A few months ago, we had tickets to see the Broadway musical \u201cHamilton\u201d at the Kennedy Center. Unfortunately, I wasn\u2019t able to go, but Claire, Kelly and Emily went. I\u2019m sorry I missed it \u2014 I’m not a big fan of musicals, but I think history is interesting and Hamilton is one of the more interesting of our founding fathers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of us know that he was America\u2019s first Secretary of Treasury, that he was Washington\u2019s right-hand man in the revolutionary War, he was one of the primary architects of the Constitution and he died in a duel with Aaron Burr. I didn\u2019t see the musical, but I\u2019m pretty sure it didn\u2019t address all of Hamilton\u2019s adventures \u2014 and \u2014 mis-adventures.\u00a0 Today, I think everyone is sick and tired of sleazy politicians and their activities. A lot of us yearn for the good old days of honorable leaders like our founding fathers. But, if you dig a little deeper than the fifth-grad history books\u2026. well, maybe not\u2026. When Hamilton was at the height of his influence and power \u2014 and happily married \u2014 he met Maria Reynolds. The young woman asked him for money, saying her philandering husband had abandoned her. (Hamilton later said he was touched by the poor woman\u2019s story.) Apparently, he was touched enough to begin an affair with her. After several months, Maria\u2019s husband showed up at Hamilton\u2019s door. Hamilton expected the outraged husband to demand \u201csatisfaction\u201d \u2014 a duel to the death. But \u2014 to Hamilton\u2019s relief \u2014 James reynolds only demanded $1,000 as compensation for husbandly pain and suffering. He paid up, and James generously granted Hamilton leeway to continue the affair with Maria \u2014 in return for future payments. Some time later, Hamilton received another disturbing visit \u2014 this time from three U.S. senators, including James Monroe. The senators told Hamilton about a rumor that he had given money and secret Treasury Department information to a petty swindler named James Reynolds. (At this time, James was currently residing in a Philadelphia prison.) When faced with these accusations, Hamilton came clean. He confessed to the affair, but denied giving away any secret information. The senators believed him and left. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A few years later, Hamilton left the Treasury Department and started private law practice. His \u201cscandals\u201d remained hidden, and he was an influential figure in national politics \u2014 he even considered running for president in 1800. But a couple of years before the 1800 election, a pamphlet dredged up the whole \u201cReynolds Affair.\u201d The tale of sex and payoffs created a sensation. Hamilton suspected that James Monroe (or one of the senators who came to his office a few years earlier) had leaked the story. James Monroe was an ally of Hamilton\u2019s potential competitor for the presidency \u2014 Thomas Jefferson. Of course, Jefferson probably had dirty laundry of his own due to his relationship with his slave Sally Hemings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But anyhow, Hamilton decided to fight \u2014 he wrote a fiery essay admitting that he had sex with Maria, but denied any wrongdoing at the Treasury Department. Hamilton decided to let everyone know he was an unfaithful husband, but he was not a crook. His public career survived \u2014 just barely. His enemies continued to discuss the affair and there was no chance that he could run for president. Thomas Jefferson won the election of 1800.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1804, Alexander Hamilton fought a duel with Vice President Aaron Burr. The two men had long been political rivals, but the immediate cause of the duel was disparaging remarks Hamilton allegedly made about Burr at a dinner. After Hamilton\u2019s dramatic death as a result of the duel, his long-suffering wife, Betsy, burned all her correspondence, so no one knows what she thought of her husband\u2019s embarrassing behavior.\u00a0 A few months ago, we had tickets to see the Broadway musical \u201cHamilton\u201d at the Kennedy Center. Unfortunately, I wasn\u2019t able to go, but Claire, Kelly and Emily went. I\u2019m sorry I missed it \u2014 I’m not a big fan … Continue reading
Hamilton is probably best known for his engineering of America\u2019s financial system, but he was also a prolific writer and he founded a newspaper. He established the New York Pos<\/em>t in 1801, and the paper is still publishing a daily paper today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the Hamilton stories that I ran across a few years ago sheds a bit of a different light on one of my favorite founding fathers\u2026. although he was happily married to a daughter from a prominent New York family, he strayed from his marriage bed, when he began an affair with Maria Reynolds. Reynolds was a married woman, and her husband quickly turned the affair to his advantage by blackmailing Hamilton.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s the Hamilton story as I remember it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The relationship continued with Maria, who became more and more clinging, until he could wriggle out of her grasp. Hamilton knew he\u2019d been taken by a husband and wife con team. But Hamilton considered himself lucky to only be a few thousand dollars poorer as long as he was rid of Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An interesting note is that Maria Reynolds later had an affair with Aaron Burr, too.
Guess we have to just keep looking for those honorable leaders\u2026.
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