved to be the pivotal battle of the Revolutionary War. Quickly on the heels of all these accomplishments, Hamilton completed the training to become a lawyer, again in record time, and started practicing law in the state of New York. 

He was also the founder of the newspaper known today as the New York Post.

Were these men not the most extraordinary group to have gathered together in history?  Each one of them seemed to have lived at least six lives in one.  Our Founding Fathers are an endless source of fascination, reverence, and awe.

He also married superbly, taking as his bride Elizabeth Schuyler, daughter of the patriarch of one of the great families of New York, Philip Schuyler.  Mrs. Hamilton was devoted to her husband, and in fact put up with quite a lot from him in their lives together.

In 1789, the new American President Washington asked this remarkable young man (he was 32 years old) to serve as our first Secretary of the Treasury.  As a result of this brilliant appointment, a financial system was created that made the United States the best credit risk in the western world.  It can actually be said about Alexander Hamilton that he was directly responsible for the huge economic success of the United States of America.

That is, of course, the American economy that existed before hope and change came to us in 2008.

The paramount problem facing Hamilton in 1789 was the huge national debt that existed as a result of the Revolutionary War.  That amount was approximately $54 million dollars (don’t you find yourself nostalgic for millions?). The new Secretary proposed that the government assume the entire debt of the federal government and that of the states, as well, and his plan was to retire the old depreciated obligations by borrowing new money at a lower interest rate.

Hamilton’s debt program was a remarkable success.  Effectively, by demonstrating Americans’ willingness to repay their debts, he made the United States attractive to foreign investors. European investment capital thus poured into the new nation in significant amounts.

What does that augur for today?

Alexander Hamilton offered a remarkably modern economic vision based on investment, industry, and expanded commerce. It was, as well, and most remarkably, an economic vision that had no place for slavery.  A member of New York’s first antislavery society, Hamilton wanted to re-orient the American economy away from slavery and colonial trade.

In general, Hamilton, in attempting to develop a successful economic system, both in the short and the long term, for his new nation, believed in credit, wanted to make America a commercial rather than primarily agrarian economy, supported a strong central government and called for the creation of a national bank. Upon assuming office, Secretary Hamilton lent all his considerable energy to implementing his policies, and was fought every step of the way by his fellow Cabinet member, Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson.  An equally formidable intellect and tenacious advocate for his beliefs, Jefferson wanted America to remain an agrarian nation, did not believe in credit, loathed the idea of a strong central government and despised the idea of a national bank.  What made things even more fractious in America’s first Cabinet is that Jefferson also despised Hamilton, in fact always referring to him as “that awful Caribbean.”

One cannot help but wonder what Hamilton’s reaction would be to learn that the national debt of the United States of America, under Obama, is on a fast track to overtake our nation’s GDP.  The amount of our current debt as a result of the unprecedented spending of this Administration is $13.6 trillion, which is presently 93% of our Gross Domestic Product.  By 2015, which is in the very near future, the rate of debt to GDP is expected to increase to 102%, with our debt climbing to $19.6 trillion.  Keep in mind that this estimate is before the additional massive spending called for in ObamaCare, along with soon to be passed ‘financial reform’ and ‘cap and trade’ legislation, occurs.

Our current President is destroying the nation that Alexander Hamilton and the others created with such sacrifice, love, hope and brilliance, and he is accomplishing this primarily by annihilating our economy.  We are, with the America-hating left in charge of our country, in the process of losing the nation created by Hamilton and his fellow Founders, a nation that in its more than 220 year history achieved greatness that no other nation in history has achieved.  This greatness is currently being dissipated to the point from which we cannot recover, and this phenomenal amount of destruction has occurred in just a year and a half.

Obama has another 2 and one-half years to go.

There will be nothing left of the United States of America created by Alexander Hamilton and his fellow geniuses if Barack Hussein Obama and his enablers are allowed to remain in power.  I know one thing; Alexander Hamilton would not have stood by and let his beloved country be destroyed.  They left it to us to protect, and protect it we must, or lose it forever.

It can be said about Alexander Hamilton that he engendered very strong feelings about him on the part of those who knew him, both on the positive and negative side.  I think we can say that former Vice President Aaron Burr’s feelings fell on the negative side, as Burr shot and killed Hamilton in a duel.  The great French diplomat Charles Maurice Talleyrand, who spent 1794 in the United States, felt the opposite:  "I consider Napoleon, Fox, and Hamilton the three greatest men of our epoch, and if I were forced to decide between the three, I would give without hesitation the first place to Hamilton."  Perhaps the most telling testament of all would be on the part of George Washington, our first and greatest leader, who never ceased to love his Hamilton.