Role models of greatness.

Here you will discover the back stories of kings, titans of industry, stellar athletes, giants of the entertainment field, scientists, politicians, artists and heroes – all of them gay or bisexual men. If their lives can serve as role models to young men who have been bullied or taught to think less of themselves for their sexual orientation, all the better. The sexual orientation of those featured here did not stand in the way of their achievements.

Friday, October 27, 2023

Alexander Hamilton

Updated to include reference to Hamilton in the book and movie "Red, White and Royal Blue" (see end of post).

Alexander Hamilton was a United States Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury. As Treasury Secretary, Hamilton was the primary author of the economic policies of George Washington’s administration – specifically the funding of state debts by the Federal government, the establishment of a national bank, a system of tariffs and friendly trade relations with England. He became the leader of the Federalist Party, created largely in support of his views.

On March 3, 1777, forty-five year old George Washington hired twenty-two year old Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804) to be his personal secretary and aide-de-camp, subsequently promoting him to lieutenant colonel. Of illegitimate birth and raised in the West Indies, Hamilton was educated in New York, where he lived with a 32-year old bachelor male haberdasher, Hercules Mulligan. After his studies, Hamilton was elected to the Continental Congress from that state. He resigned to practice law and subsequently founded the Bank of New York. In 1789, after Hamilton returned from further military service, Washington appointed Hamilton as the first ever Treasury Secretary of the United States. Many researchers suggest that Washington, who was in a life-long childless marriage, and Hamilton likely had an intimate relationship, as well (Hamilton was known to have intimate relations with both men and women). Washington’s otherwise warm relations with Hamilton turned somewhat frosty after Hamilton married a woman following the death of the object of Hamilton’s devotion, John Laurens (1754-1782).

Hamilton and Laurens had an intense, intimate relationship and often compared each other to Damon and Pythias* (!), a euphemism used to denote a devoted gay couple. In 1779, chiding Laurens for not corresponding as often as he would have liked, Hamilton wrote, "like a jealous lover, when I thought you slighted my caresses, my affection was alarmed and my vanity piqued." In 1781 Hamilton requested a transfer from Washington’s staff to be able to serve in combat with Laurens, and the request was granted. Hamilton and Laurens engaged in several military campaigns together, but Laurens was tragically killed in a skirmish in 1782. Hamilton was completely devastated.


*In Greek mythology, Pythias, who had been condemned to death by Dionysius, wanted to return home first to put his affairs in order. Damon agreed to be put to death in his friend’s stead, should Pythias not return to face his execution. Pythias returned as promised, sparing Damon’s life. Dionysius was so impressed by the friends’ devotion to each other that he pardoned Pythias and asked to be friends with the two lovers.

Four months prior to John Laurens’s death on the battlefield, Hamilton wrote to Laurens playfully suggesting that Laurens find a wife for him, offering an exaggerated and amusing description of the ideal candidate’s appearance, personality and financial standing ("as to fortune, the larger stock of that the better"). Hamilton then withdrew the suggestion, writing, "Do I want a wife? No – I have plagues enough without desiring to add to the number that greatest of all."


Bronze statue of Alexander Hamilton outside Hamilton Hall, overlooking Hamilton Lawn at his alma mater, Columbia University in New York City.

Yet Hamilton did marry late the following year, entering into a union with the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in New York City, where Hamilton resumed his law practice. After the war he  participated in the Constitutional Convention of 1787. When he became president, Washington appointed Hamilton the nation’s first ever Secretary of the Treasury in 1789. However, Hamilton left the poorly-paid Treasury position in 1795 to resume his more lucrative law practice, but he remained a valued adviser to the president and a leader of the Federalist Party.

When the contentious presidential race of 1800 ended in an Electoral College tie, the House of Representatives was charged with resolving the impasse. Hamilton famously put the good of his young nation above party loyalty. Because he believed the Federalist candidate, Aaron Burr, would be a disastrous president, Hamilton went on a campaign to urge his fellow party members to vote instead for his longtime political adversary, Thomas Jefferson. Aaron Burr, who received the second highest number of votes, became Vice President, but he  never forgave Hamilton for his defeat. When Burr ran for governor in New York State in 1804, Hamilton's influence in his home state was strong enough to prevent a Burr victory. Taking offense at some of Hamilton's comments, Burr challenged him to a duel in July, 1804, and wounded Hamilton, who died of his injuries shortly thereafter.

Although Hamilton had a fruitful marriage (and eight children), researchers and biographers deem that Hamilton’s relationship with Laurens was the most important romantic and emotional bond of his life. Earlier biographers edited out the most embarrassing and damning paragraphs from Hamilton’s effusive letters to Laurens, but a 1902 biography relates that Laurens "took Hamilton by storm, capturing judgement as well as heart, and loving him as ardently in return." In describing Hamilton's reaction to the death of Laurens, "Hamilton mourned him passionately, and never ceased to regret him. Betsey [Schuyler Hamilton, his wife] consoled, diverted, and bewitched him, but there were times when he would have exchanged her for Laurens." She added, with some regret, "The perfect friendship of two men is the deepest and highest sentiment of which the finite mind is capable; women miss the best in life." Hamilton's grandson, Allen McLane Hamilton, wrote that many of his grandfather's male friends were attracted to his "almost feminine traits." So there you have it.


The memory of Alexander Hamilton and John Laurens lives on in San Francisco at the Alexander Hamilton Post 448 of the American Legion, the organization’s only branch comprised primarily of GLBTQ veterans.


Hamilton and Laurens are depicted standing together on the "Surrender of Cornwallis" commemorative U.S. postage stamp released in October of 1981. The stamp was based on a  painting (at right) of the same name commissioned by the U.S. Government in 1817 from painter John Trumbull. In the extreme right of the painting, Hamilton, with hands clasped in front of him, stands in the front row immediately to the right of the ash colored horse with the prominent neck; the similarly dressed John Laurens stands next to him (click to enlarge). This painting hangs in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol building.

Hamilton (the musical) is a biographical Broadway musical with music, lyrics, and book by Lin-Manuel Miranda, based on a 2004 biography by Ron Chernow. Premiered in 2015, the show's music draws heavily from hip-hop, R&B, pop, soul and traditional-style show tunes. It casts non-white actors as Founding Fathers and historical figures. From its opening, the show received near-universal acclaim and extraordinary box office sales. It won 11 Tony awards, including Best Musical. It also received the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. A filmed version of the Broadway production was released in 2020. As of this posting, it is still running on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theater eight years later. There have also been three successful touring productions, and a separate Chicago production ran for more than three years (September 2016 through January 2020) at the PrivateBank Theater.


 

In May of 2019 a less-than subtle reference to Hamilton's sexuality was included in the publishing of "Red, White and Royal Blue" by American novelist Casey McQuiston. There is a set-up  in the book in which the two male romantic protagonists engage in a steamy kissing scene under a portrait of Hamilton in the White House Red Room. One of the gentlemen is the son of the U.S. President, the other a British prince. A bit of fact checking discloses that, indeed, Hamilton's portrait by John Trumbull hangs to this day in the Red Room, exactly as depicted in the novel. That scene was brought to life in the August 2023 release of the gay rom-com film version, also titled "Red, White and Royal Blue". The movie was spectacularly popular and received high praise from critics. Click on the link below:

Red Room kissing scene

 

And of course, Hamilton’s image graces the U.S. ten-dollar bill in commemoration of the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.

14 comments:

  1. Alexander Hamilton's mother was named Rachel Levine. He grew up in Haiti speaking French, English and Hebrew. His father was a Scottish sea captain who met Rachel when he sailed to Haiti. By Jewish law, Alexander Hamilton was our only Jewish founding father. Why is this fact not mentioned in our history books? According to Smithsonian Magazine, if his original economic principles had been followed, the Great Depression would NEVER have happened.
    I could care less about anyone's sexual identity. Hamilton was a wonderful and intelligent man. He rose above humble beginnings to become a beloved hero to the United States. The fact that he is one of the few men who was not a President to be on our money is a demonstration of his powerful influence.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. he is not from haiti. he is from Charlestown, Nevis in the leeward islands

      Delete
    2. From your blogger:
      Hamilton was born on the Caribbean island of Nevis but grew up on the island of St. Croix. However, he supported the Haitian Revolution, advocated trade with the new Haitian Republic, helped them design their tax policy, and in 1799 drafted a plan of government for Haiti that became the basis for Haiti's Constitution.

      Delete
  2. Lavien was her married name before Alexander Hamilton was born. Rachel Faucette was herself of Huguenot descent.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It appears that the father of Alexander Hamilton, was a well respected merchant by the name of Thomas Stevens. More in this regard may be found in Ron Chernow's biography of Alexander Hamilton.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I read that Hercules was married to a British admiral's daughter, Elizabeth Sanders and Hamilton lived with the 2 of them.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Pythias. The name is Pythias, containing no "n".

    ReplyDelete
  6. Racism, religious hate , homophobia,ageism , sexism and all other forms of segregation seem to have some damning similarities far too numerous to mention. Too bad there are more people that practice them than their are people that expose and stop them.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The letter Hamilton wrote to Laurens re finding him a wife was written in April of 1779. Laurens died in 1782, years later, not four months. The bronze statue picture above is actually the one in front of the US Treasury Building (pictured on the back of the $10 bill). Aaron Burr ran for Vice President in 1800 as a candidate of the Democratic Republican party, not the Federalist Party. Before the Twelfth Amendment, a VP candidate could become president if he had the most votes. When he tied with Jefferson, Burr could have accepted the VP position, but he held out for President instead. Hamilton did not grow up in Haiti, but on the West Indian islands of Nevis and St. Croix. He had little formal schooling and was briefly tutored by a Jew, but his parents were Christians and there is a record that they were godparents at a baptism of a baby of friends of theirs. Hamilton was close to Presbyterian minister Hugh Knox in St. Croix and, later, a member of Trinity Church in Manhattan. Following the death of his son Philip in 1801, he became a particularly devout Christian and even wanted to mix his religion and politics together.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Another interesting post -- your work is most appreciated. I have a faint memory of reading something about Lafayette having an affair with either Hamilton or Washington.

    Perhaps this is an avenue you could investigate. Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  9. George Washington was probably gay, or at least bisexual. Read some letters between he and Martha! And his relationship with his older step-brother was complex to say the least.

    ReplyDelete
  10. According to Gore Vidal, who was distantly related to Burr, Hamilton implied that Bur had a incestuous affair with his own daughter and so he challenged Hamilton to a duel. I find his current sainthood completely amusing.

    ReplyDelete
  11. George Washington was not President of the US in 1777. That office did not yet exist. A lot of this is historically inaccurate.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. From your blogger:
      I corrected this post by removing "president", but tell me what else is inaccurate. You said "a lot". I thank you in advance for your input.

      Delete