henry knox starts with a mere dozen. hamilton starts out with about three dozen and the number quickly balloons to several hundred employees. a frightening bureaucracy by the standards of the day. and also again many times larger than the rest of the government combined. which is why historians tend to liken hamilton's position in washington's administration to that of a prime minister rather than a mere department head but you say to people, alexander hamilton was first treasury secretary, it just does not begin to capture the scope and magnitude of the power that this man wielded. beyond the size of the treasury department, remember hamilton had to invent that department from scratch. at the time there were no income taxes. most revenue came from incoming duties. smuggling as you know was a favorite revolutionary past and suddenly this activity has to be stopped in the name of patriotism, so hamilton has to construct a fleet of so-called revenue cutters, to start of course the coast guard. again and again we see hamilt

it was alexander hamilton, secretary of treasury, henry knox, secretary of war, and thomas jefferson, secretary of state. everyone in the room can agree pound for pound the best cabinet we will ever have by far. he assembles the american all-star team. like all great executives washington was not afraid to hire people who were smarter than he was, although he was very smart. he felt fully confident to be able to control these had strong prima donnas. i know we are all kind of gazing back nostalgically. at think it is right to do so in terms of the brilliance and the area addition and integrity of these people, but it was a nasty political time. i did a piece for the "wall street journal" last summer on the founders. for instance, john adams, benjamin franklin, his entire life has been one continued insult to decency and good manners. franklin said of atoms, he is always an autumn honest man, sometimes a wise man, but sometimes absolutely out of his senses. this is kid stuff compared to adams and hamilton. adams called hamilton the bastard brand of scotch peddler. he said the hamilton

it was alexander hamilton, secretary of treasury, henry knox, secretary of war, and thomas jefferson, secretary of state. everyone in the room can agree pound for pound the best cabinet we will ever have by far. he assembles the american all-star team. like all great executives washington was not afraid to hire people who were smarter than he was, although he was very smart. he felt fully confident to be able to control these had strong prima donnas. i know we are all kind of gazing back nostalgically. at think it is right to do so in terms of the brilliance and the area addition and integrity of these people, but it was a nasty political time. i did a piece for the "wall street journal" last summer on the founders. for instance, john adams, benjamin franklin, his entire life has been one continued insult to decency and good manners. franklin said of atoms, he is always an autumn honest man, sometimes a wise man, but sometimes absolutely out of his senses. this is kid stuff compared to adams and hamilton. adams called hamilton the bastard brand of scotch peddler. he said the hamilton