Essay On The Differences Between Adams And Hamilton

Influential men in the creation of the republic, Adams and Hamilton remained largely absent from each other’s lives besides a brief correspondence from Adams in July 1789 where requested the younger Hamilton allow his son Charles Adams to clerk for him because he wanted to “get him into some office in New York, and should give the Preference to you” but rested on two contingencies, one of which Adams suggested “you may become a Minister of State, or some other Thing better or worse than the Practice of the Bar, but, however, incompatible with it.” This letter underlines two facts; first, Adams held Hamilton in high regard by entrusting his son to him. Second, for Adams, it was apparent that Hamilton was not destined for a career in law and

a rise to a higher position was inevitable. There is no recorded response from Hamilton but Adams’s sentiments towards Hamilton would change dramatically years after this letter.
Six months earlier Hamilton declared privately in a letter to future President James Madison that he had “concluded to support Adams; though I am not without apprehensions.” Detailing his apprehensions, Hamilton mentioned Adams’s ideas, though not entirely aligned with his own were nearer to his than that of other candidates. Adams and Hamilton seemed to share at minimum a mutual respect of the other’s abilities and intellect. The first American election took place in 1788 and George Washington was a near certainty to assume the role as the nation’s first president. Adams agreed that Washington was the right person for the job and believed he was the logical choice to become the nation’s first vice-president and according to Ferling “would accept nothing but the vice-presidency of the United States. Any other office was deemed beneath him.” Emphasizing once again Adams’s vanity and self-importance. He believed no one was more suited for the position and Hamilton agreed. Success was Adams’s following the election, he secured the vice-presidency but winning the position did not mean Adams was universally adored. Jefferson disclosed to Madison in 1787 that Adams was “vain irritable and a bad calculator of the force and probable effect of the motives which govern me.” Jefferson was not the only prominent politician who was unsettled with Adams, Madison poked fun at his disagreeability, “Mr. Adams is the only public man whom he thinks favorably of or seems to have associated with.” The inaugural election showed Hamilton, despite supporting Adams for Vice-President, undermining his ability to garner votes. Hamilton feared that Virginian Richard H. Lee and Adams who “have been in the habit of uniting” would undermine Washington and “spring up a Cabal very embarrassing to the Executive and of course to the administration of the government.” There is doubt as to how much of an influence Hamilton had, but he no doubt made the effort to sway the election for Washington by approaching electors in Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Elected unanimously, Hamilton’s fears were unwarranted about Washington being defeated, but Adams’s pride was wounded, as he stated after the results of the election that it was a stain upon his character and Ferling speculated that Adams “could not understand why the public refused to elevate him to the same status it accorded to Washington and Franklin.” Adams did not discover Hamilton’s efforts to protect Washington until a decade later and would predictably be upset and viewed his actions as “unforgivably duplicitous” and referred to it as “dark and dirty intrigue.” This maneuver by Hamilton would be the basis for a verbal attack from Adams in the future and was not his last attempt to undermine Adams.
Unware of Hamilton’s plot until several years later, Adams praised Hamilton’s intellect after the election when Washington was considering nominating Hamilton for Secretary of Treasury. Writing to historic painter John Trumbull, Adams stated “Our Secretary has, however, I think good Abilities and certainly great Industry. He has high minded Ambition and great Penetration” but he also pointed out his reservations about Hamilton “He may have too much disposition to intrigue” a trait that he viewed as the biggest threat to the Republic, and perhaps predicting correctly despite being ignorant of Hamilton’s role in the 1789 election. Hamilton’s time as Secretary of Treasury was brief but successful and even Adams deemed it so declaring “The Secy. of the Treasury is so able and has done so well that I have Scarcely permitted myself to think very closely whether he could or could not have done better.” Washington’s first term was characterized by Hamilton’s financial plan and his influence on the Executive office. Adams and Hamilton had only professional correspondence discussing economic matters such as shipments and trade during Washington’s first term. Trading praise and commending one another, they had an amicable, albeit minimal, relationship and Adams was unaware of Hamilton endeavoring to skew the election results for Washington.
Ambition was Hamilton’s strongest trait but also contributed to his many battles. 1792 signified the first re-election in American history for the presidency. Once again, the race was for the vice-presidency and Hamilton provided unwavering support for Adams. During Washington’s first term, Hamilton wielded an enormous amount of influence, as Washington’s chief advisor, Hamilton was granted the foremost place in the cabinet and used his post to influence policy. Adams on the other hand, had little to no say in the proceedings of the government as historian David McCullough pointed out in his Adams biography that he had “come to terms with his marginal role in the order of things” and “he had at last learned the part he was supposed to play and to a large degree accepted its limitations.” Not only was Adams not involved, but he was often not present. Hamilton warned Adams of the potential risk of losing his post, something Adams no doubt was irked by, being warned to return by a younger, more influential, and motivated Hamilton. Eager to promote his own interests by ensuring Adams won reelection and continued to stay away from Philadelphia prompted Hamilton to send unsolicited advice to Adams where he stressed that should Adams stay in Massachusetts it would “give some handle to your enemies to misrepresent—And though I am persuaded you are very indifferent personally to the event of a certain election, yet I hope you are not so as it regards the cause of good Government.” Hamilton was quick to offer his opinion and Adams received this negatively as Chernow pointed out “he prided himself on his grumpy independence and freedom from party virulence and saw no need to make common cause with Hamilton.” Aside from seeking to maintain his influence, Hamilton also was determined to prevent Governor of New York George Clinton and his nemesis Aaron Burr from winning the vice-presidency.
Hamilton praised John Adams character privately to his associates Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, stating “Mr.

Adams, whatever objections may be against some of his theoretic opinions, is a frim honest independent politician.” Pointing out potential disagreements they may share, Hamilton once again seemed to be settling for Adams in the role, rather than someone he strongly opposed, such as Clinton or Burr. In a letter to John Steele, Hamilton did not ignore Adams’s flaws but asserted once again “we believe him to be honest firm faithful and independent – a sincere lover of his country.” After promoting Adams, Hamilton went on to attack his opponents Clinton and Burr. It is unknown whether Hamilton played a role in Adams’s subsequent win but the closeness of the win, 77 for Adams to Clinton’s 50, was enough to enrage Adams and hurt his pride once again, he even attacked the system of election the country had implemented exclaiming “Damn ‘em, damn ‘em, damn ‘em. You see that an elective government will not do!” Perceiving the most minute action as a slight, Adams was upset that someone “his inferior in knowledge and government service, could pose a serious political threat.” His vanity blinded him and made him lash out at his opponents, the government, and

voters.
Influencing two elections, one to protect the prestige of George Washington, the other to prevent Adams from losing the vice-presidency and from self intertest, Hamilton had become the most influential man in the country.

From economic programs to foreign policy, Hamilton’s fingerprints littered the construction of the country, and he had cemented his place as the leader of the Federalist party. 1796 marked the end of an era, George Washington did not run for a third term and the Jeffersonian Democratic-Republicans and the Hamiltonian Federalists presented a candidate. Adams would run for the presidency, justifying his place as lone resident in a Philadelphia home while serving as vice-president. Adams felt it was his right to succeed Washington as president, placing himself at the same level as the him and he “did not see the presidency as a party matter at all. It was simply the recognition to which he was entitled for nearly thirty years of meritorious public service” and even proclaiming “I am the heir apparent.” Running with Adams was Thomas Pinckney, who some Republicans believed was the choice of Hamiltonians and according to political historian Arthur Scherr “Republicans newspapers… were in accord with the Hamiltonians on the desirability of Thomas Pinckney as president when compared to John Adams.” Support from Hamilton for Pinckney was based on two factors; the first was Hamilton’s belief that with Pinckney in office he would still have a direct line to the

executive, the other was to prevent Thomas Jefferson from winning. The decision to secretly support Pinckney promised to set an inevitable clash with John Adams who believed he was the heir to the presidency. Donald Heidenreich pointed out that “succession was earned, not won through contests” and that due to Adams’s low support outside of New England, he needed a Southerner to garner the leftover votes. The widespread belief is that Hamilton secretly engaged in anonymous takedowns of Adams to increase Pinckney’s chances of winning the presidency.