Sec. of Treasury | Federalist | 
HAMILTON, ALEXANDER was a founding father of the United States, who fought in the American Revolutionary War, helped draft the Constitution, and served as the first secretary of the treasury. He was the founder and chief architect of the American financial system. Hamilton was born on January 11, in 1755 or 1757 at Charlestown, on the British island of Nevis. His parents, Rachel Faucette and James Hamilton, were not married when he was born. James abandoned the family in 1766 and Rachel died in 1768. Hamilton spent his adolescence on the Danish possession of St. Croix. Locals recognized Hamilton’s remarkable intelligence after he published an eloquent letter describing a hurricane that hit the island, and raised money to send him to school in Britain’s North American colonies. Hamilton arrived in the colonies in late 1772 and initially applied to the College of New Jersey, but instead attended King’s College in New York City. While in New York, Hamilton became a supporter of colonial protests against British imperial policy. He wrote several pamphlets in 1774 and 1775 attacking the views of outspoken loyalist Samuel Seabury. In 1775, Hamilton drilled with a volunteer company of militia, and was made captain of an artillery company in March 1776. In the American Revolutionary War, he fought at the battles of Kip’s Bay, White Plains, Trenton, and Princeton. The young captain impressed senior officers in the Continental Army, and William Alexander (Lord Stirling) even asked Hamilton to serve as his military aide. On January 25, 1777, the Pennsylvania Evening Post posted an advertisement: “Captain Alexander Hamilton, of the New-York company of artillery, by applying to the printer of this paper, may hear of something to his advantage.”1 This referenced General George Washington’s decision to invite Hamilton to his military staff, which Hamilton accepted, making him a lieutenant colonel. For the next four years, Hamilton was one of Washington’s most valued staff members, and had a variety of responsibilities, including writing letters to Congress, state politicians, and other Continental Army officers.- Alexander Hamilton on Wikipedia
- Alexander Hamilton on OurCampaigns.com