Alexander Hamilton

Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804), now immortalized in the eponymous Broadway musical, was an American Founding Father and an influential interpreter and promoter of the US Constitution. As the original US Treasury Secretary, he was the main author of George Washington's economic policies, founding the nation's financial system. Mobilizing a nationwide network of friends of the government, especially bankers and businessmen, he went on to establish the Federalist Party, the US Coast Guard, and The New York Post. Hamilton was active in ending the international slave trade and died after a duel with the US Vice President Aaron Burr.