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Alexander Hamilton, by Ron Chernow

posted 13 years ago by mbphilly
8 replies | jump to latest

I am reading the biography of Alexander Hamilton, by Ron Chernow, simply titled "Alexander Hamilton". Chernow writes as brilliant an epic history of Hamilton's life as David McCollough did for John Adams's life. It would make the basis for a great miniseries about the American Revolution and Infancy, and even though the excellant John Adams miniseries sort of got there first on the subject, it would be great to see the history for the perspective and life of another great founding father. I believe Hamilton was a flawed and controversial figure, but he was also an honorable and brilliant man as well. I understand the appeal of this miniseries; it sheds great light on a rather forgotten figure in American history. And Hamilton's life hasn't been lost in the shuffles so much as Adams's. Nevertheless, if HBO could go for Alexander Hamilton what they did for John Adams, I would be a terrific fan of theirs. However, the John Adams miniseries probably did a fine enough job for that.

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] jgroub 12 years ago

I read Chernow's, and I read McCullough's too, and bios on all the Founding Fathers. Hamilton is my favorite, because he is a big government guy, and so am I. He had incredible vision and brilliance to set up the Treasury Department as he did.

However, they don't make two shows like this about basically the same topic. Making a show about Hamilton would cover a lot of the same ground about the infancy of our country. Sure, there would be differences, chief among them the Constitutional Convention, and of course, the ending of "Hamilton" would be pretty terrific. But John Adams was the first mover, so that's all there'll ever be - at least for 30 years or so, until this series is forgotten.

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[–] decroissance 12 years ago

On the other hand, this series was SO successful. You'd think a new one would have a guaranteed audience. I don't know if Hamilton would be the guy I'd choose to feature, but I don't see why they don't make a series that starts about the time this one finished. The war of 1812 would be pretty interesting to get into, for one thing.

One of the things I loved about this series was the way you could see how, even just one generation after the revolution, people who came after saw the world from the perspective of their own time. Inevitably. That is, how time keeps putting history in the past. I would love to see more series that trace the constantly evolving "now" of US history.

Frankly, I'd guess the biggest obstacle to a follow-up might be meeting the high standards of the first one. The cast, for one thing, was dreamy. How could they find such perfect actors again?

And Tom Hanks et al. would want to move on to a new topic. I wish they would do it, though. It's fascinating and we need the history lessons.

[–] jgroub 12 years ago

I agree with you that we need the history lessons, but I disagree with just about everything else. No offense!

As a counter example, what if they did From the Earth to the Moon - another Tom Hanks thing - but did the Gemini program, which hasn't been done. It wouldn't work. Or as a better Tom Hanks counter example, how about Band of Brothers, where they actually did do another series - The Pacific. And no offense, but the second one couldn't hold a candle to the first.

It's not so much that high standards of the first one; it's that the ground has already been covered, even though you're telling two different stories.

And again, no offense, but the War of 1812? To quote Shakespeare, "it is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." Nothing really happened, the war itself was murky, and we ended up in the same place we started. It was essentially a tie, and as I've often said at my daughter's soccer games, a tie is like kissing your sister - it's a kiss! but it's your sister. There isn't a big interest in a war that ends up as a tie.

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[–] decroissance 12 years ago

Well, okay.

I'm interested in the stupidity that led to that war and the decisions the British made. And the personalities involved. The outcome isn't what interests me.

[–] jgroub 12 years ago

If you're really interested, here's a book I read that was interesting and discussed the background:

http://www.amazon.com/1812-That-Forged-Nation-P-S/dp/0060531134/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1366335678&sr=8-2&keywords=war+of+1812

I felt the same way you did: what's the deal with this war? What happened? Why did it start? But I'll tell ya from the get go, you won't be satisfied with any of the answers. Lamest. War. Ever.

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[–] ChuckFinnley 12 years ago

Hamilton would probably strangle himself, if he could see how big this government has become.

[–] Hdny42 11 years ago

@Mbphilly: Terrific post! I agree with most of it, and love Chernow's bios of Hamilton and Washington and McCullough's of Adams and Harry Truman, and I loved them all. HBO must like working with McCullough the best since it made Truman into a two-part movie and Adams into this excellent mini-series. I'd love to see them use either of Chernow's excellent bios of the Founders even if I might re-cast them from those who played them in the Adams series (no offense at all to David Morse or Rupert Sewell, who were both great, but I don't know if either could carry a mini-series the way Giamatti - and Linney - did). I think though the one I might enjoy best would be a Ben Franklin bio because I think the great Tom Wilkinson could return for it and you could throw in a cameo from Giamatti (and maybe Linney too, but I'd doubt it because the cameo would be so small since she had so few dealings with Franklin). Make this happen HBO!

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