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The Founders and Finance: How Hamilton, Gallatin, and Other Immigrants Forged a New Economy
In 1776 the United States government started out on a shoestring and quickly went bankrupt fighting its War of Independence against Britain. At the war s end, the national government owed tremendous sums to foreign creditors and its own citizens. But lacking the power to tax, it had no means to repay them. "The Founders and Finance" is the first book to tell the story of how foreign-born financial specialists immigrants solved the fiscal crisis and set the United States on a path to long-term economic success.
Pulitzer Prize winning author Thomas K. McCraw analyzes the skills and worldliness of Alexander Hamilton (from the Danish Virgin Islands), Albert Gallatin (from the Republic of Geneva), and other immigrant founders who guided the nation to prosperity. Their expertise with liquid capital far exceeded that of native-born plantation owners Washington, Jefferson, and Madison, who well understood the management of land and slaves but had only a vague knowledge of financial instruments currencies, stocks, and bonds. The very rootlessness of America s immigrant leaders gave them a better understanding of money, credit, and banks, and the way each could be made to serve the public good.
The remarkable financial innovations designed by Hamilton, Gallatin, and other immigrants enabled the United States to control its debts, to pay for the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, and barely to fight the War of 1812, which preserved the nation s hard-won independence from Britain."
Pulitzer Prize winning author Thomas K. McCraw analyzes the skills and worldliness of Alexander Hamilton (from the Danish Virgin Islands), Albert Gallatin (from the Republic of Geneva), and other immigrant founders who guided the nation to prosperity. Their expertise with liquid capital far exceeded that of native-born plantation owners Washington, Jefferson, and Madison, who well understood the management of land and slaves but had only a vague knowledge of financial instruments currencies, stocks, and bonds. The very rootlessness of America s immigrant leaders gave them a better understanding of money, credit, and banks, and the way each could be made to serve the public good.
The remarkable financial innovations designed by Hamilton, Gallatin, and other immigrants enabled the United States to control its debts, to pay for the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, and barely to fight the War of 1812, which preserved the nation s hard-won independence from Britain."
390 pages, Hardcover
First published October 8, 2012
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551 people want to read
About the author
Thomas K. McCraw
13 books15 followersThomas Kincaid McCraw was an American business historian and Isidor Straus Professor of Business History, Emeritus at Harvard Business School.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
December 4, 2018
I love the financial history of the United States. I love the Titans of Industry, the giant cooperation's, the stock exchanges, the architecture, the old currency...etc. I really love this stuff.This book falls right into that category.
Hamilton & Gallatin were both immigrants to this nation (Hamilton from the St.Crox and Gallatin from Geneva, Switzerland) and both came with knowledge of the financial world that early Americans seemed to lack. In fact, as the book points out most of our early Treasurers and finance officers were from the old world or a colonial holding not in the continental United States (Morris from England, Dallas from Jamaica....etc). The author makes a case that because of their diverse backgrounds in other parts of the world they were tailor made for the job. Just look at Hamilton before he came to the America. He was 12 and learning the shipping businesses and running parts of it while the owner was away.
The book focuses on Hamilton and Gallatin and consists of three parts. The first part is a bio of Hamilton, focusing more on the finance than the social. The second part is the same, this time with Gallatin. The third part, felt a tad disjointed as it was a collection of stories about other financiers that were alien to the nations they helped (Necker in France, Law in France...etc) and how they influenced our guys. That is why I deducted a star.
Over all this is a fantastic book for those that want to learn about two of our coolest founders. Gallatin needs his day in the sun. He did a lot for this nation yet still remains in the shadows. He didn't lead the crazy life like Hamilton but he lead an interesting one. Maybe the History Channel can stop with the shows about cars and Ancient Aliens and do a mini series on the Treaty of Ghent with Gallatin, Clay, and John Quincy Adams. That would be nice.
Hamilton & Gallatin were both immigrants to this nation (Hamilton from the St.Crox and Gallatin from Geneva, Switzerland) and both came with knowledge of the financial world that early Americans seemed to lack. In fact, as the book points out most of our early Treasurers and finance officers were from the old world or a colonial holding not in the continental United States (Morris from England, Dallas from Jamaica....etc). The author makes a case that because of their diverse backgrounds in other parts of the world they were tailor made for the job. Just look at Hamilton before he came to the America. He was 12 and learning the shipping businesses and running parts of it while the owner was away.
The book focuses on Hamilton and Gallatin and consists of three parts. The first part is a bio of Hamilton, focusing more on the finance than the social. The second part is the same, this time with Gallatin. The third part, felt a tad disjointed as it was a collection of stories about other financiers that were alien to the nations they helped (Necker in France, Law in France...etc) and how they influenced our guys. That is why I deducted a star.
Over all this is a fantastic book for those that want to learn about two of our coolest founders. Gallatin needs his day in the sun. He did a lot for this nation yet still remains in the shadows. He didn't lead the crazy life like Hamilton but he lead an interesting one. Maybe the History Channel can stop with the shows about cars and Ancient Aliens and do a mini series on the Treaty of Ghent with Gallatin, Clay, and John Quincy Adams. That would be nice.
August 13, 2022
Really a dual biography of Gallatin and Hamilton, with some references to Robert Morris and a few other more minor early public financiers. The book is quite readable, and I enjoyed learning about Hamilton as always, and was slightly more interested in Gallatin, who I knew less about.
The section on Hamilton is quite standard, nothing ground breaking there (though I believe there is a mistake, Hamilton was not consulted on whether the national bank should open branch banks, and apparently he said he would have advised against it). The section goes through his biography, as well as his major role in the assumption, national bank (and the crediting of national bonds in buying bank stock), and support for manufacturing (including potentially paying bounties to support it). What comes off particularly stark is how much the US relied on tariffs on trade with Britain for early public revenues.
The section on Gallatin was more interesting to me because I knew less about him than Hamilton. Gallatin was a major player in the Republican party, and the Republicans relied on his financial understanding. Gallatin was a Swiss immigrant who came to America with the hopes of buying land and renting it out to other immigrants (he never managed to make it work, though he never lost his love for western lands). He eventually became involved in Pennsylvania politics, horrified by what he thought was the use of disproportionate force on the whiskey rebels. Gallatin also wrote publicly against Hamilton's financial plans, though the author thinks the analysis is less objective financial analysis than propaganda. In office, Gallatin, working off of the tremendous increase in federal revenue under the Hamilton system worked to pay off the debt while keeping taxes low. The war of 1812 threw a wrench into the plan with the increased need for money. Gallatin had ended up supporting the national bank and was skeptical of embargo and then the war but his advice was not heeded. Gallatin ends up helping negotiate the end of the war of 1812, and helps found NYU (partially inspired by the broadly educated Swiss), where he thought Greek and latin were not important and left shortly after.
The book sets up an interesting observation, that many of the important public men in early american finance were foreign born. Its answer was less in depth than I would have liked. The author kind of speculates that perhaps as immigrants, they were less tied to the land and in a way that allowed them to see the importance of mobile capital, but thats as deep as that analysis goes. But overall, a great read, well written and informative.
The section on Hamilton is quite standard, nothing ground breaking there (though I believe there is a mistake, Hamilton was not consulted on whether the national bank should open branch banks, and apparently he said he would have advised against it). The section goes through his biography, as well as his major role in the assumption, national bank (and the crediting of national bonds in buying bank stock), and support for manufacturing (including potentially paying bounties to support it). What comes off particularly stark is how much the US relied on tariffs on trade with Britain for early public revenues.
The section on Gallatin was more interesting to me because I knew less about him than Hamilton. Gallatin was a major player in the Republican party, and the Republicans relied on his financial understanding. Gallatin was a Swiss immigrant who came to America with the hopes of buying land and renting it out to other immigrants (he never managed to make it work, though he never lost his love for western lands). He eventually became involved in Pennsylvania politics, horrified by what he thought was the use of disproportionate force on the whiskey rebels. Gallatin also wrote publicly against Hamilton's financial plans, though the author thinks the analysis is less objective financial analysis than propaganda. In office, Gallatin, working off of the tremendous increase in federal revenue under the Hamilton system worked to pay off the debt while keeping taxes low. The war of 1812 threw a wrench into the plan with the increased need for money. Gallatin had ended up supporting the national bank and was skeptical of embargo and then the war but his advice was not heeded. Gallatin ends up helping negotiate the end of the war of 1812, and helps found NYU (partially inspired by the broadly educated Swiss), where he thought Greek and latin were not important and left shortly after.
The book sets up an interesting observation, that many of the important public men in early american finance were foreign born. Its answer was less in depth than I would have liked. The author kind of speculates that perhaps as immigrants, they were less tied to the land and in a way that allowed them to see the importance of mobile capital, but thats as deep as that analysis goes. But overall, a great read, well written and informative.
July 29, 2016
Basically a double-biography of Alexander Hamilton (America's first Treasury secretary) and Albert Gallatin (America's third Treasury secretary), with a focus on their financial policies. Hamilton, of course, is having a bit of a national moment. But Gallatin — the longest-serving Treasury secretary in U.S. history, and the principal economic adviser to both presidents Thomas Jefferson and James Madison — is much more obscure.
As someone who's read Ron Chernow's biography, there was little in the Hamilton section that was new. But it was well-done and concise.
The Gallatin section was more interesting, because I knew less about Gallatin.
But I felt the book didn't really transcend the sum of its parts. It did a good job highlighting Hamilton's and Galatin's similarities — their immigrant backgrounds, their support for banks and commerce (versus agriculture), their role as administrators and advisers to Virginian presidents. This is interesting stuff, especially McCraw's thesis that a shared immigrant background made the two men more open to commerce.
Where it fell short was in contrasting the two. As a brief section discussing Gallatin's tenure in Congress highlights, the Pennsylvanian had some big differences with Hamilton's financial system. But the chapters on Gallatin's service as Treasury secretary largely wave these away. Instead they focus on their similarities. Gallatin's preference for less regulation and a smaller debt than Hamilton are mentioned almost in passing. A sharper focus on the differences between their worldview would have not only been helpful new information but it would have also brought their similarities into sharper relief.
As someone who's read Ron Chernow's biography, there was little in the Hamilton section that was new. But it was well-done and concise.
The Gallatin section was more interesting, because I knew less about Gallatin.
But I felt the book didn't really transcend the sum of its parts. It did a good job highlighting Hamilton's and Galatin's similarities — their immigrant backgrounds, their support for banks and commerce (versus agriculture), their role as administrators and advisers to Virginian presidents. This is interesting stuff, especially McCraw's thesis that a shared immigrant background made the two men more open to commerce.
Where it fell short was in contrasting the two. As a brief section discussing Gallatin's tenure in Congress highlights, the Pennsylvanian had some big differences with Hamilton's financial system. But the chapters on Gallatin's service as Treasury secretary largely wave these away. Instead they focus on their similarities. Gallatin's preference for less regulation and a smaller debt than Hamilton are mentioned almost in passing. A sharper focus on the differences between their worldview would have not only been helpful new information but it would have also brought their similarities into sharper relief.
June 11, 2013
McCraw's overall argument is that it was Hamilton and Gallatin's status as immigrants that gave them a "national" outlook and a predilection for finance. I found this argument unconvincing, even as it was dressed up in an effective narrative. I would grant the book 2 stars on that standard alone.
With that said, the style/writing is very effective, I enjoyed reading it, and his footnotes were about as good as any I've ever seen in accessible writing. The footnotes were a better book, even, than the text itself, and demonstrated great levels of research. He also took some difficult concepts--like the very complex maneuvers of Alexander Hamilton in the 1790s--and distilled them into understandable chunks. If you're interested in the topic, it's worth the time.
With that said, the style/writing is very effective, I enjoyed reading it, and his footnotes were about as good as any I've ever seen in accessible writing. The footnotes were a better book, even, than the text itself, and demonstrated great levels of research. He also took some difficult concepts--like the very complex maneuvers of Alexander Hamilton in the 1790s--and distilled them into understandable chunks. If you're interested in the topic, it's worth the time.
December 25, 2012
This is more than just a history of financial policy, and I don't really think of Gallatin as a founder, per se, but these are just quibbles. This book is a surprisingly readable study of the history and development of American political economy from the 1770s to 1816, focusing especially on the policies of Alexander Hamilton and Albert Gallatin. And it explains how the combination of Hamilton's and Gallatin's policies helped establish the foundation of American capitalism. I'm not sure, though, that I'm convinced of McCraw's claims about the importance if their immigrant backgrounds to this process.
March 24, 2021
Interesting book on how the financial system was set up in the US. The book tells the stories of three main immigrants that is: Morris, Hamilton, and Gallatin that saved the US from bankruptcy in the late 1700’s and early 1800’s.
February 19, 2021
If six stars were optional, I would give them to this book. It is masterfully written history from a perspective I have not considered before. Who knew that the new United States were not really very united at all in its earliest decades, despite the ratification of the Constitution that declared them to be so?
Professor McCraw describes how the earliest US Congressmen, Senators, and Presidents—and their respective administrative officers—struggled to find agreement with each other over how to manage the brand new nation that had been designed with so much compromise in the first place. As it happened, its first critical job was to secure its own finances, as it “started out on a shoestring and almost immediately went bankrupt.” So Congress “made extravagant use of the printing presses, churning out stacks of paper money,” the quick depreciation of which “gave rise to the phrase ‘not worth a Continental.’”
Thirteen states within the “united” nation differed in their own economic ideas and interests, carried over from their own independent managements prior to the Revolutionary War they had fought together. So their preferences for what to tax, how much to tax, and what expenditures the government should assume varied, depending upon how the burdens would be weighted between the states.
Even as the War was being fought, money was scarce to finance it. Soldiers went unpaid, unclothed, and sometimes unfed. General Washington’s trusted aide Alexander Hamilton recommended the Philadelphia banker Robert Morris to help with ideas—and with expertise for borrowing money from overseas. Then, with massive war debts unpaid, President Washington appointed Hamilton as his first Treasury Secretary. Lucky US.
The author relates the details of points of view in a way that shows the human nature—and fallibility—of every participant. Both the weak and the strong speakers and writers could be under-informed but opinionated policy advocates. His premise is that Hamilton and Gallatin (and Morris and a few others) were equipped with more international experience (and financial study) than were their native provincial counterparts who had lived since childhood on rural farms (small or large) and had strong biases against institutions of banking.
The perspective is worthy. The work is laudable.
Professor McCraw describes how the earliest US Congressmen, Senators, and Presidents—and their respective administrative officers—struggled to find agreement with each other over how to manage the brand new nation that had been designed with so much compromise in the first place. As it happened, its first critical job was to secure its own finances, as it “started out on a shoestring and almost immediately went bankrupt.” So Congress “made extravagant use of the printing presses, churning out stacks of paper money,” the quick depreciation of which “gave rise to the phrase ‘not worth a Continental.’”
Thirteen states within the “united” nation differed in their own economic ideas and interests, carried over from their own independent managements prior to the Revolutionary War they had fought together. So their preferences for what to tax, how much to tax, and what expenditures the government should assume varied, depending upon how the burdens would be weighted between the states.
Even as the War was being fought, money was scarce to finance it. Soldiers went unpaid, unclothed, and sometimes unfed. General Washington’s trusted aide Alexander Hamilton recommended the Philadelphia banker Robert Morris to help with ideas—and with expertise for borrowing money from overseas. Then, with massive war debts unpaid, President Washington appointed Hamilton as his first Treasury Secretary. Lucky US.
The author relates the details of points of view in a way that shows the human nature—and fallibility—of every participant. Both the weak and the strong speakers and writers could be under-informed but opinionated policy advocates. His premise is that Hamilton and Gallatin (and Morris and a few others) were equipped with more international experience (and financial study) than were their native provincial counterparts who had lived since childhood on rural farms (small or large) and had strong biases against institutions of banking.
The perspective is worthy. The work is laudable.
January 25, 2020
A very good dual biography of Hamilton's and Gallatin's contributions to finance in the early republic. Thomas McCraw has a crafted a well written and interesting narrative about finance in the 18th/19th century. He does this by mixing the financial plans of the Founders with the biographies of these 2 men.
The first half follows Hamilton's rise and fall in the American political system. This amounts to a biography that's around 180 pages with a heavy focus on Hamilton's views/achievements concerning finance. There's likely not much new here for most readers that have read Chernow's book, or have read other works about the era. The 2nd half covers Gallatin's life and a few concluding chapters on the work of these men (and a few other immigrants) in creating a successful market economy in the United States.
The book's greatest value was in the 2nd half. McCraw's analysis definitely skews in Hamilton's favor in regards to the Federalist/Republican debates, but the author also notes towards the end that this this is due to the fact that his book focuses solely on finance. Perhaps a book on political theory would be much more generous to Jefferson & Madison? Most importantly the book is pretty fair to both parties (it'd be hard to argue that Jefferson's views vis-à-vis economics were anything but reactionary) and is written in a prose that is easy to understand without losing its academic tone or value.
The first half follows Hamilton's rise and fall in the American political system. This amounts to a biography that's around 180 pages with a heavy focus on Hamilton's views/achievements concerning finance. There's likely not much new here for most readers that have read Chernow's book, or have read other works about the era. The 2nd half covers Gallatin's life and a few concluding chapters on the work of these men (and a few other immigrants) in creating a successful market economy in the United States.
The book's greatest value was in the 2nd half. McCraw's analysis definitely skews in Hamilton's favor in regards to the Federalist/Republican debates, but the author also notes towards the end that this this is due to the fact that his book focuses solely on finance. Perhaps a book on political theory would be much more generous to Jefferson & Madison? Most importantly the book is pretty fair to both parties (it'd be hard to argue that Jefferson's views vis-à-vis economics were anything but reactionary) and is written in a prose that is easy to understand without losing its academic tone or value.
January 28, 2014
A great read. It is easy to see why the author (who died late 2012) won a Pulitzer prize for history in 1985. I'm glad he finished the book before his passing. His writing is clear and he keeps his material accessible to the average reader. I read this book on the heels of reading James Madison and the Making of America (another fine book), and found that they fit well together. I enjoyed how Mr. McCraw kept focused upon history and the personalities rather than falling into ideological commentary. For both Gallatin and Hamilton, doing a good job outweighed ideology. To my surprise, the book made me like and appreciate both men more than I had anticipated.
January 5, 2021
Great history of Hamilton and Gallatin and their differing approaches to the nation's finances. Covers the back stories of both men as immigrants and then moves on to study their genius contributions in forming America's financial foundation. Hamilton's views on debt are particularly interesting, and how he helped forge the bonds of the US by nationalizing the debt.
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July 24, 2024I'm kind of surprised this was published by Harvard rather than a popular press. It read as kind of a hagiographical puff piece, when I was looking for a deeper understanding of political economy.
August 10, 2016
This book should have been tailor-made for me; the subject matter of the Founding generation coupled with finance and economics should be like some sort of nerd apotheosis that made it impossible to set the book down. And to be fair, i thoroughly enjoyed the first half, though it was somewhat remedial, while the second half dragged, and wandered off-topic.
The premise behind the book is that, for a variety of historical and sociological reasons, the Founding generation, brilliant as it was, lacked a general understanding of money, banking and finance among the native-born leaders of the era, and it fell to immigrants, with their outsiders' perspectives (and the attendant criticism and suspicion that they had to endure), to create a functioning system of government. While McCraw brings to bear a number of interesting facts, such as that 5 of the first 6 treasury secretaries were immigrants, vs. just one other foreign-born cabinet member in the first 50 years under the Constitution, he really leans on two of these men for the bulk of the book: Alexander Hamilton and Albert Gallatin. The book essentially follows Hamilton's life and achievements for the the first half, before switching to Gallatin.
The first half, then, I was largely familiar with, though it's always helpful to refresh one's memory, and to follow the arc of Hamilton's career is to understand what an unbridled genius he was; from a penniless illegitimate child whose mother died next to hm in bed when he was 9 years old in the British West indies, to the man who not only created the apparatus of the Treasury and set the US on solid financial footing after the dangerously insolvent and depressed 1780's, but who was a driver of many other decisions and debates in the first and second Washington administrations. The subject material, from funding the US debt at par to the assumption of state debts to the creation of the Bank of the US, is replete with drama as Madison, his erstwhile ally in the Constitutional ratification debates, and Jefferson, his bete noire, began to consolidate power specifically to oppose him. His life, tragically short and marred by his own weaknesses, is endlessly fascinating.
The structural weakness comes in with the second half, which was ostensibly about Gallatin. Albert Gallatin, a Swiss immigrant who came to the US from Geneva in 1780, was the Treasury Secretary under Jefferson and Madison, spanning four presidential terms and offering sound financial and economic guidance. Though he was an early congressional opponent of Hamilton, he ended up affirming much of what Hamilton had established, even protesting the demise of the Bank in 1811 (and encouraging its recharter in 1814). However, Gallatin was not as compelling a character as Hamilton, nor were the times as dominated by financial and economic issues. Gallatin's main achievements lay in successfully navigating the economic disasters brought on b Jefferson's embargo against Britain and France in 1807-1808, and Madison's War of 1812, both of which Gallatin strongly opposed but was powerless to stop. He skillfully navigated the US through these trying foreign policy adventures, but although he was the mainstay for the Republicans throughout the early 19th century, he never wielded the kind of vast, far-reaching influence over policy that Hamilton had at the height of his power, and often served as a Cassandra whose correct prophecies of doom went unheeded by Jefferson and Madison. He was an admirable and highly intelligent man, but not nearly as interesting to read about.
Moreover, the thesis- that native-born Americans were ill-suited to produce anyone to govern a nascent market economy (Oliver Wolcott, the second Treasury Secretary, essentially consulted Hamilton on everything)- may be true, but the data points are too sparse to give it a good reading, and largely rest on the shoulders of two men- Hamilton and Gallatin. What is easier to accept is the both of these men, having no specific state loyalties from birth, took more nationalist views than most of their countrymen,and saw public policy through the lens of America, not New York or Massachusetts or Virginia. A reasonable assertion, but hardly earth-shattering, and though the common reader probably appreciates the restraint shown by McCraw in not leaping into the nitty-gritty of the financial system's workings, that might have added more to the knowledge of those who already have a generalist picture, and were looking for something more.
The premise behind the book is that, for a variety of historical and sociological reasons, the Founding generation, brilliant as it was, lacked a general understanding of money, banking and finance among the native-born leaders of the era, and it fell to immigrants, with their outsiders' perspectives (and the attendant criticism and suspicion that they had to endure), to create a functioning system of government. While McCraw brings to bear a number of interesting facts, such as that 5 of the first 6 treasury secretaries were immigrants, vs. just one other foreign-born cabinet member in the first 50 years under the Constitution, he really leans on two of these men for the bulk of the book: Alexander Hamilton and Albert Gallatin. The book essentially follows Hamilton's life and achievements for the the first half, before switching to Gallatin.
The first half, then, I was largely familiar with, though it's always helpful to refresh one's memory, and to follow the arc of Hamilton's career is to understand what an unbridled genius he was; from a penniless illegitimate child whose mother died next to hm in bed when he was 9 years old in the British West indies, to the man who not only created the apparatus of the Treasury and set the US on solid financial footing after the dangerously insolvent and depressed 1780's, but who was a driver of many other decisions and debates in the first and second Washington administrations. The subject material, from funding the US debt at par to the assumption of state debts to the creation of the Bank of the US, is replete with drama as Madison, his erstwhile ally in the Constitutional ratification debates, and Jefferson, his bete noire, began to consolidate power specifically to oppose him. His life, tragically short and marred by his own weaknesses, is endlessly fascinating.
The structural weakness comes in with the second half, which was ostensibly about Gallatin. Albert Gallatin, a Swiss immigrant who came to the US from Geneva in 1780, was the Treasury Secretary under Jefferson and Madison, spanning four presidential terms and offering sound financial and economic guidance. Though he was an early congressional opponent of Hamilton, he ended up affirming much of what Hamilton had established, even protesting the demise of the Bank in 1811 (and encouraging its recharter in 1814). However, Gallatin was not as compelling a character as Hamilton, nor were the times as dominated by financial and economic issues. Gallatin's main achievements lay in successfully navigating the economic disasters brought on b Jefferson's embargo against Britain and France in 1807-1808, and Madison's War of 1812, both of which Gallatin strongly opposed but was powerless to stop. He skillfully navigated the US through these trying foreign policy adventures, but although he was the mainstay for the Republicans throughout the early 19th century, he never wielded the kind of vast, far-reaching influence over policy that Hamilton had at the height of his power, and often served as a Cassandra whose correct prophecies of doom went unheeded by Jefferson and Madison. He was an admirable and highly intelligent man, but not nearly as interesting to read about.
Moreover, the thesis- that native-born Americans were ill-suited to produce anyone to govern a nascent market economy (Oliver Wolcott, the second Treasury Secretary, essentially consulted Hamilton on everything)- may be true, but the data points are too sparse to give it a good reading, and largely rest on the shoulders of two men- Hamilton and Gallatin. What is easier to accept is the both of these men, having no specific state loyalties from birth, took more nationalist views than most of their countrymen,and saw public policy through the lens of America, not New York or Massachusetts or Virginia. A reasonable assertion, but hardly earth-shattering, and though the common reader probably appreciates the restraint shown by McCraw in not leaping into the nitty-gritty of the financial system's workings, that might have added more to the knowledge of those who already have a generalist picture, and were looking for something more.
February 4, 2013
Mr. McCraw observes that the first two, and generally recognized as the two best, Secretaries of Treasury were immigrants, as were many of the other prominent financiers of the early republic. Ostensibly, Mr. McCraw tries to answer the question why. However, the book is more a short biography of Alexander Hamilton and Albert Gallatin. Mr. McCraw pays lip service to his theme, but does not really develop it. Nor does he address differences amongst thee immigrants, some who immigrated at very early ages, to explain why the immigrant characteristic was more important than the differences. In fact, the most interesting analysis to me was not about immigration and its effects on policy thinking but a chapter on how contentious and uncertain decisions which now seem inevitable were at the time. Critical early decisions in the republic like assuming and funding the Revolutionary War debt and the Louisiana Purchase were decided by less than a handful of votes. We can barely imagine what America would be if a few people had voted the other way. The biography of Hamilton relies very heavily on the much more detailed, longer, better written biography by Ron Chernow (a book I highly recommend). I am less familiar with Gallatin, so I found that part more interesting. One thing Mr. McCraw does remind us is how talented and forward thinking Hamilton and Gallatin both were. In contrast to the other founders who at times were more focused on ideological purity, Hamilton and Gallatin had a strong grasp of pragmatic economics when no one else did and a vision of what America could be. We would be so lucky if today's political leaders had such intelligence, talent, patience and energy.
June 9, 2014
I thought that the Founders and Finance written by Thomas McCraw was very interesting and thought provoking. This book was long, however it was very interesting and contained a lot of thought provoking information. I like how McCraw set up the book to express two different viewpoints and illustrate how even though you might be looking to do what you think is best in that situation, you could be strongly opposed by others. I was also fascinated to learn of Alexander Hamilton contribution to the building of the united states of america. Hamilton negotiated with others in order to meet the needs of the country. In fact, without Hamilton's guidance, it is not ludicrous to say that the united states economy would not have taken off and that the us would not have been able to grow into the country it later became. This book also follows the earlier portion of Hamilton's life and describes how he grew up eventually moving to the united states. I think McCraw did a fantastic job making the information interesting and presenting it in a concise manner.
July 23, 2013
A semi-biographical treatment of major early leaders in finance including Hamilton in Washington's administration and Gallatin in Jefferson's influenced the foundation of the US economy. I enjoyed the compare and contrast of the policies of these two thinkers particularly in trying to compare them to how things are run today. It was startling, for instance, to learn that the lion's share of the federal budget in Hamilton's time came from tariffs, and he was considered, as a Federalist, as someone wanting an 'energetic' governmental influence on the economy. One flaw in the book is McCraw's immigrant theme. Honestly I did not find that particularly compelling and it was an unnecessary distraction in the narrative.
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June 18, 2013'Thomas McCraw’s "The Founders and Finance" is not likely to be optioned by Hollywood for a big-budget motion picture. Bankers and immigrants have always been viewed with suspicion by a certain strain of American populism, and McCraw’s story is about immigrant bankers. But subsequent American history is rooted in the thoughts and actions of McCraw’s subjects, even if the tale won’t soon be coming to your neighborhood metroplex.'
Read the full review, "Founding Financiers," on our website:
http://www.theamericanconservative.co...
Read the full review, "Founding Financiers," on our website:
http://www.theamericanconservative.co...
June 1, 2013
Dr. McGraw is a good storyteller -- his primary subjects, Alexander Hamilton and Alfred Gallatin, provide lots of substance to tell about. These two immigrants formed the foundation of the young United States' financial success -- in the face of lots of partisan opposition, and even, in some cases, opposition from their party leaders. For those interested in early American history, this is a good addition.
August 31, 2016
Interesting structure for a joint biography of the two men who built America's financial system. I wasn't sure that the emphasis on their status as immigrants worked; McCraw could have been a bit more emphatic on the extent to which Americans identified with their states first, but still it becomes clear that outsider status did make it easier for both men to think nationally instead of sectionally.
October 4, 2013
As Thomas K. McCraw describes, America lurched from one financial crisis to another between 1780 and 1840. At many times, it was entirely plausible that the young nation’s financial troubles might disintegrate it...(read more
October 12, 2013
A good summary of Hamilton and Gallatin's role in the early history of America. McCraw's writing is, on the whole, easily readable and engaging; and he explains complex fiscal issues in a comprehensible way. Sometimes he paints with too broad a brush and the reader wishes for more detail, but in a book intended to be widely marketed, these faults can be forgiven.
January 7, 2014
When this book kept to the purpose enshrined in the title I found it to be facinating. The author does an excellent job showing the roles that the men played in shaping national finance and his thesis point that their foriegnness is a part of what made them so successful is well proven. The only problem is that it strays into becoming a general biography of the figures at times.
January 4, 2014
McCraw provides a well-researched and detailed picture of the economic development of a fledgling America, arguing that it was the "immigrants" Hamilton & Gallatin, rather than "natives" Washington, Adams, Jefferson, or Madison, who had the wide economic understanding necessary to give the US time to grow and become strong.
October 30, 2015
Enjoyable read, but a fairly quick overview without a lot of depth. Nonetheless, it is reminder of the importance of Hamilton and Gallatin and their roles in laying the economic foundation of the United States.
September 21, 2016
Very informative book describing how immigrants Alexander Hamilton and Albert Gallatin established our nation's economic system and helped guide it through Washington's, Jefferson's, and Madison's administrations. Well documented and thorough.
Want to read
November 12, 2012some more light, fun reading...
February 25, 2013
Not an in depth read about the men covered but it was an interesting read on how the early founders set up the economic system that the USA still follows today.
October 20, 2013
Like most I enjoyed it, particularly the first half, but it dragged on quite a bit the second half.
July 12, 2014
The first section on Alexander Hamilton is really good. The book then falls off with the subsequent sections on Albert Gallatin.
Want to read
February 14, 2016book of the year in WSJ 2012
March 30, 2017
So this is how our capitalist society developed in America
The book should be a requirement in our school system and quotable by every politician. This was a great read.
The book should be a requirement in our school system and quotable by every politician. This was a great read.
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