investment approaching new york millionaire fur trader john jacob aster and philadelphia banker steven girouard the sort of spi speculatorers madison called gamblers in the early 1790s, he approached them, galatin did, after aster told him that the administration needed to charter a new bank of the united states and to borrow from the bank to finance the war. and so madison as president reconstituted the bank he had earlier associated with hamilton's cronyism. he had come to accept the principle that government could not engage in a major war without politics voting to raise taxes on the people who voted them in or out of office. this is a conundrum the 21st century understands. peace negotiations got under way in europe with madison's full support. he needed albert galatin as his linchpin on the negotiating team in gent. british ships had appeared at the mouth of the potomac as early as july 1813, and raids along the chesapeake caused a nervous congress to look less favorably on an internal revenue solution. the fiery decimation of the white house, the capital, you know, august 1814 only inten