Oh yes, let’s talk politics. I knew when I woke up this morning that we would talk politics, could smell it in the air. The duel, yes it’s about honor and all that, like Alistair said, but let’s dig deeper. “Peel the onion a bit,” as they say. Underneath honor is… can you guess? I’ll give you a hint, starts with “P” and ends in “olitics.” Ha ha. Hamilton took the duel because of politics. That’s right. Politics to Hamilton was also about greatness. Both greatness of the country and his greatness. Now, that doesn’t sound as bad as it seems. Many great leaders need to have a large desire for greatness. As long as that desire is not bigger than their commitment to what matters, it is okay. Hamilton had this great desire, keeping the title of “General” in private life and living in his big house The Grange, but he also did what he truly believed to be right politically.

By July 11, 1804, Alexander Hamilton was in serious decline politically. The Federalist Party, which Hamilton founded, had been in serious trouble since the Alien and Sedition Acts and the Presidential Election of 1800. President John Adams lost due to a number of factors, one of them being a split in the Federalist Party. That split was helped along by Hamilton. We’ll get into that later. So here is Alexander Hamilton, his political career, once great, now in decline. He is working like crazy as a lawyer, he is falling out of favor with the Federalist Party, and his party is falling out of favor with the country. His political rival, Thomas Jefferson, is now President of the United States with Aaron Burr as his Vice President. Part of the reason he cannot turn the duel down is because he thought it would hurt him even more politically. He didn’t think he could afford that. So he dueled.

Just so you know, Hamilton and Jefferson were both in George Washington’s cabinet. Jefferson being the Secretary of State and Hamilton being the Secretary of the Treasury. Washington considered himself unattached to any political party, but he mostly sided with Hamilton’s Federalist policies like the national bank. Jefferson opposed these policies. George Washington went on to become a hero of the Federalist Party, while Thomas Jefferson became a foe and founded the Jeffersonian Republican Party. The Federalists believed in a strong central government, while the Jeffersonian Republicans wanted a less powerful central government and more state’s rights.