Hamilton versus Jefferson in the Washington Administration: Completing the Founding or Betraying the Founding?

Description

By the middle of 1792, just a little more than three years after America's new government under the Constitution had been set in motion, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson - President George Washington's two most important cabinet secretaries and two of the most eminent men among the American founders - had become open and bitter political enemies. Their dispute was not personal but political in the highest sense. Each believed that the debate between them was over regime principles. Each believed that he was protecting the newly established republic, and that the other was laboring to destroy it. Carson Holloway's Hamilton versus Jefferson in the Washington Administration examines Hamilton and Jefferson's differences, seeking to explain why these great founders came to disagree so profoundly and vehemently about the political project to which both were committed and had dedicated so much thought and effort.

Carson Holloway is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Nebraska, Omaha and is the author of several works of political philosophy. He has been a Visiting Fellow in Princeton University's James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions and a Visiting Fellow in American Political Thought at the Heritage Foundation. His scholarly articles have appeared in the Review of Politics, Interpretation: A Journal of Political Philosophy, and Perspectives on Political Science, and he has also written for First Things, Public Discourse, and National Review.

'Holloway pursues a straightforward ... yet original agenda: to review and compare the major state papers of Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson written while they served, respectively, as Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of State in the Washington administration. He writes as an American Xenophon, patiently illustrating the ways of intelligent statesmanship through the work of two masters. One feels the pressure of every choice and the subtle interplay of principle and policy. A marvelous achievement.' James Stoner, Louisiana State University 'Everybody knows something about the conflicts between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson while they served together in the cabinet of President George Washington. But nobody has studied in such depth or probed their meaning so thoughtfully and thoroughly as Carson Holloway.' Michael Zuckert, University of Notre Dame, Indiana 'Carson Holloway's meticulous study of the debates between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson in the presidency of George Washington is distinguished by its thorough and fair-minded treatment of the nuances of [their] thought. Written with clarity and verve, it is a must-read for anyone interested in grappling with the profound differences of policy and principle dividing these founders and their legacy for contemporary political discourse.' Darren Staloff, City College of New York 'His account presents something profound and interesting: a rigorous, sustained dispute between two key Founders on the principles and practices of politics.' Matthew Spalding, The Nation 'Holloway ... focuses on the conflict between Hamilton and Jefferson during their time together in President George Washington's cabinet (1790-93) ... Carson Holloway's careful presentation of each man's arguments makes them available to us today with unprecedented clarity. This accomplishment - important in itself - should prove highly valuable at a time when both the progressive synthesis and the conservative reaction to it suffer from intellectual exhaustion.' Peter McNamara, Claremont Review of Books 'Carson Holloway's book offers a detailed account of the debates between two compelling figures of the Founding era. ... the text covers the first term of the Washington Administration and the crucial period in which both Hamilton and Jefferson remained part of it.' Simon Gilhooley, The Review of Politics