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History of the Treasury
Secretaries of the Treasury
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Alexander Hamilton
(1789 - 1795)
At the inauguration of the constitutional government
in 1789 Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804), George Washington's former military
aide and a renowned financier, was appointed the first Secretary of the
Treasury and thus he became the architect of the structure of the Department.
Desirous of a strong, centrally controlled Treasury, Hamilton did constant
battle with Thomas Jefferson, then Secretary of State, and Albert Gallatin,
then a Congressman, over the amount of power the Department of the  Treasury should be allowed to wield. He designed
a Treasury Department for the collection and disbursing of public revenue,
but also for the promotion of the economic development of the country.
Facing a chaotic treasury burdened by the heavy debt
of the Revolutionary War, Hamilton's first interest when he took office
was the repayment of the war debt in full. "The debt of the United States
... was the price of liberty,'' he affirmed, and he then put into effect,
during 1790 and 1791, a revenue system based on customs duties and excise
taxes. Hamilton's attack on the debt helped secure the confidence and
respect of foreign nations. He introduced plans for the First Bank of
the United States, established in 1791 which was designed to be the financial
agent of the Treasury Department. The bank served as a depository for
public funds and assisted the government in its financial transactions.
The First Bank issued paper currency, used to pay taxes and debts owed
to the federal government.
Hamilton also introduced plans for a United States
Mint. Though he wanted the Mint to be a structural part of the Treasury,
he lost the battle to Jefferson and it was established in 1792 within
the State Department. The Mint became an independent agency in 1797 and
was eventually transferred to Treasury in 1873. Under personal financial
pressure, his office paying only $3500 a year, Hamilton resigned in 1795
and joined the New York bar. He kept in close contact with President Washington,
however, and continued to give financial advice to his successor, Oliver
Wolcott. Hamilton was killed in 1804 in a duel with Aaron Burr arising
from a political dispute.
About the Artist
Caroline L. Ormes Ransom was a portrait and landscape painter born in Newark, Ohio in 1838. She moved to New York City to study with Asher B. Durand and Daniel Huntington, and later she studied with Wilhelm Von Kaulbach in Munich where she made many copies of old masters. After working in Ohio and New York, she settled in Washington, D.C. and opened a studio at 915 F St. Her painting of Alexander Hamilton, a copy of John Trumbull's contemporary portrait which hangs in New York's City Hall, was painted on commission for the Treasury Department. "My Hamilton portrait is a success,” she wrote to Mrs. James A. Garfield, ''in so far as a faithful copy is concerned...while in execution and strength it far surpasses the original.... I cannot make tame spiritless pictures any more than I can play the role of a tame spiritless woman, and my copies are not exceptions.”
Office of the Curator
All rights reserved. 2001
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