Jefferson's Treasure

How Albert Gallatin Saved the New Nation from Debt

By: Gregory May

Narrated by: Robert Anderson

George Washington had Alexander Hamilton. Thomas Jefferson had Albert Gallatin.

From internationally known tax expert and former Supreme Court law clerk Gregory May comes this long overdue biography of the remarkable immigrant who launched the fiscal policies that shaped the early republic and the future of American politics. Not Alexander Hamilton - Albert Gallatin.

To this day, the fight over fiscal policy lies at the center of American politics. Jefferson's champion in that fight was Albert Gallatin - a Swiss immigrant who served as Treasury Secretary for 12 years because he was the only man in Jefferson's party who understood finance well enough to reform Alexander Hamilton's system. A look at Gallatin's work - repealing internal taxes, restraining government spending, and repaying public debt - puts our current federal fiscal problems in perspective. The Jefferson administration's enduring achievement was to contain the federal government by restraining its fiscal power. This was Gallatin's work. It set the pattern for federal finance until the Civil War, and it created a culture of fiscal responsibility that survived well into the 20th century.

©2018 Gregory May (P)2019 Regnery Publishing

History I didn't know

Very interesting & true. An important man that slipped thru the cracks of history & proof that one person can make a difference...

abc

This is a superb biography and history joined with a most professional performance.

In the introduction, author May introduces many complicated themes that the book will explore. In the body of the biography, each question that I had was answered. This book explores in detail controversies of early American government that resonate today, including a strong central government vs states rights and citizens laboring to scratch out sustenance resisting urban elites. May keeps the events and their historical implications in a graceful balance.

Alexander Hamilton created for the early United States a financial system and also a primordial central bank. Jefferson thought it was essential to rid the young democracy of both. Gallatin was one of the few anti-Federalists who understood finance and mathematics well enough to take over as Secretary of the Treasury when Jefferson became President. He believed in political alliances, but also deeply appreciated the value of a national bank. In later years, Gallatin, born in 1761 in Geneva, was one of the negotiators to settle with Britain the War of 1812, followed by service as U.S. Minister to France. In retirement, he lived in early Manhattan and was a key founder of New York University.

This is a superb and enjoyable book. As soon as I finished, I listened again to the superb introduction, and I'd transit the entire work again but there are so many interesting books waiting for me.