The Price of Greatness: Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and the Creation of American Oligarchy

An incisive account of the tumultuous relationship between Alexander Hamilton and James Madison and of the origins of our wealthy yet highly unequal nation
In the history of American politics there are few stories as enigmatic as that of Alexander Hamilton and James Madison's bitterly personal falling out. Together they helped bring the Constitution into being, yet soon after the new republic was born they broke over the meaning of its founding document. Hamilton emphasized economic growth, Madison the importance of republican principles.
Jay Cost is the first to argue that both men were right--and that their quarrel reveals a fundamental paradox at the heart of the American experiment. He shows that each man in his own way came to accept corruption as a necessary cost of growth. The Price of Greatness reveals the trade-off that made the United States the richest nation in human history, and that continues to fracture our politics to this day.

• Rising in Flames: Sherman's March and the Fight for a New Nation
• Apostles of Revolution: Jefferson, Paine, Monroe, and the Struggle Against the Old Order in America and Europe
• Heirs of the Founders: The Epic Rivalry of Henry Clay, John Calhoun and Daniel Webster, the Second Generation of American Giants
• The Lives of the Constitution: Ten Exceptional Minds that Shaped America’s Supreme Law
• In the Hurricane's Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown
• Lincoln's Last Trial: The Murder Case That Propelled Him to the Presidency
• Conservatism: An Invitation to the Great Tradition
• A Republic No More: Big Government and the Rise of American Political Corruption
• Without Precedent: Chief Justice John Marshall and His Times
• John Marshall: The Man Who Made the Supreme Court