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?

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…

Forget the Benjamins. Hamilton is Back.

We’ve just been poking around the West Indian island of Nevis, the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton. This man knew a little something about money, and there’s a renewed interest today in his prescient ideas about the American economy.

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…

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