Quotes from Ron Chernow

He once told a friend, "Perhaps my sensibility is the effect of an exaggerated estimate of my services to the U[nited] States, but on such a subject every man will judge for himself.

that countries follow their interests, not their sympathies—was engraved in Hamilton's memory, and he often reminded Jeffersonians later on that the French had fought for their own selfish purposes.

He inveighed bitterly against the growing power of the Jews and of the Rockefeller crowd, and said more than once that our firm and his were the only two composed of white men in New York.

Washington was then unanimously elected president of the convention.

This doctrine vastly expanded judicial discretion and opened a loophole large enough to tolerate many trusts.

One upshot was that on April 29, 1879, a grand jury in Clarion County, Pennsylvania, indicted nine Standard Oil officials—including Rockefeller, Flagler, O'Day, and Archbold—and charged them with conspiracy to monopolize the oil business, extort railroad rebates, and manipulate prices to cripple rivals.

From boyhood, Washington had struggled to master and conceal his deep emotions. When the wife of the British ambassador later told him that his face showed pleasure at his forthcoming departure from the presidency, Washington grew indignant: "You are wrong. My countenance never yet betrayed my feelings!

As an ardent temperance advocate, he was extremely uncomfortable around drinkers—perhaps one reason why he seldom visited the oil fields.

Washington appointed Hamilton, George Wythe, and Charles Pinckney to a small committee that drew up rules and procedures for the convention.

Had he known what lay ahead, it seems doubtful that he would have persevered.

Rockefeller followed Flagler's business adventures in Florida with sympathy but at a distance.

While Rogers was talking in general terms, it again left the impression that John D. lurked somewhere behind the copper trust.

By 1910, medicine and education had emerged as the top priorities of the Rockefeller philanthropies

As his parents broke silence and confided their concerns, Junior's heart sagged:

the government should rein in irresponsible trusts but not meddle with good ones.

Hamilton refused to drop his involvement in the Manumission Society even as his renown grew and his commitments vastly multiplied. He kept up his connection as a legal adviser until his death. Was this perhaps his personal way of acknowledging the past by rectifying the injustice that had surrounded his early years?

He now subjected the Articles of Confederation to a searching critique. He thought the sovereignty of the states only enfeebled the union.

cringed at what they were doing:

The partners shouldered unbearable tasks.

Think of pouring out all that money on a whim.

He had let them down again. After a year, it was decided that the house would be completely revamped.

He favored granting Congress supreme power in war, peace, trade, finance, and foreign affairs.

To believe America able to withstand England is a dreadful infatuation.

In choosing partners, Pierpont wouldn't tolerate a refusal.