Yesterday, I finished reading "Jefferson and Hamilton: The Rivalry That Forged a Nation" by John Ferling. If nothing else, the book demonstrates how the intense partisan battles we see today can be traced all the way back to the late 1700s, when the first political parties were formed. The Federalist Party, which pushed for a strong central government, assumption of war debts, and a national bank, was headed by the first secretary of the treasury, Alexander Hamilton. Meanwhile, Thomas Jefferson, who served as George Washington's first secretary of state (and went on to become the third U.S. president), started the Democratic-Republican Party, which favored states' rights and limited government. Jefferson and Hamilton clashed inexorably, from the moment they joined Washington's cabinet through the Elections of 1796 and 1800, the latter of which Jefferson won by a whisker. Most historians agree that Jefferson and Hamilton, for all their differences, rema...