Suppose Alexander Hamilton had survived his duel with Aaron Burr and gone on to become President either beating Jefferson in 1804 or more likely Madison in 1808? What would his presidency have been like?
There would almost certainly have neen no War of 1812 as his election may well have been due to the hostility of the Embargo Act. The United States may have even joind in the war against Napoleon and there may have been an earlier Monroe doctrine, the "Hamilton doctrine" akin to the Monroe doctrine supported by Britain but probably not until nearly the end of his term of office as Spain and Britain became allies in 1808 when France invaded Spain.
Hamilton was a supporter of strong Federal government and may have attempted to abolish slavery although there would be strong hostility in the Southern States. He also supported protectionism and may well have created the condition for an earlier insdustrialisation. An earlier civil war is a possiblity.
However a Hamiltonian presidency would have resulted in the term Hamiltonian to describe strong interventionist Federal Government which although unpopular in some areas would be viewed as distinct from socialism. Some of Americas better presidents were arguably Hamiltonians; Abaraham Lincoln, Teddy Rossevelt, Franklin D Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson (over his Great Society propsals and civil right legislation not Vietnam) and to some extent John F Kennedy. Barack Obama looks like being in the Hamiltonian mode.
History tends to go in cycles and periodically Hamiltonianism is required to save the American was i.e Teddy Rossevelt with the trusts ansd FDR's New Deal. The danger is not socialism as the intervention supports the system but that federal bodies have a habit of mission creep and empire building and becoming swelf perpetuating . Ronald Reagan was a supporter of the New Deal in his youth but dergulated in office possibly because he had seen intervention carry on beyond its need. America is probably set for another period of Hamiltonianism. J Edgar Hoover was one of the few examples of concentration of Federal power becoming dangerous but an FBI is still needed as crime doesn't recognise state boundaries
Ironically the only use of the term Hamiltonian is in James Blishes Cities of Flight series where there is an exodus of Hamiltonian refugees from a beauracratic state. In practice Madison's support for the Wasr of 1812 resulted in his having to strengthen Federal government's power! Aaron Burr is one of the few examples of a lone nut assassin who was also part of the establishment albeit a rogue member. Most assassinations involve a wider circle although not necessarily the inside jobs beloved of conspiracy theorists.
There would almost certainly have neen no War of 1812 as his election may well have been due to the hostility of the Embargo Act. The United States may have even joind in the war against Napoleon and there may have been an earlier Monroe doctrine, the "Hamilton doctrine" akin to the Monroe doctrine supported by Britain but probably not until nearly the end of his term of office as Spain and Britain became allies in 1808 when France invaded Spain.
Hamilton was a supporter of strong Federal government and may have attempted to abolish slavery although there would be strong hostility in the Southern States. He also supported protectionism and may well have created the condition for an earlier insdustrialisation. An earlier civil war is a possiblity.
However a Hamiltonian presidency would have resulted in the term Hamiltonian to describe strong interventionist Federal Government which although unpopular in some areas would be viewed as distinct from socialism. Some of Americas better presidents were arguably Hamiltonians; Abaraham Lincoln, Teddy Rossevelt, Franklin D Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Lyndon Johnson (over his Great Society propsals and civil right legislation not Vietnam) and to some extent John F Kennedy. Barack Obama looks like being in the Hamiltonian mode.
History tends to go in cycles and periodically Hamiltonianism is required to save the American was i.e Teddy Rossevelt with the trusts ansd FDR's New Deal. The danger is not socialism as the intervention supports the system but that federal bodies have a habit of mission creep and empire building and becoming swelf perpetuating . Ronald Reagan was a supporter of the New Deal in his youth but dergulated in office possibly because he had seen intervention carry on beyond its need. America is probably set for another period of Hamiltonianism. J Edgar Hoover was one of the few examples of concentration of Federal power becoming dangerous but an FBI is still needed as crime doesn't recognise state boundaries
Ironically the only use of the term Hamiltonian is in James Blishes Cities of Flight series where there is an exodus of Hamiltonian refugees from a beauracratic state. In practice Madison's support for the Wasr of 1812 resulted in his having to strengthen Federal government's power! Aaron Burr is one of the few examples of a lone nut assassin who was also part of the establishment albeit a rogue member. Most assassinations involve a wider circle although not necessarily the inside jobs beloved of conspiracy theorists.