Quotes from Ron Chernow

cannot doubt, from the evidence that I possess[,] that the National Gazette was instituted by him [Jefferson] for political purposes and that one leading object of it has been to render me and all the measures connected with my department as odious as possible.

Hamilton was an exuberant genius who performed at a fiendish pace and must have produced the maximum number of words that a human being can scratch out in forty-nine years.

stop exercise in every form.

Many thought he was being retained because his name was Rockefeller

Rockefeller didn't issue such glowing testimonials lightly.

This generosity only highlighted Frank's chronic dependency and further embittered him.

During Peabody's last years, the scope of his charity grew dazzling. He endowed a natural history museum at Yale University, an archaeology and ethnology museum at Harvard, and an educational fund for emancipated southern blacks. For this last, he handed over a $1-million batch of defaulted Mississippi and

Rockefeller attributed much of his success to his quick head for figures.

To make sure that the Pennsylvania Railroad didn't double-cross him, Rockefeller boosted production at his Philadelphia refineries serviced by the railroad—a generous bonus that could be canceled at any moment for misbehavior.

His contact with Rockefeller and involvement in the University of Chicago followed soon thereafter.

Hamilton seemed unhinged by the dispute. In the still secret Reynolds affair, he had shown a lack of private restraint. Now something compulsive and uncontrollable appeared in his public behavior. A captive of his emotions, he revealed an irrepressible need to respond to attacks. Whenever he tried to suppress these emotions, they burst out and overwhelmed him.

It was testimony to the political genius of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison that they diverted attention from the grisly realities of southern slavery by casting a lurid spotlight on Hamilton's system as the paramount embodiment of evil. They inveighed against the concentrated wealth of northern merchants when southern slave plantations clearly represented the most heinous form of concentrated wealth.

It may be that Hamilton's preference for a diversified economy of manufacturing and agriculture originated in his youthful reflections on the avoidable poverty he had witnessed in the Caribbean.

In politics, I am indifferent what side she may be of; I think I have arguments that will easily convert her to mine.

These social pressures took their toll on his marriage

Rockefeller was drawn to the church, not as some nagging duty or obligation but as something deeply refreshing to the soul.

Unless the railroads had greater control over the oil business, Rockefeller knew, they "could not make the divisions of business necessary so as to prevent rate-cutting.

Hypersensitive to pressure, Rockefeller tended to stiffen up whenever he felt pushed.

As he grew more comfortable in his presence, he developed a powerful loyalty to him.

The London banks didn't lend their own funds but would organize large-scale bond issues.

Eliza increased her dependence on John, as if training him to be everything Bill wasn't.

Many refiners received rebates, not just the leading firms, and some tiny rivals actually got superior discounts, especially from the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Although Hanna urged him to drop the suit, Watson would not relent.

Gates humbly told him early on, "but I beg you not to place any confidence in me (I have little in myself)