Alexander HamiltonAlexander Hamilton remains one of the most important people in America. Not only was he the first US Treasury Secretary, but he was also one of America's founding fathers. Hamilton believed that a strong central government must rest on a solid financial foundation. The creation of the first national bank was to support this idea. He also served in the U.S. Army under George Washington. Hamilton had also established good relations with the English which resulted in foreign trade. “He conceived and brought into existence “The Federalist” and wrote most of those famous essays which attracted the attention of the country, provided the weapons of discussion and exposition to those who “thought continentally” in all the states, and did more than anything else toward the adoption of the Constitution.”(virtualology, paragraph 20) Hamilton created a system of tariffs that was believed to help relieve national and state debts. He then became the leader of the Federalist Party. Alexander Hamilton achieved many things in his life as a result of many different factors. But the most important characteristic that Hamilton possessed was his ambition. Alexander Hamilton was born in Charlestown, Nevis, Leeward Islands. Nevis was part of the British West Indies. His mother had previously been married to a German Jewish planter merchant who made her unhappy. To get out of this marriage he fled to St. Kitts, leaving his son behind. In St. Kitts he met James Hamilton, Alexander's father. Because the two had never been legally married, Hamilton's education had suffered. He was denied permission to attend an English church school, which offered the best education. He was forced to go to a private… middle of paper… with honorable features. Unfortunately his death did not occur from natural causes. Alexander Hamilton was involved in a duel with Aaron Burr, the vice president, which he would ultimately lose and take his life. “At first glance, the legendary Hamilton-Burr duel seems an aberrant, if fascinating, episode in early American history. We prefer to savor the glorious deeds of the Revolution or the resounding words of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. But the truth is that the 1790s and early 1800s were a time of glittering political mischief and vicious personal attacks. Throughout all the events of his life, it was ambition that gave him the drive to overcome them, succeed and get to where he wanted to end up..