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Gallatin: America's Swiss Founding Father
You won’t find his portrait on our currency anymore and his signature isn’t penned on the Constitution, but former statesman Albert Gallatin (1761-1849) contributed immeasurably to the formation of America. Gallatin was the first president of the council of New York University and his name lives on at NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, so it is with pride that New York University Press and the Swiss Confederation publish this new biography of Gallatin.
Gallatin’s story is the opposite of the classic American immigrant tale. Born in Geneva, the product of an old and noble family and highly educated in the European tradition, Gallatin made contributions to America throughout his career that far outweighed any benefit he procured for himself. He got his first taste of politics as a Pennsylvania state representative and went on to serve in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Gallatin became the Secretary of Treasury in Jefferson’s administration and, despite being of the opposite political party to Alexander Hamilton, Gallatin fully respected his predecessor’s fiscal politics. Gallatin undertook a special diplomatic mission for President Madison, which ended the War of 1812 with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent and gave the United States its genuine independence. Gallatin continued in diplomacy as minister to France and to Great Britain, where he skillfully combined his American experience and European background. In the early 1830s, at the age of seventy, he retired from politics and commenced a new career in New York City as a banker, public figure, and intellectual. He helped establish New York University and the American Ethnological Society, became an expert in Native American ethnology and linguistics, and served as president of the New-York Historical Society. Gallatin died at age 88 and is buried in Trinity churchyard at Broadway and Wall Street.
In our own day, as we look at reforming our financial system and seek to enhance America’s global image, it is well worth resurrecting Albert Gallatin’s timeless contributions to the United States, at home and abroad. Nicholas Dungan’s compelling biography reinserts this forgotten Founding Father into the historical canon and reveals the transatlantic dimensions of early American history.
Co-published with the Swiss Confederation, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.
Gallatin’s story is the opposite of the classic American immigrant tale. Born in Geneva, the product of an old and noble family and highly educated in the European tradition, Gallatin made contributions to America throughout his career that far outweighed any benefit he procured for himself. He got his first taste of politics as a Pennsylvania state representative and went on to serve in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Gallatin became the Secretary of Treasury in Jefferson’s administration and, despite being of the opposite political party to Alexander Hamilton, Gallatin fully respected his predecessor’s fiscal politics. Gallatin undertook a special diplomatic mission for President Madison, which ended the War of 1812 with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent and gave the United States its genuine independence. Gallatin continued in diplomacy as minister to France and to Great Britain, where he skillfully combined his American experience and European background. In the early 1830s, at the age of seventy, he retired from politics and commenced a new career in New York City as a banker, public figure, and intellectual. He helped establish New York University and the American Ethnological Society, became an expert in Native American ethnology and linguistics, and served as president of the New-York Historical Society. Gallatin died at age 88 and is buried in Trinity churchyard at Broadway and Wall Street.
In our own day, as we look at reforming our financial system and seek to enhance America’s global image, it is well worth resurrecting Albert Gallatin’s timeless contributions to the United States, at home and abroad. Nicholas Dungan’s compelling biography reinserts this forgotten Founding Father into the historical canon and reveals the transatlantic dimensions of early American history.
Co-published with the Swiss Confederation, Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
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May 8, 2025
Albert Gallatin’s many achievements as a financier and diplomat have at times been overshadowed by other men in his station and the events of his lifetime, and Nicholas Dungan sets out to reclaim his honorable legacy and successful developments both in the U.S. and abroad. Through a long-winded introduction that at times scales on the repetitive side, he explains that this will not be a typical chronological account of his birth to death, but rather a focus on his rise and career as a statesman in navigating the Early U.S. Republic through its tumultuous beginnings. Dungan has structured the book into three different parts—a rather interesting order that mirrors Gallatin’s life—setting each chapter with a distinction of his steady rise, inevitable setbacks and fall, and triumphal ascent yet again.
The book’s first chapter unfolds with the history of Geneva (where generations of Gallatins hailed from), in which Dungan traces its early Calvanist dogma and roots through to its standing as a safe haven for Huguenots in the late 17th century. It would be here that the Gallatin family made a prestigious name for itself, ending finally with Albert’s birth in 1761. With the death of his father at the age of four, his mother sadly passed away just five years later, leaving him orphaned—though luckily taken on and treated as a son by a doting family friend. Dungan traces young Albert’s educational pursuits at the Academy of Geneva, in which he rapidly excels and moves through the ranks into college, delighting his fellow peers and professors alike. Upon his graduation, it becomes unclear if he wants to follow in his ancestors’ footsteps and enlist in the military, or as Dungan suggests, follow the unique paths of two of Geneva’s finest—the Enlightenment’s philosophical Rousseau, and the famed banker and finance minister, Jacques Necker.
Surprising to all, Gallatin and a fellow comrade decide to make a fortune on their own terms, and it’s through letters that their families and loved ones learn that they are bound on a ship from France toward Philadelphia—which the forward-thinking Gallatin already has a plan in motion that will instead take them to Boston. Arriving at the tail end of the Revolutionary War in 1780, for two years the duo would squander around aimlessly and perhaps regret their fondness for wanderlust, though Gallatin’s luck would substantially change with the offer and acceptance of teaching French at Harvard.
Dungan’s writing can at times be rather dull and bogged down by his manner of listing fact after fact gathered from his notes, and throwing them into an already overextended paragraph. However, he brilliantly uses the technique of subchapters, allowing the reader to stay focused and summarize the prior part of the chapter just read—a trait of the gifted historian Alan Taylor that surprisingly is rarely used by others in this same field. As Gallatin’s prestige rises and he makes a name for himself to various merchants, politicians, landowners, and those particularly in Congress, he marries his landlady’s daughter Sophie Allegre in 1789, only to tragically become a widower that very same year with her untimely death.
This dreary time in his life would be fogged by bouts of land speculation and an appointment in the Pennsylvania legislature, until fortune and opportunity blindsided Gallatin with his election in 1793 to the Senate—as well as his marriage to Hannah Nicholson, the daughter of a prominent colonel and Anti-Federalist. When comparing the length of Dungan’s biography to that of more substantial works on famous figures, it’s quite impressive to see the level of detail that he has recorded on Gallatin’s life—describing his 1801 inauguration into Jefferson’s new cabinet alongside that of the couple’s pregnancies. As he breezes through Jefferson’s terms with budgeting for the Louisiana Purchase and the disastrous Embargo Act, and rides through the stormy reign of Madison, Dungan shows that even with part of the cabinet bent on mischief, Gallatin was able to stick to his party’s core foundations and steer the economy ably amid rough waters:
In the decade that he had served as secretary of the Treasury, fully half the public debt, more than $46 million, had been repaid. The remainder of a bit more than $45 million required $2.2 million per year be set aside in the federal budget for interest payments. All internal taxes had been abolished during Gallatin’s tenure, including the tax on whiskey and the tax on salt, and a two-and-a-half-percent additional tax for a Mediterranean Fund that had been created in Jefferson’s first term to pay off the Barbary pirates had since been abandoned.
As Dungan traces Gallatin’s dealings and negotiation tactics with his fellow American envoys for the Treaty of Ghent, there’s quite clearly a sense of intimacy that he has with his subject, fully understanding his significance and qualifications as a man of culture and character from both continents. Dungan would call Gallatin’s triumph in Ghent—alongside that of John Quincy Adams—his most substantial and effective contribution in his lifetime, leading to his appointment as minister to France, which would last an outstanding seven years before his return in 1823. Upon settling back in the States, he would have a brief nomination as candidate for the Vice Presidency in 1825, and would find himself packing up for his new appointment as envoy and U.S. minister to King George IV in London—which would prove to be his final assignment abroad, as well as in public.
Dungan traces his retirement years spent in New York with his family, heading and being honored by foundations and schools alike, as well as every now and then throwing his two cents in on such matters as the Oregon border dispute between Great Britain and the U.S., as well as his libertarian leanings in calling for peace with Mexico after what he woefully foretold was due to America’s imperialist aggression with the annexation of Texas. With the death of his friends John Jacob Astor and John Quincy Adams in 1848, he would follow them a year later—just months after his wife Hannah’s passing. For how noticeably short in length Dungan’s work appears, he has admirably written a concise and dutiful biography on the Swiss-born statesman, covering in detail his accomplishments and—albeit less notable—failures in life. A list of sources can be found at the end, though unfortunately illustrations are not provided.
The book’s first chapter unfolds with the history of Geneva (where generations of Gallatins hailed from), in which Dungan traces its early Calvanist dogma and roots through to its standing as a safe haven for Huguenots in the late 17th century. It would be here that the Gallatin family made a prestigious name for itself, ending finally with Albert’s birth in 1761. With the death of his father at the age of four, his mother sadly passed away just five years later, leaving him orphaned—though luckily taken on and treated as a son by a doting family friend. Dungan traces young Albert’s educational pursuits at the Academy of Geneva, in which he rapidly excels and moves through the ranks into college, delighting his fellow peers and professors alike. Upon his graduation, it becomes unclear if he wants to follow in his ancestors’ footsteps and enlist in the military, or as Dungan suggests, follow the unique paths of two of Geneva’s finest—the Enlightenment’s philosophical Rousseau, and the famed banker and finance minister, Jacques Necker.
Surprising to all, Gallatin and a fellow comrade decide to make a fortune on their own terms, and it’s through letters that their families and loved ones learn that they are bound on a ship from France toward Philadelphia—which the forward-thinking Gallatin already has a plan in motion that will instead take them to Boston. Arriving at the tail end of the Revolutionary War in 1780, for two years the duo would squander around aimlessly and perhaps regret their fondness for wanderlust, though Gallatin’s luck would substantially change with the offer and acceptance of teaching French at Harvard.
Dungan’s writing can at times be rather dull and bogged down by his manner of listing fact after fact gathered from his notes, and throwing them into an already overextended paragraph. However, he brilliantly uses the technique of subchapters, allowing the reader to stay focused and summarize the prior part of the chapter just read—a trait of the gifted historian Alan Taylor that surprisingly is rarely used by others in this same field. As Gallatin’s prestige rises and he makes a name for himself to various merchants, politicians, landowners, and those particularly in Congress, he marries his landlady’s daughter Sophie Allegre in 1789, only to tragically become a widower that very same year with her untimely death.
This dreary time in his life would be fogged by bouts of land speculation and an appointment in the Pennsylvania legislature, until fortune and opportunity blindsided Gallatin with his election in 1793 to the Senate—as well as his marriage to Hannah Nicholson, the daughter of a prominent colonel and Anti-Federalist. When comparing the length of Dungan’s biography to that of more substantial works on famous figures, it’s quite impressive to see the level of detail that he has recorded on Gallatin’s life—describing his 1801 inauguration into Jefferson’s new cabinet alongside that of the couple’s pregnancies. As he breezes through Jefferson’s terms with budgeting for the Louisiana Purchase and the disastrous Embargo Act, and rides through the stormy reign of Madison, Dungan shows that even with part of the cabinet bent on mischief, Gallatin was able to stick to his party’s core foundations and steer the economy ably amid rough waters:
In the decade that he had served as secretary of the Treasury, fully half the public debt, more than $46 million, had been repaid. The remainder of a bit more than $45 million required $2.2 million per year be set aside in the federal budget for interest payments. All internal taxes had been abolished during Gallatin’s tenure, including the tax on whiskey and the tax on salt, and a two-and-a-half-percent additional tax for a Mediterranean Fund that had been created in Jefferson’s first term to pay off the Barbary pirates had since been abandoned.
As Dungan traces Gallatin’s dealings and negotiation tactics with his fellow American envoys for the Treaty of Ghent, there’s quite clearly a sense of intimacy that he has with his subject, fully understanding his significance and qualifications as a man of culture and character from both continents. Dungan would call Gallatin’s triumph in Ghent—alongside that of John Quincy Adams—his most substantial and effective contribution in his lifetime, leading to his appointment as minister to France, which would last an outstanding seven years before his return in 1823. Upon settling back in the States, he would have a brief nomination as candidate for the Vice Presidency in 1825, and would find himself packing up for his new appointment as envoy and U.S. minister to King George IV in London—which would prove to be his final assignment abroad, as well as in public.
Dungan traces his retirement years spent in New York with his family, heading and being honored by foundations and schools alike, as well as every now and then throwing his two cents in on such matters as the Oregon border dispute between Great Britain and the U.S., as well as his libertarian leanings in calling for peace with Mexico after what he woefully foretold was due to America’s imperialist aggression with the annexation of Texas. With the death of his friends John Jacob Astor and John Quincy Adams in 1848, he would follow them a year later—just months after his wife Hannah’s passing. For how noticeably short in length Dungan’s work appears, he has admirably written a concise and dutiful biography on the Swiss-born statesman, covering in detail his accomplishments and—albeit less notable—failures in life. A list of sources can be found at the end, though unfortunately illustrations are not provided.
August 20, 2020
I got interested in Albert Gallatin when Al and I recently visited Friendship Hill National Park in Fayette County, PA, about a 90-minute drive from our home. Friendship Hill was Gallatin's homestead in southwestern Pennsylvania, where he dreamed of a farm and a little industrial town he named New Geneva, after his birthplace in Switzerland.
As it turns out, Gallatin spent very little time at Friendship Hill. He was a representative to the Pennsylvania state legislature, then to the U.S. Congress and the Senate. He was Treasury Secretary for 13 years after Hamilton, financed the Louisiana Purchase, negotiated the Treaty of Ghent that ended our War of 1812 against Great Britain, and served as minister to France and then Britain. He ended his career as a banker in New York City.
Given this long list of achievements and his long service to our young nation, Gallatin deserves to be better-remembered than he is. Dungan did what he set out to do: he wrote a straightforward biography of a great man, memorializing his achievements and service as they deserve. But Dungan is an international banker, not a writer by profession. Given that his profession isn't writing, he did a good job on this book. But he isn't David McCullough or Ron Chernow. Modern readers of biography have been spoiled by authors like Chernow, McCullough and Walter Isaacson, who write novelistic, entertaining biographies. This one was so straightforward and workmanlike by comparison that I found it hard to get through.
As it turns out, Gallatin spent very little time at Friendship Hill. He was a representative to the Pennsylvania state legislature, then to the U.S. Congress and the Senate. He was Treasury Secretary for 13 years after Hamilton, financed the Louisiana Purchase, negotiated the Treaty of Ghent that ended our War of 1812 against Great Britain, and served as minister to France and then Britain. He ended his career as a banker in New York City.
Given this long list of achievements and his long service to our young nation, Gallatin deserves to be better-remembered than he is. Dungan did what he set out to do: he wrote a straightforward biography of a great man, memorializing his achievements and service as they deserve. But Dungan is an international banker, not a writer by profession. Given that his profession isn't writing, he did a good job on this book. But he isn't David McCullough or Ron Chernow. Modern readers of biography have been spoiled by authors like Chernow, McCullough and Walter Isaacson, who write novelistic, entertaining biographies. This one was so straightforward and workmanlike by comparison that I found it hard to get through.
March 10, 2018
Dungan is no historian. Following books by Ellis, McCullough, Smith, or other prominent historians this book reads like a brief overview of Gallatin's activities. Missing are insights into the man and his motivations. When conjectures into his character and motivations are provided there is little to no justification given. Large sections of the book reads as a recitation of his actions, with little analysis. That said it does read well and is decently well written. While very high level it was never downright boring, as some biographies which spend too much time in minute details can get. Many events of Gallatin's lifetime are much better understood by reading biographies of others, even if Gallatin was a main player in the event in question, and that is a shame. Overall there is little to learn about Gallatin from this book that wont be picked up by reading biographies of his contemporaries, yet it was never dull and for one not engaged in a biographical sweep of the time period it may have proved an interesting concise overview of a too oft forgotten man.
August 13, 2018
Gallatin is one of the least remembered Founding Fathers even though he played an important role in getting our fiances on track during Jefferson/Madison administrations and also being there at Ghent to end the War of 1812. His legacy is overshadowed because of his proximity to Hamilton's, especially since the latter was the first Secretary of the Treasury.
Being from southwester, PA his name is around, but not as much as one would think. There is a school named for him. Friendship Hill, his home in the back country is part of the National Parks and is a hidden gem in our area. I really wish our area would do more to promote him but with all the other people and events he gets buried.
Dungan does an excellent job at bringing Gallatin back to life. Its a short book, about 168 pages but it took me a while to read it. I enjoyed it but some might think it dry. For someone looking for a mainstream, easy to read book about our Swiss Secretary of the Treasury I think you might want to look elsewhere. For people that love history and want a great read....this book is for you.
Being from southwester, PA his name is around, but not as much as one would think. There is a school named for him. Friendship Hill, his home in the back country is part of the National Parks and is a hidden gem in our area. I really wish our area would do more to promote him but with all the other people and events he gets buried.
Dungan does an excellent job at bringing Gallatin back to life. Its a short book, about 168 pages but it took me a while to read it. I enjoyed it but some might think it dry. For someone looking for a mainstream, easy to read book about our Swiss Secretary of the Treasury I think you might want to look elsewhere. For people that love history and want a great read....this book is for you.
July 13, 2025
Written under the influence of the Swiss government, this is designed to increase appreciation for all that this Swiss immigrant did for the U.S. And, indeed, while I was aware that he had been a key guy, I was unaware how important - on the same level as Hamilton and Franklin - he had been.
The book is essentially a summary of his activities and you will need to go elsewhere for more details.
Also, just in passing, it is shocking how smart John Q Adams was in his perception of European motives, though less so in his own country.
The book is essentially a summary of his activities and you will need to go elsewhere for more details.
Also, just in passing, it is shocking how smart John Q Adams was in his perception of European motives, though less so in his own country.
March 15, 2023
3.5 stars. In reading about the Jefferson era, I kept coming across the name of Albert Gallatin and despite my history knowledge, I didn’t know much about him. This book was just short enough and well researched to give me a primer on this man: Congressman, Treasury Secretary, Statesman, Genevan. Galatin was at the center of most historical events from 1800 to 1849. More people should know about him and this book is a good start. It did lose a 1/2 star for me with its extensive quoting of primary materials to fill in the later years of the subject’s life.
February 13, 2022
A couple of slight factual errors, but overall a great study of an influential political figure who rarely gets the spotlight in historical studies. Highly recommended for anyone interested in learning more about the leaders of the early American republic.
October 22, 2010
This was an amazing book for me to read. I found so many subtle similarities between Albert Gallatin's life and my own life. Not that I am a strict believer of nature over nurture, however I do ponder whether or not certain characteristics of what I have seen my father and myself may be inherently Swiss. So as to not be leading, I leave it up to others to read for themselves and conduct their own comparisons and wholeheartedly welcome any feedback you may have.
I also took to heart very much many of the struggles Albert Gallatin took on during his days in areas such as peacemaker, banking and financing, and politics. I believe there are many lessons the US can re-learn from the approaches he took in these areas. Most notably that of reducing debt, having a constant mindful eye for expenses, striving for understanding, seeking out the win-win opportunities, and discipline towards focusing on that which can be reasonably changed.
I also took to heart very much many of the struggles Albert Gallatin took on during his days in areas such as peacemaker, banking and financing, and politics. I believe there are many lessons the US can re-learn from the approaches he took in these areas. Most notably that of reducing debt, having a constant mindful eye for expenses, striving for understanding, seeking out the win-win opportunities, and discipline towards focusing on that which can be reasonably changed.
May 11, 2011
Americans owe a debt of gratitude to many great men, including some unknown to us. Nicholas Dungan introduces Albert Gallatin, who served the nation in Congress, as Secretary of State, as diplomat par excellence, linguist, and ethnologist; a man more than qualified to be called “great.’
Dungan's book is well-researched and provides a fascinating glimpse into a really neat guy. I've reviewed it thoroughly here
Dungan's book is well-researched and provides a fascinating glimpse into a really neat guy. I've reviewed it thoroughly here
September 6, 2016
Well written biography of the longest serving Secretary of the Treasury in United States history. Well documented with original sources. The true story of how an immigrant from Switzerland helped guide this country's early fiscal policy to sustain it through the years after its founding. Secretary of the Treasury to Jefferson and Madison.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews