The measure of a truly great statesman is his ability to solve the problems of his nation in a time of great crisis. Alexander Hamilton served his country in her most critical period—when the Revolutionary War ended and a nation had to be forged. He was almost alone in his grasp of the major problem—the need for a strong federal government based on sound democratic principles. For that purpose he called for a Constitutional Convention, advocating a change in the existing Articles of Confederation. Out of a long and bitter battle came our Constitution.

Alexander Hamilton grew up in the Dutch West Indies, where even in his youth it was apparent that he was a rare mixture of the resourceful business man and a visionary. As a college student in the American colonies, his articles and impassioned speeches for the cause of the colonists singled him out as a young man with a brilliant future in politics.

A hero of the Revolution, aide to Washington, author of the Federalist Papers—a brilliant defense of the principles of free government—he successfully led the fight for the ratification of the Constitution. As Secretary of Treasury, he was founder of our fiscal system. All great political leaders have their enemies, and Hamilton had his in Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, at whose hand he lost his life in a duel at the age of forty-nine.

History makes strange reversals. In his own day Hamilton was called a conservative. If he lived today, in this era of strong federal government, he would be considered a liberal. Yet it is by a man's record and achievements in his own time that he should be judged. Alexander Hamilton helped create a new nation and set it on the road to greatness. For that Americans owe him remembrance and enduring homage.

From the dust jacket