ALEXANDER HAMILTON, 1st U.S. Secretary of the Treasury was born in the Leeward Islands in the British West Indies (d. 1804); One had to wonder what the current occupants of the White House would think if they knew of the ruckus caused a couple of centuries ago by Alexander Hamilton and George Washington, the American patriots who became the first secretary of the treasury and president, respectively.
George, whom everyone knows had no children of his own, surrounded himself with a circle of young male revolutionaries who he called his “family.” Among his favorites were John Laurens, who once fought a duel to defend George’s honor sullied by some cad now lost to history; and Alexander Hamilton, who was known to be something of a prick-tease.
George, whose hips were something shy of Elsa Maxwell’s, was thought by his enemies to be a bit soft on the boys and was suspected over being overly fond of young Hamilton in particular.
Between 1779 and 1782, Hamilton and Laurens exchanged a series of love letters, reprinted in Jonathan Katz’s Gay American History, in which “Laurens addressed Hamilton as “’My Dear’ and offered flowery protestations of undying affection, to which Hamilton responded with the touching declaration: “’I love you’.” To this day the letters are explained away on the grounds that 18th century men “were classical scholars whose thoughts and actions were colored by the grandeur of antiquity.” Oh.
Apparently no one was in the room where it happened.
We’ve heard there’s some kind of musicale on Broadway about Hamilton.