Cabinet Picks CLASH: Washington's Team and America's First 2-Party System

Cabinet Picks CLASH: Washington's Team and America's First 2-Party System

“I would wish the debt paid tomorrow; he wishes it never to be paid, but always to be a thing wherewith to corrupt and manage the legislature.” This slapback from Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson was aimed squarely at Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton.

These two - along with Edmund Randolph and Henry Knox - made up Washington’s first cabinet, a group filled with some major ideological clashes.

In this episode, we’ll explore how their divisive views on issues like the national debt and a national bank created a rift so deep it helped give rise to America’s first two-party system.