“Hamilton supervised the entire Federalist project. He dreamed up the idea, enlisted the participants, wrote the overwhelming bulk of the essays, and oversaw the publication. To worsen matters, the luckless printer was stuck with several hundred unsold copies. and grumbled that he didn’t clear five pounds on the whole deal. For Archibald McLean, The Federalist Papers were a dreadful flop, an unfortunate publishing venture best forgotten. The Federalist has been extolled as both a literary and political masterpiece. Theodore Roosevelt commented “that it is on the whole the greatest book” dealing with practical politics.21 Its achievement is the more astonishing for having been written under such fierce deadline pressure. The first of the staggered series of ratifying conventions was scheduled to start in late November, and this allowed Hamilton and Madison little opportunity for fresh research or reflection. For Hamilton, it was a period of madcap activity. He was stuck with his law practice and had to squeeze the essays into breaks in his schedule, as if they were a minor sideline. Robert Troup noted of Hamilton’s haste in writing The Federalist: “All the numbers written by [Hamilton] were composed under the greatest possible pressure of business, for [he] always had a vast deal of law business to engage his attention.” To understand Hamilton’s productivity, it is important to note that virtually all of his important work was journalism, prompted by topical issues and written in the midst of controversy. He never wrote as a solitary philosopher for the ages. His friend Nathaniel Pendleton remarked, “His eloquence . . . seemed to require opposition to give it its full force.”26 But his topical writing has endured because he plumbed the timeless principles behind contemporary events. Whether in legal briefs or sustained polemics, he wanted to convince people through appeals to their reason. He had an incomparable capacity for work and a metabolism that thrived on conflict. His stupendous output came from the interplay of superhuman stamina and intellect and a fair degree of repetition. Americans often wonder how this moment could have spawned such extraordinary men as Hamilton and Madison. Part of the answer is that the Revolution produced an insatiable need for thinkers who could generate ideas and wordsmiths who could lucidly expound them. The immediate utility of ideas was an incalculable tonic for the founding generation. The fate of the democratic experiment depended upon political intellectuals who might have been marginalized at other periods. Chernow, Ron. Alexander Hamilton (p. 252). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. Chernow, Ron. Alexander Hamilton (p. 252). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. Chernow, Ron. Alexander Hamilton (p. 251). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. Chernow, Ron. Alexander Hamilton (p. 251). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. Chernow, Ron. Alexander Hamilton (p. 250). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. Chernow, Ron. Alexander Hamilton (p. 250). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. Chernow, Ron. Alexander Hamilton (p. 249). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. Chernow, Ron. Alexander Hamilton (p. 249). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. Chernow, Ron. Alexander Hamilton (p. 248). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. ”
