he had a mentor in that whole vision, robert morris. a name that while it's known, i believe, at the museum of american finance, is not actually widely known by people who see the show or even read many of the bios, because morris is a problematic character for a lot of reasons. he becomes hamilton's, i think, most important mentor in this area that i'm interested in, i should say, because of course, there are other areas of hamilton's life -- the area of his creative period. but morris is a difficult character sometimes for us to deal with, because while he was the financier of the revolution -- that's how he's known -- and he certainly was that, spending his own vast wealth on financing the revolution out of his own pocket -- the revolution as some people say also financed him. he did not have any problem with mingling private and public funds. he was a shipper and a merchant and probably the richest man in america, casually corrupt, obese, witty, charming, and quite a character, and really the first major banker the country had. and

he was not alone in that, he had a mentor in that vision, robert morris. a name that while it is known at the museum of american finance, is not widely known by the people who watch the show or read biographies. morris is a problematic character for a lot of reasons. i think he is hamilton's most important mentor in the area i am interested in. of course, there are other areas of hamilton's life. this creative period. but morris is sometimes a difficult character to deal with because he spent his vast wealth on financing the revolution out of this pocket, some people would say the revolution also financed him. he did not have a problem with mingling private and public funds. he was probably the richest men in america, casually corrupt, obese, witty, charming, and quite a character. really the first major banker the country had. this was someone who saw the brilliance of young hamilton, and to whom hamilton gravitated. they were looking at the issue of how to keep the country together, and what we're really talking about here is how to keep the country toge

as ed, i think, said earlier, i think robert morris was close with washington. there were good friends. but robert morris to demured and said he didn't want to be secretary of state. it was important for washington he had a personal relationship with all these people already. hamilton was a natural second choice because they had this wartime relationship. jefferson and washington knew each other well. edmund randolph was an aide during the war, washington's private attorney for many decades prior to coming into office. and henry knox was one of his favorite officers. and they were immediately, from 1775. so, he had these different considerations and asked for people's advice. and whoever fit that image or those different values, he was amenable to appointing. >> wonderful, thank you for all that. well, it's time for very brief closing thoughts in this absolutely wonderful discussion. i'll just tee it up with a question i asked lindsay when she appeared on the podcast. this is the question. in his wonderful novel, "democracy, " henry adams has a great scene where

place he goes after dropping off his bags at robert morris's house was to visit franklin. they sat down under that mulberry tree in front of his house and discussed what they needed to do to make a more perfect union. jeffrey: that is great. you have given us so much to think about, taking them from the french and indian war all the way to the constitutional convention. you begin your book by discarding that scene of washington deciding not to drive up to franklin's house because that is where he was in company by enslaved people. franklin did not approve of slavery at that point. you take all those experiences this shared devotion to a strong central government, strong commerce to keep the west open and ensure economic independence. you to, i would love give us your insights on that broad period from your remarkable and helpful perspective. you can take us through the same period. edward didn't talk as much about the revolutionary war and exactly how franklin and washington joined together on the work counsel. takeocusing on washington, us through the constitutional conve

as ed said earlier, robert morris was very close with washington. they were good friends. robert morris said he didn't want to be the secretary of the treasury and encouraged hamilton as the next choice. it was important to washington that he had a personal relationship with all of these people already. hamilton was a natural second choice because they had had this war-time relationship. jefferson and washington knew each other well. randolph was an aid early in the war, was washington's private attorney for many decades prior to coming into office. henry knox was one of his favorite officers and they were close immediately from 1775. he had these different considerations and asked for people's advice. whoever fit that image or those different values, he was amenable to appointing. >> wonderful. thank you for all that. it's time for very brief closing thoughts in this wonderful discussion. i will just tee it up with a questionlindsay. in his wonderful novel, "democracy" henry adams has a great scene where madeleine lee, who is the hero, takes a trip to mount vernon. she's

which makes sense because they were) and robert morris was a treasury secretary during the confederation. and according to the decline he encouraged washington to pick hamilton for the treasury secretary which probably would've been his second choice anyway and was a natural fit. washington knew that he needed somebody had diplomatic experience and had relationships with people in foreign nations to serve as the secretary of state and hamilton had not had that experience, had not been in those positions, that definitely would not have happened. actually it was really madison's encouragement that washington listened and he picked jefferson to be the secretary of state. >> the next question from caitlin, why was it the creation of the cabinet written into the constitution. that is a good question because the british had a form of the cabinet in the british system influence, so why did they not write the cabinet into the constitution. >> caitlin thank you for answering -- asking that question, the delegates at the constitutional convention were very concerned about there being a group of ad

the next line in hamilton's april 1780 letter to robert morris on the national debt explains that the debt will be powerful cement of our union. hamilton meant that one of the debt's blessings is political rather than economic. by making the federal government the creditor of people throughout the nation debt pessimists including those with anti-hamill tonian views assumed and claimed that hamilton's bonds were only only by a relatively small number of rich urban ee leets. i showed otherwise in one nation under debt by using federal bond registers to show that tens of thousands of americans throughout the union held debts. the home state of great debt pessimists like thomas jefferson. many federal bond holders in virginia owned plantations and slaves. others were professional doctors and lawyers, others were urban retailers. and some were women. abigail adams wasn't the only one trading government securities, woody. woody isn't here. some bond holders lived in what is now called nova, the nation's capital. others lived south side. others on the blue ridge. and others along the james n

the next line in hamilton's april 1780 letter to robert morris on the national debt explained that the debt, quote, will be powerful cement of our union. unquote. by that, hamilton meant that one of the debt's blessings would be political rather than economic. by making the federal government the creditor of people throughout the nation, the national debt would create political sentiment in favor of the union as bold holders protected their vested interest in the health of the national government. debt pessimists, including many historians with anti-hamiltonian views, assumed and claimed that his bonds were held only by a small number of rich urban elites. i showed otherwise by using federal bond registers to show that tens of thousands of americans throughout the union owned federal bonds at some point. i devote an entire chapter to bondholders in virginia, the home state of great debt pessimists like thomas jefferson. many federal bond holders in virginia owned plantations and slaves. others were professional doctors and lawyers, others were urban artisans and retailers. and some wer

robert morris will join us.watching nestlerg "surveillance." posted first quarter sales that were better than expected. worldwide lockdowns were good for business. consumers loaded up on frozen foods, boosting brands that have recently fallen. more cutbacks on the way at boeing. productiont to slash of the 787 by half and will announce job cuts next week when they announced first-quarter earnings. out rake -- the coronavirus outbreak is crushing demand for new jets. the world's largest semi conductor company withdrew its full-year forecast amid concern over the coronavirus outbreak. 23% -- andting a fell short. tom: thank you so much. so much more to talk about, some interesting guests for friday and all of the reading to stagger into next week. jobs day may 1, no. jobs day will be may 8. have, aty lift we vacillation in the vix between a 39 and 47 level. we have the vix back down showing stockmarket complacency toward a 40 handle. bonds are mixed, but the 10 and 30 year yield have come in. curve flattening. i f