Scholar, soldier, statesman: if James Madison represents the cool, contemplative head of the early republic's body politic, then Alexander Hamilton is undoubtedly its passionate, fiercely palpitating heart.(HISTORY: GREATNESS OF THE FOUNDERS)(Biography)

Alexander Hamilton was born in 1757 on the British West Indian island of Nevis into a familial situation that was something less than ideal. His mother, Rachel Lavien, was a French Huguenot. The daughter of a successful physician, she was remarkable for her "great beauty, brilliancy, and accomplishments." Hamilton's father, James, was of noble Scottish blood, but by the time Alexander was born he had squandered his family's modest wealth. Alexander Hamilton was known to have remarked that he had more claim to royal title and privilege than most of the monarchists he knew in America. Despite respectable bloodlines, however, Hamilton's parents never married and his father ...