"Men give me credit for some genius. All the genius I have is this. When I have a subject in mind, I study it profoundly. Day and night it is before me. My mind becomes pervaded with it... the effort which I have made is what people are pleased to call the fruit of genius. It is the fruit of labor and thought."  Can you guess the source of this quote? These words come from Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804), the first treasury secretary of the U.S. under George Washington and the architect of the nation's financial system. Hamilton, who sang the praises of a strong central government, was a brilliant theorist and prodigious writer. He, along with James Madison and John Jay, wrote The Federalist Papers, which pushed for ratification of the U.S. Constitution. He championed the establishment of the First Bank of the United States and led the Federalist Party, the first political party to rise to power in the United States. It's no surprise that Hamilton's story b...

Today's quote comes from Alexander Hamilton (1755-1804) -- founding father, first treasury secretary of the United States, and the subject of the hit Broadway musical that has taken the country by storm. Not only did he coauthor The Federalist Papers , a collection of 85 articles and essays promoting the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, but he founded the Federalist Party and was the mastermind behind the establishment of the first national bank. Like his arch-nemesis Thomas Jefferson, who everyone knows wrote the Declaration of Independence, Hamilton was a prodigious writer in his lifetime, penning scores of letters, reports, and even George Washington's Farewell Address. Sadly, he died at age 47 after being shot in a duel with Aaron Burr. Because of their sheer brilliance and masterful pen, I consider Jefferson and Hamilton the two most fascinating figures in American History. Hamilton once said, "Those who stand for nothing fall for anything." If th...