207 years ago today, Alexander Hamilton, by far the most important non-president in U.S. history, was murdered

Alexander Hamilton is my political hero. I agree with the large number of U.S. historians who view him as the most influential American never to be president, and more important in shaping our country than nearly any other founding father. In fact, its not hard to argue that outside of George Washington, he has the strongest claim to being the father of this country.

 

 

After reading an inordinate amount about him on the web, last year I finally finished Ron Chernow's Alexander Hamilton, an absolutely mesmirzing biography. The book explains what a brilliant thinker and practical man he was. It details his amazing acumen in guiding the passage of the Constitution and in shaping U.S. economic and foreign policy. Put simply, he was George Washington's brain and right hand man.

He died young, either 47 or 49 years old, so its impossible to know what he could have accomplished had he lived as long as his fellow revolutionaries. But his being killed in a duel was one of the worst events in U.S. history.

If you'd like to know more about him, please do read Chernow's excellent book. But at the very least you can check out a few sites:

 

http://www.alexanderhamiltonexhibition.org/virtualtour/good.html

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Hamilton

 

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Remembering-Alexander-Hamilton-207-Years-Later.html