Ron Chernow’s detailed and exhaustive biography on one of America’s greatest politicians and forward thinking lawmakers, “Alexander Hamilton” was a long haul well-worth the time and effort. Born in the West Indies and moved to New York to study at Kings College (now Columbia), Hamilton became a founding father with some of the greatest thinking regarding governance, finance, staunch supporter of a strong federal government and setting the bounds of law for the newly formed United States of America, which was a “blank slate” compared to its European relatives.

The more and more you read about Alexander Hamilton, who died from a gunshot wound inflicted by Aaron Burr, then Thomas Jefferson’s vice president at the age of only 49, it is amazing to consider his wide influence and the impact that his scholarship and study had on the formation and proliferation of the United States as a newly born country. Though during his lifetime he was often reviled and even vilified after his death, Chernow’s accounting of his life and accomplishments is somewhat a vindication of the often maligned luminary.

The account also provides detailed context of the impact that Hamilton’s life had at the time and how today a legacy of his fingerprints still today persist.

Now I can watch the play on which Lin-Manuel Miranda loosely based his Broadway hit, “Hamilton.”

Get a copy of “Alexander Hamilton” by Ron Chernow on Amazon here.