ames who have a better understanding of what makes lin manuel miranda tick than ron chernow. lin got the inspiration of course for his musical after he started reading ron's outstanding biography of hamilton. he saw the story of an immigrant with an impoverished background who rose to become one of the greatest founding fathers and realized this story speaks volumes about the american experience and connects directly and powerfully to the lives of countless people today who struggle to find their piece of the american dream. lin asked ron chernow to serve as his historical adviser for the creation of "hamilton" and that story of the electric collaboration is what we'll hear tonight. ron, we are also grateful to you for your willingness to share this experience with us. and we are delighted that the person discussting with you is roosevelt ector of house. harold joins us after a brilliant career in public life including being press secretary to one of hunter's own. he had a long life as head of marketing communications for the metropolitan museum of arts and, of course, he is,

we talked to ron chernow about george washington, david mccullough about john adams, and doris kearns goodwin about abraham lincoln. >> washington, under the surface, was a passionate, sensitive, complex man. he was a man of many moods and fiery opinions. he was really a fierce, hard-driving perfectionist, but it was all cloaked under this tremendous reserve and that very kind of stoical aura we know. >> it's possible to know john adams and especially because of what he wrote to his wife and she wrote to him, it's possible to know him better than any of those prains prince pal figures. >> when we look to who we are going to elect for president, we should look at their temperament. lincoln had an amazing set of emotional strengths, and you couldn't have even -- you could have even known that without his external resume. when he made a mistake, he learned from it and acknowledged it immediately. >> rose: what is it great presidents have? presidential historians tell us about their presidents next. funding for charlie rose is provided by the following: captioning sponsored by rose commun

we talked to historian ron chernow. this was taped at the new york historical society in september. you and i both know alexander hamilton, the huge things he gave to the country are clearly his legacy. >> yeah. >> rose: but are both of these men known for as much as of the fact that there was this dual as any other aspect in the public imagination? >> in the public imagination, henry adams said this was the most dramatic moment in the early history of the republic, so they both ended up being defined by this moment, by the duel, and i hope between my biography and the spectacular show that people are going to realize that alexander hamilton, his accomplishments were so extraordinary and that he was a major founder on par with washington and jefferson and madison and we owe him a tremendous debt. i think he gave us the economic and financial maturity at the outset of the country that really enabled the federal government to succeed, that enabled the constitution to succeed. there was no announcement this combination of financial, legal, tech no contract skills and political theory t