Thank you, my friend Maj Marty Hogan for making us aware that January 11 is the anniversary of the birth of American statesman, politician, legal scholar, military commander, lawyer, banker, and economist Alexander Hamilton who was the founder of the nation's financial system, the Federalist Party, the United States Coast Guard, and the New York Post newspaper.

He was a renaissance man with tremendous talent across a wide range of areas IMHO.
I read the Federalist Papers as a cadet at West Point in the 1970s.
Of course benighted Treasury Secretary Jacob Joseph "Jack" Lew seemed to knuckle under to post modern tendencies of the Obama administration to replace the man who advocated the dollar as our currency from the $10 bill.
Thankfully he is still depicted on the $10 bill.

Rest in peace Alexander Hamilton.

Alexander Hamilton - Author of The Federalist Papers & First Secretary of Treasury | Mini Bio | BIO
"short biography video of Alexander Hamilton, the first United States Secretary of the Treasury who was shot by Aaron Burr during a duel."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP2a1xkbLgU

Images:
1. 1803 Portrait of Alexander Hamilton by John Trumbull
2. 1787 painting of Mrs Alexander Hamilton by Ralph Earl. Painted while Earl was in the
New York City Jail.
3. Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804) in the Uniform of the New York Artillery by Alonzo Chappel
4. 1756 King's College, reprint in 1859

Background from ushistory.org/valleyforge/served/hamilton.html
"Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was born in Charlestown, Nevis, in the West Indies on January 11, 1757 (or 1755), to James Hamilton, a Scottish merchant of St. Christopher, and Rachel Fawcett. Rachel's father was a Huguenot physician and planter. While very young, she had been married to and divorced from a Danish proprietor on St. Croix. After her divorce, the court prohibited her remarriage. The marriage to James Hamilton was acceptable socially in the West Indies, but not elsewhere. The union resulted in the birth of two sons, but they were living apart less than 10 years later. Rachel and her boys lived on St. Croix, dependent on her relatives. She passed away in 1768. His father survived until 1799 — but the boys were virtually orphans before they were even teenagers.
At the age of 12, Hamilton began work as a clerk in a general store, but the boy had a keen intellect and ambitious goals. He was an excellent writer, in French as well as English. By 1772, his aunts scrimped and saved to send the young intellectual to New York for formal education.

In 1773 was entered at King's College (Now Columbia). Even as a young man he had a strong grasp on political issues concerning British and American government, which he exhibited in a series of anonymous pamphlets so discerning, they were attributed to John Jay. He was only 17 at the time.

In 1775 he withdrew from his college studies and founded a volunteer military company. On March 14, 1776, Hamilton was commissioned Captain of the New York Provincial Company of Artillery. He exhibited great skill and intelligence in his duties with artillery, and Nathanael Greene noticed. He was asked to serve on the staff of Lord Stirling, which he declined, and continued his career with artillery at Long Island, Harlem Heights, White Plains, and saw action at Trenton and Princeton in the New Jersey campaign.
Washington recognized Hamilton's leadership abilities, as well as his extraordinary talent for writing. Hamilton was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and made his aide-de-camp on March 1, 1777. Just twenty years old at the time, Hamilton had already made remarkable accomplishments.
Hamilton spent the winter of 1777-1778 with Washington and the Continental Army at Valley Forge. It was during this winter that Brigadier General Horatio Gates tried unsuccessfully to incriminate Hamilton during the Conway Cabal.
On December 14, 1780, Alexander Hamilton married Elizabeth Schuyler, daughter of Philip Schuyler, a Revolutionary War general, and Catherine Van Rensselaer Schuyler. Both the Schuylers and Rensselaers were very wealthy and prominent New York families. It was a happy marriage that produced eight children.
On February 16, 1781, Hamilton quarreled with Washington, and their relationship was forever soured. He describes the incident in a letter to his father-in-law dated February 18, 1791:
. . . Two days ago, the General and I passed each other on the stairs. He told me he wanted to speak to me. I answered that I would wait upon him immediately. I went below, and delivered Mr. Tilghman a letter to be sent to the commissary, containing an order of a pressing and interesting nature.
Returning to the General, I was stopped on the way by the Marquis de La Fayette, and we conversed together about a minute on a matter of business. He can testify how impatient I was to get back [. . .] I met him [Washington] at the head of the stairs, where, accosting me in an angry tone, "Colonel Hamilton," said he, "you have kept me waiting at the head of the stairs these ten minutes. I must tell you sir, you treat me with disrespect. I replied without petulancy, but with decision: "I am not conscious of it, sir, but since you have thought it necessary to tell me so, we part." "Very Well, sir," said he, "if it be your choice," or something to this effect, and we separated. I sincerely believe my absence, which gave so much umbrage, did not last two minutes.
Attempts at reconciliation were not successful. Several months later, in July, Hamilton was given command of a battalion of Lafayette's Division in Moses Hazen's Brigade. He led a successful attack at Yorktown, contributing to the final American victory there. He continued in the military for a couple of years when he was made Colonel on September 30, 1783. He left the service by the end of the year.
n July, 1782, Hamilton was appointed to the Congress of the Confederation, representing the state of New York. He resigned from Congress in 1783 and set up a law practice. In 1784, he founded the Bank of New York. He continued to exert an influence on national politics, co-authoring the Federalist Papers with John Jay and James Madison, and helping found and lead the Federalist political party, advocating for a much stronger central government than that provided by the Articles of Confederation. Hamilton played a key role in creating the Constitution, which replaced the Articles in 1787. He served as the first Secretary of the Treasury (1789-1795) in the cabinet of George Washington, and essentially established our national monetary system.
In 1789, Hamilton began a clandestine correspondence with British agent Major George Beckwith (who had been involved with Benedict Arnold in his treason years earlier). Unlike Arnold, Hamilton didn't betray his nation for financial reward, but his actions were nevertheless deceptive and dishonest, even if he believed they were in the best interest of the country.
Hamilton (addressed by Beckwith as "7" to protect his identity) selectively revealed secret cabinet discusssions to Beckwith, and deliberately misinformed President Washington concerning the conversations he had with the British agent, all with the apparent objective of guiding U.S. policy in the direction that he envisioned, overshadowing the visionary ideas of some of his contemporaries, most notably, Thomas Jefferson.
Much of the correspondence between Hamilton and Beckwith is presented as part of the Founder's Online project of the National Archives.
As Professor Julian Boyd, author of Number 7: Alexander Hamilton's Secret Attempts to Control American Foreign Policy (Princeton University Press, 1964) puts it, these secret conversations,
form, in fact, a part of the pattern of Hamilton's sustained effort to guide the conduct of American foreign policy that began in the autumn of 1789 and culminated in the treaty of 1794 (between the United States and British).
The Federalists were opposed by the Democratic-Republicans, led by Thomas Jefferson. The two parties contested in the election of 1796, but presidential selection was very different then than it is today. A candidate did not run for president with a vice presidential running mate. Instead, electors cast two votes for two different men. The winner became president and the runner-up, the vice president, even if they were from different political parties. This made a tie very likely, as all the electors for each party were likely to cast their two votes for the same two men.
The parties dealt with this by arranging for all their electors to cast one of their votes for the party's top choice, and all but a few to cast their second vote for the party's second choice, avoiding a tie. But there was disagreement within the Federalist party as far as who their top choice was. Other Federalists wanted John Adams as President, and Thomas Pinckney as Vice President and planned to vote accordingly. In an effort to keep John Adams from becoming president, Hamilton urged some electors to vote for Jefferson and Pinckney, rather than Adams and Pinckney, but not because he wanted Jefferson in either role. He intended to direct enough votes from Adams to Jefferson that Pinckney would end up with the most, Adams with the second most. The plan backfired and ultimately John Adams became president, Thomas Jefferson, Vice-President and Thomas Pinckney was elected to nothing.
In July of 1798, Hamilton was commissioned Major General when war threatened to break out with France, serving for almost two years, though war was averted. John Adams, elected in 1796 despite Hamilton's machinations, was up for re-election in 1800. Hamilton again schemed, urging support for Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (brother of Thomas Pinckney) over John Adams, going so far as writing and circulating a pamphlet entitled Letter from Alexander Hamilton, Concerning the Public Conduct and Character of John Adams, Esq. President of the United States, a deeply critical attack.
Though he distributed the pamphlet solely among his fellow Federalists, and his intention was only to elect Pinckney and relegate Adams to Vice-President, it backfired even more dramatically than his 1796 scheming. A copy fell into the hands of the Democratic-Republicans, who published it. Adams' reputation was hurt and Jefferson and Aaron Burr tied for first place in the election. The tie was broken by the House of Representatives. Hamilton used his influence to get Jefferson, a man with whom he had publicly disagreed on many occasions and the leader of the opposition party, elected over Burr, a member of his own party. Four years later, he helped defeat the Burr campaign once more when Burr tried to become governor of New York.

Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton had been on friendly terms for years, but after fifteen years of having every political aspiration thwarted by Hamilton, Burr was seething with anger and itching for revenge. The final straw came in the form of letters published in the Albany Register, outlining Hamilton's opposition to Burr, and rumors of even more savage attacks on Burr's character alleged to have been delivered at a dinner party. Ultimately, Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel. On July 11, 1804, Hamilton was mortally wounded and he died the following afternoon in extreme pain at the age of 47.
Hamilton's remains are buried in the graveyard of Trinity Church in New York City, the final resting place of several other key figures in U.S. history, including Horatio Gates and John Peter Zenger. Hamilton's grave is the most popular tourist attraction in the cemetery, even more so since the release of the Broadway sensation Hamilton."

FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen Lt Col Charlie Brown LTC Greg Henning LTC Jeff Shearer Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. 'Bill' Price CPT Scott Sharon CWO3 Dennis M. SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL SSG William Jones SGT (Join to see) SP5 Mark Kuzinski PO1 H Gene Lawrence PO2 Kevin Parker PO3 Bob McCord LTC (Join to see) CPL Dave Hoover SPC Margaret Higgins

Great bio and history share sir.

Thanks for the bio Capt.