The two giants of the Washington administration were also the men whose ideas would personify the great debate about what the United States would look like in the future. They were Alexander Hamilton, who was appointed Secretary of the Treasury, and Thomas Jefferson, the first Secretary of State. Hamilton supported a strong federal government with the power to direct the economy, and a society built on industrial interests. Jefferson, on the other hand, believed in limited power for the national government and a society of independent land-owning farmers. As part of their ongoing feud, both men supported rival newspapers and regularly criticized their opposition in print. These attacks were not mild policy disagreements, but mudslinging that escalated into character assassination. Their feud, moreover, led to the development of the first American political parties.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
The Secretary of the Treasury, in obedience to the order of the House of......
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