douglas hamilton. since just about all of us will never have this experience, what's it like to open up your walter and see your great great great great grandfather on the bill? >> thanks for having me and when i do open my wallet up and hamilton's there which he frequently is, you know, it's a great reminder for me and for everybody else in this country that does that, to see one of the individuals that played such a significant role in the formation of this country. >> were you surprised by secretary lew's announcement doug? >> i was surprised. i had made one trip to the treasury, spoke to the folks there did a little talk. i knew there was an announcement of putting a woman on a bill but i didn't know they were talking about diminishing the role of alexander hamilton on the bill. >> this isn't a pulling down of the treasury revolutionary kind of moment. yet were you surprised at the same time, about the decision itself? >> well, alexander hamilton's legacy in american history i think in some ways, i

hamilton. hamilton loved things military so he often was called general hamilton. he became major general after jefferson was president. >> rose: what was this? a letter from aaron burr. not a particular historical -- a little hard to decipher. >> rose: are you an admirer of aaron burr? >> no. i think one had more sympathy with burr than i. lynn has great dramatic instings so he presents burr as an opportunist in the show. there is a way that leslie does it that there are touching and poignant moment with burr even attend after the duel, the villain in your history books. i can remember discussing with lynn early on saying to him, you know, lynn, burr being a villain will wear thin over two and a half house. >> rose: so make him interesting. >> maybe a lit more human. >> rose: what happened to burr after that? >> well, burr was charged with murder in two states, new york and new jersey. so what happened , he fled for sanctuary in the united states senate because he was still vice president, hence president of the senate. and while he was wanted for murder in two st

>> hamilton: because you lose control. >> hamilton: true, yeah. i... i can't really explain that. >> rose: perhaps it's because hamilton has never been seriously hurt in a crash. a generation ago, one or more drivers could die each season, like his hero, ayrton senna. it's considerably safer today. >> hamilton: it is. formula one was a very dangerous sport. it still is dangerous, but the danger factor is also the exciting part. >> rose: it wasn't possible to drive in hamilton's race car, so we borrowed the fastest ride we could find. this is the fastest mercedes? >> hamilton: yeah. ( laughs ) >> rose: nine miles from the team's base is silverstone, home of the british grand prix. we drove straight onto the same track where hamilton has won four times. what are we at now, about 100? >> hamilton: doing 140 right now. i'm on one of the great race tracks in the world with the greatest driver in the world. how good is that? >> hamilton: this is good fun. >> rose: and my heart is somewhere up around my ears. unbelievable, lewis. but tell me about driving. ta

hamilton was damaged goods. veryhat reason, very, effective -- you just cannot underestimate the effectiveness of that campaign of misinformation that i mentioned in my talk. i mean, hamilton, by 1800, was really seen in many quarters, particularly in the south and in the mid-atlantic states as a british agent. as a monarchist who was now not only a monarchist, but a friend of this growing wall street power outside the door here. who was not one of us. he was an immigrant. he was not of good birth. that part, by the way, gets left out a lot in these accounts of jefferson versus hamilton. jefferson and john adams look down their noses at hamilton's poor birth and his lack of appropriate lineage. so you throw all of that together, john adams would have fought hamilton's candidacy tooth and nail. we are talking about 1800 or 1804. it's a great question, but it's a tough one to answer. he was incredibly damaged goods by 1800. i will leave the author's name out. he contended that, had hamilton not been killed in the

beginning that the blockbuster "hamilton" cap how milton -- kept hamilton on the $10 bill. has transformed this unlikely founding father into somewhat of a celebrity. aile hamilton is seen as narrow figure, it is important to note to that, throughout much of our nation's history, hamilton was seen as both un-american, a classic monarchist to hated the great east, which he probably never said, but was attributed to him. , the american people, and a man whose dictatorial ambitions were checked by the champion of the common man, thomas jefferson. matters worse, his alliance with george washington has already been distorted or slighted in favor of the more poetic alliance between jefferson and james madison for the moving tale of reunification between jefferson and john adams. many historians and biographers who are inclined towards a progressive interpretation of the american experience have also contributed to downplaying the importance of the alliance between washington and hamilton. these scholars, unfortunately, echoed the distorted account of jefferson and his lieutenant,

they were hamilton's people. you have an absentee chief executive, and they are looking for guidance in new york, were hamilton is practicing law. again, this is why i mentioned earlier that i think adams was a disastrous president. this is why hamilton writes that disastrous letter " circular" in the fall of 1800s condemning adams presidency as what he put out as a lack of system. there was no system. there was no structure. it was sort of organized chaos. that was appalling to hamilton who had a very structured, discipline, very hands-on, might even say micromanagement style. does that answer your question? if you really want to laugh, just read adams is quotations about hamilton. at one point he suggested, or hinted that hamilton was under the influence of opium when he participated in some debate over something. just absolutely crazy stuff. yes ma'am? >> is there any way hamilton could have foreseen the current state of our national debt? second question, i know in the general biography there was a lot of spe

with hamilton, hamilton had been very demonized. the ideas growing up, was that jefferson was a virtuous man of the common people in that hamilton was this villainous figure, a tool of the plutocrat. i tried to show that hamilton was much more liberal than he had been portrayed. less.fferson, maybe similarly with grant, i always try to start at with some of the myth around someone. grant was actually a strategic genius militarily. or, grant the juncker. -- drunkard. that turns out to be a very complicated story. hardly the whole story. reconstruction was a big story of his presidency. there is so much that has been forgotten by ulysses s. grant. i'm hoping that when the book comes out, it will be as surprising to most people as hamilton or the other books have been. they are going to see so many more dimensions to this figure. if you were able to interview george washington, hamilton, or grant, or rockefeller -- who would you choose? ron: i would choose george washington. wasll of the figures, he the most important and the most myst

♪ alexander hamilton alexander hamilton! >> rose: "hamilton" blossomed during an extended run at new york's public theater. ( fireworks ) >> rose: and was greeted with fireworks over the hudson when it opened on broadway. >> lin-manuel miranda: i come up here in the opening number. >> rose: the show has already reached the loftiest heights. in ten months at the richard rodgers theater, "hamilton" has established itself as broadway's impossible ticket, fetching more than $1,000 a seat from ticket brokers. and those lucky enough to get a seat never know who might be next to them. the president of the united states. >> lin-manuel miranda: at our sixth preview. >> rose: the vice president of the united states. >> lin-manuel miranda: yes. it's put my dreams to shame. yeah. it's, it's super, super humbling and when you list those boldface names that have come to see the show, i see those as an opportunity to see the show with fresh eyes while i'm doing it. >> lin-manuel miranda: when dick cheney's sitting in the audience, i think

what did hamilton do? he had going for him the fact that the new constitution did allow the federal government to raise taxes. that was a plus. how would the money be spent? he made two early decisions of great consequence. one was called assumption, the other was called nondiscrimination. assumption had to do with the fact that there was not one american debt, but 14 there were the debts owed by the united states and there were the debts owed by each of the 13 states the 13 states had raised their own troops. made their own expenses in the war. and some of them were badly in arrears. massachusetts in particular, and also south carolina. and there was ill feeling among the states, some of the states had paid off their debts, and they thought, why should we take on obligations by the deadbeat states. not all the states who paid their debts had done it honestly. rhode island paid its debts by printing paper money. so there was a lot of suffering and sharp dealing on all sides. hamilton's argument was that th

hamilton's passing. that happened in 1804 at the young age of 47. i'm ran chelay, president of the alexander hamilton awareness society, or for short -- the aha society. we've had many discoveries and we just revealed three new ones this past thursday at liberty hall. so check online for that. the aha society needs to give a special thanks to a number of organizations that made this program possible today. especially trinity church, who hosts this, partners with great spirit and great support. the congregant alexander hamilton of this church. the u.s. coast guard and auxiliary. as you heard mentioned, that alexander hamilton was the founder of the u.s. coast guard. and the members of the aha society and the board of directors all worked hard to bring this together. we had 32 events in 20 locations over ten days. and it took everyone's support and encouragement. the aha society joins with you to honor alexander hamilton's life and his legacy. in that light the alexander hamilton awareness society will be

charlie: he was general hamilton? >> major general hamilton. charlie: i appreciate this is a dueling culture and it is about you do not lightly meet the challenge, but here are two men. they are not ordinary politicians, they have a lot to lose. >> they also thought that they had a lot to gain. both burr and hamilton were politicians with their careers in decline. burr was the vice president, but jefferson decided to drop burr from the ticket in 1804. burr came back to new york and tried to become governor, hamilton blocked him. burr was feeling very frustrated. it seemed at every turn, alexander hamilton was blocking his path. hamilton's career was in decline. he had been damaged by the reynolds scandal, he wrote a very vitupuritive letter that damaged jefferson's reputation. they had careers in decline and thought they would establish their courage on the dueling ground. were tools were -- duels conducted in secret, but the press avidly followed afterward. hamilton no longer believed in dueling. he had developed a principled opposition, but t

>> hamilton: one. >> rose: why is that? >> hamilton: well, i don't know. i think, in the future, there'll be more. >> rose: you're a role model? >> hamilton: i hope so. >> rose: you are, in fact, the face of formula one. you're the guy. looks to you and says, you know... >> hamilton: "we need you." >> rose: "we need you." ( laughter ) they need you. >> hamilton: well, i think we need each other. >> rose: no race car driver becomes a champion without a team... and a fast car. we went to mercedes' f1 headquarters in england to see the one hamilton drove in 2014. you said the top speed of this >> hamilton: 200... 220, 230. >> rose: how does that compare to indy or nascar? >> hamilton: well, this car will kill both of those cars. >> rose: kill them? >> hamilton: kill them. the speed in which we get to... to a 100 miles an hour is probably similar to... to an indy car. but it's what this car does through a corner. it's like a fighter jet on wheels. >> rose: the aerodynamic wings of the car allow it to hug the ground and take corners at over 100 miles an hour. h

hamilton. if your books had been the source of material is there anything you would have changed or added. >> i love the play. i saw it at the public theater. i reviewed it, they made me pay for the reviewer's ticket. that's how hot the show was even before it went to broadway. ron and i agree on everything except the year that hamilton was born. there's a controversy about that michael newton has finally put that to rest. he agrees with me, not -- i agree with hamilton. the question is, was he born in 1755 or 57. anyway no, i -- the one thing that the play does. and i see why they did it. they make aaron burr into basically a nice guy. he has no ideas and he does kill the hero, basically, he's a good sort. and this is done for dramatic reasons, you want an antagonist who's not just a villain. so they're trying to make a kind of a -- not a parody between him and hamilton, but nothing lopsided. burr had many admirable qualities, he was a brave man, an intelligent man well reedman. i see somethin

the hamilton family are part of the production of creating the memory of hamilton. very effective, we know. some founders have people that preserve their papers and recreate their identity. the hamiltons were quite skilled at that, and elizabeth skylar hamilton was in the forefront of playing that role, which is a traditional role of women protecting the reputations of their dead husbands, dead soldiers, the dead family honor, the dead family legacy. >> and i completely agree, and i would just add to that is it's partly because the way i read it is, it's still really about him. i mean, they want him -- you know, i think miranda sort of wants to make it about her, but it's still really about him and how his memory will be preserved, how he could have done so much more, and it's a beautiful, poignant song about when she sees the orphans she's helping it reminds, you know, she sees their eyes, it's a beautiful song, but it's still her singing about him and his -- i mean, to me, that's how it functions in the musical. >> i fear that we're -- we've run out of time. i wan

he is called nigger hamilton. people like benjamin day, even people who trash him, james gordon bennett is one of the great american writers. he is a fascinating, brilliant, difficult, difficult man. but even he has to admit there is something more to this guy. benjamin day, as i said before is his best friend, and day is writing more positively about him. how was i getting through the names? the next editor of the sun newspaper, who was benjamin day's brother-in-law, attacked him. that is in part because mo-- sorry? no, the editor of the second proprietor of the sun newspaper. benjamin day is his brother-in-law and he sells the newspaper to his brother-in-law and day later on said it was the stupidiest thing he did -- stupidest -- and they fall out have a big rival that hinges on jeremiah hamilton because the second editor of the sun gnaws paper says -- warns benjamin day not to hang around with this black man. so benjamin day is forced to sue for libel and it hinges on the character of jeremiah hamilton and also

it is wonderful to be here tonight with friends of hamilton the book, and friends of hamilton demand. most important link, all friends of hamilton the musical. i know you are expecting me to stand up here and start snapping my fingers, breaking into rhyme and couplet. i'm going to disappoint you. one side of me is dying to do that. i will do it. ♪ i'm not going there -- [applause] to be a hero and a scholar somebody save me. [laughter] i have this fantasy about going on the stage. but the like to go on and do the opening number. for some mysterious reason lin decided not to draw on my unique theatrical talent. i was overjoyed as the first winner of the george washington prize to find out that lin was going to be the recipient for the musical hamilton. it is an outstanding choice for the greater of this magnificent, groundbreaking, unforgettable musical. people have analyzed this masterpiece from every angle. i want to give you my thoughts on what he has accomplished with the appreciation of american history in this country. when the show was at the public theater, my godson video, w

alexander hamilton. [applause] also here, is the producer of hamilton and the driving force behind the educational outreach in partnership with the rockefeller foundation, it will bring 20,000 new york schoolkids to see the play. jeffrey seller. [applause] people in front of me must be the proudest family members in the world. lin's wife vanessa and his parents, along with the rest of their family. from the cast of the show, we have with us the ultimate alexander hamilton and for many audiences, the only. he performed brilliantly many times, javier munoz. [applause] unforgettable hercules mulligan and james madison, both parts. thank you for coming. the understudy to aaron for and george washington, sydney harcourt. george washington himself, chris jackson. [applause] out onet mean to leave other member of the cast, the writer, the composer, lead actor, hug them are hamilton, lin manuel miranda. [applause] earlier this month, having just seen hamilton for the third time, new york times writer wrote, i sh

hamilton. but, really, offensive in so many ways. so central part of that musical is about orlando. we saw it, like two days after horrible events. and when orlando is celebrating is this place, it just gave me chills. i mean, i sensed in the audience and cast, that the play -- it wasn't completely transformed but it meant something different from its meaning two weeks ago. so that's really all about -- and i think that makes it really interesting and it makes drama, particularly, volatile genre because it's not fixed, the performance matters. it's effecting. but my question is, you know, where does history fit into that. what we see often historical uses of the past. so often, and one of the things that we as historians use to do, is re -- hold, you know, all kind of culture makers responsible. so the question, really, i mean, i would be really interested in efrlg that's been said today and yesterday. but, you know, can we get a little bit more precise, maybe, about how history really should i

hamilton was in a bind. he could scarcely deny use the word whether he meant anything other that he did indeed consider bar dangerous. .. >> that leads them to do their doom. each one is a desperate plight on the part of one to avoid to faith and on the part of the other to insist the faith is inflicted. a dual is in an odd way like a romantic courtship in that had has etiquette, too. it goes the other way. not a joining but a parting. if a marriage declaration requires preliminary so does a dual to the death. there is conversation. more serious conversation. an offer, a choice of location, second like best men, the guns are a little different but the intimacy and spacing is particular. they are not side by side but facing each other close enough to see into each other's eyes to discern any gratifying hints of distress. and then instead of i do they shout present which could be the last word that one of them would ever hear or both. bang-bang. in this case intriguingly bang-bang. hamilton is struck on his ri

hamilton. she writes these letters to him and about him and she reminds me of a character in a jane austin novel. one of these characters who's amusing by how annoying they are. they're always in your face and putting their emotions before you i think hamilton was flattered by this attention. he had an eye for the ladies. he's not the only person you can think of who falls in love with a whole group of sisters simultaneously. mows art did that. charles dickens did that it's a common pattern for someone, often from the margins and they meet rich glamorous or attractive sisters, and they pick out one whom they marry, they're just in love with the crop of them. and they're in love with him. that's my best answer. there's no solid proof of anything more than that. yes, i think there was a kind of erroticized quality to the relationship with all the skylar girls. thank you so much for your attention. [ applause ] >> you can tell by his knowledge and the depth -- there are many historians, there are

and the hamilton whose character is presented is not the real hamilton. that needs to be reintroduced to the story because i actually think it is important to to understand the founders with all their flaws, not just remembering what we want to remember or shading it the way we wanted to highlight, because they become a symbol and they have been icons, they have been symbols. and that is historically true. it is not that this is new. in terms of making "hamilton" into the new symbol. he is the new flavor of the month. we had john adams before. now we have moved on. and that is going to keep happening. we cannot stop that. and we have to engage and we have to teach the lessons that are distinguished what real historians do as opposed to popular culture. our knowledge matters and we have to defend it. >> if i can jump on that, i want to make a distinction between hollywood and broadway, because while lin manuel miranda is extraordinarly powerful on broadway and it may be made into a movie, but making it into a movie is going to compromise it in a way and ch

and of course hamilton. and my argument today about the recent coalesance of an american revolution or founding genre doesn't necessarily preclude our thinking about these earlier films as belonging. although we should note that those productions creators and initial audiences may have thought of them differently, perhaps as history films, the same way that many films of the late 19 40's at the time were considered melo dramas or detective or mystery or crime movies and only later were they thought and sort of -- about and lumped more broadly as film noir. so things can come out earlier and fit in effect those conventions and how people write and remake them. so here i'm going to talk about three major conventions. first, patriotism is the protagonist position of course and it's assumed of all angelo americans. right? the good guys are indeed white american culture coded as good guys. heterosexual white men. in these productions markers of tory or british deviants. they're sort of painting these characterist

hamilton. next the award ceremony. and we'll see a performance from the play. this is about an hour and 15 minutes. >>> good evening. thank you. my name is jim basker. [ applause ] it is my pleasure and privilege to welcome you all to the 1211th presentation of the george washington prize on behalf of the three co-hosts of tonight's decent. the first, regent barbara lucas the vice regents of george washington mt. vernon, also president sheila bair, adam goodhart and the board of washington college. [ applause ] and the co-founders and co-chairs and all the trustees of the institute. [ applause ] founded in 2005, the $50,000 george washington prize is sponsored by our three organizations and is awarded each year to the best work about the founding era. this is the first time the washington prize has ever been warded to a play. [ applause ] and i would add no one anywhere will be surprised that tonight it will be presented to lin-manuel miranda for his astonishing "hamilton." [ applause ] we will

hamilton. he'll hear from authors and historians. also "hamilton" the musical and its impact on popular culture. >>> c-span's "washington journal" live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. this week we're focussing on presidential battleground states leading up to election day. wednesday morning, it's pennsylvania. we'll talk about voters, recent polls and updates on other key political races in the state. our guests include terry madonna, director of the center of politics and public affairs at franklin marshall college. republican consultant christopher nicholas and democratic strategist mark evans. watch "washington journal" live at 7:00 eastern wednesday morning. join the discussion. >>> the morris-jumel mansion was built in 1765 as a summer home for colonel roger morris and his wife. abandoned during the revolutionary war it was then used as a military headquarters. in 1810, steven jumel purchased the property. after he died, his wife married aaron burr and the two occupi

. >> hamilton! >> i'm a dead man. [ breathing heavily ] this is a mortal wound, doctor. >> before the duel, alexander hamilton writes in a letter that he plans to "throw away his shot," a common practice in duels. those who wish to maintain their honor while leaving room for reconciliation will deliberately miss their target. we will never know if it's hamilton's final choice to purposefully miss. but we do know that burr does not miss, hitting hamilton squarely in the gut, whether he intended to or not. >> burr's shot shreds hamilton's abdomen and lodges in his spine, paralyzing him. he's taken back to new york, where, after 31 agonizing hours, he finally dies. >> vice president aaron burr, this guy who killed the former secretary of the treasury, a founding father, flees new york city, flees new jersey, and goes back to washington, d.c. then he serves out his term as vice president. >> with no chance of regaining power in government, burr heads west. for nearly 2 years, he meets with potential acc

it is him or hamilton. he doesn't want his daughter, who is it a go that point, to -- an adult at that point, to not have parents. in a very weird interesting twist of fate, berg gives all of -- burr gives all of his documents to theodosia about his time during the revolutionary war. she was traveling from the south on a ship, and we know that she dies in a shipwreck. either the ship just flounders, or possibly pirates board the ship. we don't know. the piece that i am showing you on this like the portrait of burr, which we have a copy of the mansion, is a piece called "lost." we did a whole exhibit on we did a whole exhibit on aaron burr, and all the women that surrounded his life. this is supposed to be the indonesia drowning at sea. odosia drowning at sea. this is a really interesting slide that i wanted to move us forward in the history of the mansion before we get to lin and where he comes on the scene. era jamale late period on the left. after eliza's death in 1865, her granddaughter takes control of

hamilton regarding mr. burr. hamilton was in a bike. he could scarcely deny he used the word dangerous is that he meant anything other than that he did indeed consider burr dangerous for he had been saying so in every election since 1792. at mounting volume until he became rather shrill on the subject. as for despicable he tried to wriggle that away by saying that it is despicable and despicable, and who's to say? played the meaning of is, right? burr would have none of it. they would resolve their differences. it reminds me, it never occurred to me until the smoke of how interesting went to lawyers are doing this because hairsplitting on both sides and the finest of argument, that gotcha moment encountered by the gotcha counter, 11 letters you should read it sometime that they go through one by one by one low steady process that leads to the gym. but each one is a desperate plight on the part of one to avoid the fate of a part of the other to insist that they'd be afflicted. it's quite something to see. a duel is an odd way, like a rom

he needed hamilton in church and this is what drove hamilton. the musical completely fails to address his policies and ideas. how can he be a genius if his intellectual world is ignored? party differences mattered in the 1790s and 1800s and yet in the musical hamilton stands for nothing at all. if hamilton is to be the every man of the american dream then he can't be what the real hamilton was, a party man hamilton determined the outcome of the election and voted for jefferson which lead to the landslide victory and defeat. a no named nobody that nobody cares about is the only person that had that influence and he didn't listen to hamilton. what happened to all of his underhanded efforts to defeat john adams. i find it strange that the musical calls him an orphan, but never identifies it was adams that gave him that title their messy relationship would completely undermine the noble and tragic portrait of hamilton it's absent to allow hamilton born a british subject like everyone else to be the immigrant made good. now a more accurate musical ab

today, hamilton's 49 career old. >> hamilton: i want to crush everyone. i want to outsmart everyone. >> rose: you want to crush everyone. >> hamilton: i do. >> rose: at the italian grand prix last september, he did just that as the ferrari faithful and the cream of european society looked on. hamilton in his mercedes was the ultimate driving machine, winning the pole position, recording the fastest lap, and >> congratulations, lewis. >> rose: in racing, that's called a grand slam. when it was over, hamilton was so relaxed, it was as if he had just driven around the block. so, how does it feel, this one? >> hamilton: this weekend is the best i've ever had. i've never been quickest in every session and all qualifying sessions and the race. i've never, ever done that. >> rose: worldwide, formula one generated more than $2 billion last season, but remains a niche f1 executives hope hamilton can change that. they have never seen a star like him before. how many black drivers in formula one? >> hamilton: one. >> rose: why is that? >> hamilton: well, i don't kno