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The guy on the $10 bill
The guy on the $10 bill is the subject of a Foglesque series of commercials by a certain financial institution, which plays up Hamilton's role as "the father of modern banking." Somehow, he's been resurrected into the 21st century, powdered wig and all, to give sound fiscal advice.
Among the myriad spots are some that are clever, such as when "Alex" goes "speed dating" and bombs mightily, or when he's talking about inventions and someone reminds him that he missed out on the bulletproof vest.
The latter reference is to how the flesh-and-blood Hamilton met his demise: in a duel with a sitting vice president.
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On July 12, 1804, Hamilton kept his appointment with Vice President Aaron Burr to settle their political differences using firearms. That kind of stuff apparently was far from uncommon a couple of hundred years ago: Future President Andrew Jackson, for example, fought countless duels over any hint of a slight to his wife, Rachel.
Hamilton, who'd served as secretary of the treasury when his Federalists were in power, squared off against Democratic-Republican Burr - yes, they used to be the same party - in Weehauken, N.J. Apparently, Hamilton shot first and intentionally missed, but Burr turned around and plugged "Alex" squarely in the midsection. He died the next day.
Burr's political career was all downhill from there, what with the murder and later accusations of treason, but he went on to live another 32 years. And he gave Spiro Agnew someone about whom he could say, "See! I wasn't that bad."
Along with being the only shooting victim of an American vice president prior to Harry Whittington - he's the Texan who apologized to Dick Cheney for happening to be in his line of fire - Hamilton is the inspiration behind one of the U.S. Constitution's most talked-about stipulations, at least until Barack Obama finally provided a copy of his birth certificate.
See, "Alex" entered this world on the West Indies island of Nevis, which today is quite the vacation spot but probably wasn't as picturesque in the mid-18th century. At any rate, his enemies - he seemed to have made a lot of them along the way - figured they could block his path to the White House by inserting the you-have-to-be-born-on-American-soil clause.
So if you're wondering why Arnold Schwarzenegger can't be president, you know whom to blame.
And when you hear those Alexander Hamilton commercials on the radio or see them on TV, you'll know a bit more about him.
Personally, I'm looking forward to the spot where "Alex" loses a whole bunch of weight by walking to the bank every day.
Online editor Harry Funk can be reached at hfunk@observer-reporter.com.
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