Ham & Jeff

Jefferson by Rembrandt Peale

A lot has been spoken and written about Thomas Jefferson being the grand-daddy of the modern Democratic party and Alexander Hamilton being the grand-daddy of the modern Republican party.  But I think this conventional wisdom is simple-minded and maybe just plain wrong.

George Washington was elected unanimously, by presidential electors, and before partisan parties sprung into being (everyone back then feared factions, or parties).  Soon enough, his most trusted advisors – Thomas Jefferson his Secretary of State and Alexander Hamilton his Secretary of the Treasury – came to (personal, political and philosophical) blows.  Those who followed Hamilton called themselves “Federalists” (the original name for those who fought for ratification of the U.S. Constitution without the need for a Bill of Rights; those who fought against ratification without a Bill of Rights were called “Anti-Federalists”).  The party that grew up around Jefferson called themselves (Democratic-)Republicans (the Federalist vs. Anti-Federalist argument was over by then).  Their core disputes were over the size and reach of the new federal government, the power of the presidency, and who we should ally ourselves most strongly with, France (our revolutionary ally) or Great Britain (our revolutionary foe).

Let’s examine how each of these powerful and brilliant men of another time fits into today’s political rivalries.

Nothing quite defines Jefferson more powerfully than his immortal words, “all men are created equal,” a persistent democratic ideal.  While Republicans honor the Constitution (that Hamilton helped bring into being) over Jefferson's more idealistic Declaration.  Hamilton believed in a natural aristocracy (brilliance and learning, not wealth or blood-line), a true Republican of today.  While neither man supported widespread political suffrage, our march toward universal suffrage (a Democratic ideal) would have discomfited Jefferson less than Hamilton. Jefferson walked to his own Inaugural in American homespun, with no royal trappings; Hamilton believed that the President ought to play the monarch in the British tradition.  Jefferson believed in a presidency with modest power (until it was in his own hands), while Hamilton felt the president was the crowned head of the government, like the English King (to be clear, the framers of our Constitution gave more power to the Legislature than to the Executive; but presidents just can’t help themselves).  Jefferson was clearly more concerned about “the people” than Hamilton, even if it was merely a philosophical principle.  Hamilton’s friends lived on Wall Street.  Hamilton wanted a strong national military while Jefferson was content with state militias. Perhaps most important of all, Hamilton was uniquely responsible for putting us on the road to becoming an economic industrial powerhouse with a central banking core.  Poor Jefferson, a poor farmer to the end!

Those are the ways in which Jefferson thinks like a Democrat of today and Hamilton like a Republican of today.  But it’s not that simple.  Jefferson is equally a Republican of today and Hamilton a Democrat of today.

By birth, Alexander Hamilton was a true Democrat.  He was born on the island of Nevis in the British West Indies and grew up there and in St Croix in the Virgin Islands.  He was born to an unwed mother and a father who deserted his family early on. His mother died in his early teens; but his genius, his industry and his writing skills were discovered and community leaders sent him to New York City to continue his education at what is now Columbia College.  Hamilton was a “legal immigrant,” a Democrat of today.  Makes you think of Barack Obama, doesn’t it?  Born to be a Democrat.

Thomas Jefferson was a born aristocrat, a native of colonial Virginia.  His father was a successful plantation-owner, slave-holder and surveyor, and his mother was a Randolph, one of Virginia’s most eminent families.  His education included frequent dinners at the governor’s table.  Jefferson was by birth a Republican of today (not all Republicans are born into wealth, but most of us assume that someone born into wealth will lean Republican).

By region, Jefferson was a Southerner whose thinking was rural, and the South and rural areas are owned by Republicans today.  Hamilton was a Northerner (New York, by adoption of course), and the North-East and big cities are typical Democratic strong-holds today.

Hamilton favored a large and dominant federal government (his Treasury Department began with 93 staff members and grew to more than 500 by 1800), like Democrats of today (so charge Republicans), while Jefferson was a proponent of a small federal government (his State Department had 6 staff members and did not grow) with states dominant, like a true Republican of today.  Indeed, ahead of his time, Jefferson even wrote about a state’s right to secede from the Union (and only Red states are thinking those thoughts today; and Alaska).

On slavery, Jefferson was a slave holder and Hamilton an abolitionist, once again Jefferson the Republican and Hamilton the Democrat (by today’s divisions).

On the economy, Hamilton envisioned an industrial America, while Jefferson imagined an agricultural nation.  Today, both parties are totally enthralled to Wall Street and Industry, but Republicans are closer to Big Industry; so small is Agriculture that neither party seems to care.

Hamilton by John Trumbull

Q.E.D., neither Hamilton nor Jefferson can reasonably be blamed for begetting either of today’s major parties.  Though, for the most part, we live in the world that Hamilton created.

Jefferson and Hamilton aside, aren’t there any legitimate grand-daddies of today’s political parties?  Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican President, but for sure he would not be a Republican after the 1964-65 Civil Rights battles were fought and the parties re-aligned themselves to how they are today.  Teddy Roosevelt, another Republican, was a trust-buster, a tree-hugger/environmentalist, and the first Progressive President, another Republican who would be a liberal Democrat today.  FDR may be rightfully called the first modern liberal Democrat, except that today's Democrats seem to have forgotten his name.  Ronald Reagan is surely the patron saint of today's conservative Republican Party, but they use his name carelessly, conveniently picking and choosing what they want from him.

The way I see it: today’s parties and political practitioners are not proper heirs to any of these great Americans, nor have they any internal consistency of policy.  Identity politics has completely crowded out issues’ politics.  Both parties have been captured by Big Money (and the Republicans by Big Religion, else how could they ever win any elections?); so policies favored by Republican office holders are those dictated by their Big Money sources, and the same for the Democrats.

My conclusion (same as always): fight Big Money in government!  Let’s get some honest differences of opinion for a change.  Like Hamilton's and Jefferson's.