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Is Geithner the New Hamilton?
Defending Geithner on the South Lawn last Wednesday, Obama commented that Alexander Hamilton may be the only other Treasury Secretary to have so many hot potatoes to juggle. Yet Geithner is in danger of becoming the public face of the AIG scandal. Will Obama’s defense fly? The Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson sees the claim as an exaggeration, and CNN’s John Feehery warns that Geithner might get virtually the same treatment (metaphorically) that Hamilton got from Aaron Burr – the wrong end of a pistol, that is.
We’ve been reminiscing about Alexander Hamilton ever since visiting his birthplace in Nevis last month, and agree that Geithner has a tough act to follow. Hamilton was not only one of our most brilliant and forward-thinking Founding Fathers, he was also the #1 babe in the group (there’s a reason the delectable Rufus Sewell portrayed him in John Adams). The Recession has got us thinking about older men, and we have a not-so-secret crush on Hamilton. Sorry, Geithner…
Check out Recessionwire’s “Forget the Benjamins. Hamilton is Back”
“…Alexander Hamilton was the first US Secretary of the Treasury, a Founding Father, economist, and a bit of a rake. He was a thoroughly modern man who envisioned a strong federal government and a strong treasury, a national banking system, a stock market and foreign trade policy that balanced openness with protections. He also favored an economy mixed between agriculture and manufacturing, unlike his rival Jefferson, who wanted an agrarian republic. Hamilton didn’t want us to put all our eggs in one fiscal basket. He also warned that America needed to make stuff or we would always be dependent on other countries. Real wealth, he thought, was only created when somebody makes something. Helloooo! Score one for Hamilton….”
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2 comments for “Is Geithner the New Hamilton?”
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Definitely agree that the president’s comparison of Geithner to Hamilton doesn’t hold water. Hamilton was a true genius, not some brown noser constantly looking to coddle his masters on Wall Street. Hamilton was literally as you say, a man out of time. He was so far ahead of everyone else in his economic policies that in many ways one might consider him to be the real father of our country instead of his old boss George Washington.
Don’t even get me started on his attitudes toward the issue of race and slavery. He was far superior to Jefferson on this issue, often lamenting the racial attitudes directed toward the black Americans of his day. For a Founding Father this was extraordinary, particularly when you consider that Tidewater Virginians like Jefferson and Washington held the opposite view.
It’s a shame that the nation’s historians have wasted so much ink over the generations lauding Jefferson as this paragon of enlightenment and the country has been the poorer for it. In reality it was Hamilton who who stood out as the soul of enlightenment, and his contributions were truly the gifts that keep on giving, our present circumstances notwithstanding
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Thanks for your comments, Rob. I got a renewed interest in Hamilton learning about his relatively unprivileged background, and how this led him to consider the underdog. He’s truly making a comeback!