American Machiavelli

"Reaffirm(s) Alexander Hamilton's standing as one of the greatest of the American Founding Fathers. Recommended." R.C. Cottrell, California State University, Chico, CHOICE

"The book repays a reading...its nuance is enlightening." Kevin R.C. Gutzman, Western Connecticut State University, H-Net

"....Harper concentrates on Hamilton's role in foreign policy. He also wants to set straight all those Jefferson lovers and the school of historians - John Ferling, David McCullough, et al. - who never gave Hamilton his due or, worse, gave him a place in history as the 'manipulator and cad.' The twentieth century was surely Jefferson's century. But that's because of what Jefferson stood for - liberty and equality - not for what he actually accomplished, argues Harper....[I]n the end, though, Harper links Machiavelli and Hamilton neatly with his own worldview. Hamilton is the inspiration for those who want a US foreign policy today 'less grandiose and ideological.' Neocons beware." Weekly Standard

"...American Machiavelli [is] remarkably well-written, given Harper's background as an academic. Whereas Chernow delved up Hamilton's personality, Harper chooses instead to focus on Hamilton's propinquity to the great Florentine diplomat and philosopher, Niccolo Machiavelli." The Plain Dealer

"Amid the current revival of interest in Alexander Hamilton, American Machiavelli offers at once the freshest and cleverest contribution to the reappraisal of America's first realist statesman and state-builder. John Lamberton Harper's Hamilton is no amoral cynic in the crude sense with which we disparage men and measures as Machiavellian. Rather, Hamilton appears here as a shrewd and subtle judge of the national interests of a fledgling Republic, seeking to navigate the tumultuous currents of the 1790s much as Machiavelli sought to chart the course that his beloved Florence should follow amid the turmoil of the early sixteenth century. By juxtaposing Hamilton's concerns with Machiavelli's, Harper provides a new and provocative context within which to consider recurring dilemmas in the conduct of American foreign policy." Jack Rakove, Coe Professor of History and American Studies, Professor of Political Science, Stanford University

"Harper's premise--that we can better understand Alexander Hamilton's character, vision, and career, in all their rich complexity, in the light of the Florentine diplomatist and thinker Machiavelli--offers a fascinating point of departure for this revisionist study. By exploring the convergence of biography, intellectual history, and the larger geopolitical context in each man's life, Harper offers a fresh look at both Hamilton and the American Revolutionary project of the late eighteenth century. The result is, at one and the same time, a compelling (and largely flattering) partial biography of America's often forgotten Founding Father and a detailed reassessment of American politics and diplomacy during the turbulent decade of the 1790s." Drew R. McCoy, Jacob and Frances Hiatt Professor of History, Clark University

"A penetrating, provocative study of the brilliantly controversial founder. Hamilton might not have embraced the comparison with Machiavelli, but he certainly endorsed--and in fact embodied--many of the Renaissance realist's views on the nature of individuals and states. Harper's account is especially welcome in the increasingly Hamiltonian--dare one say Machiavellian?--current phase of American foreign policy." H.W. Brands, author of The First American and What America Owes the World

"This is the best book on the origins of American Foreign Policy since Felix Gilbert's classic To the Farewell Address. Harper has incisively delved into the mind of Hamilton and the circumstances that shaped his political thinking in general as well as in foreign policy. He has illuminated strains of thought that still shape this nation's course in the world." John Milton Cooper, Jr., E. Gordon Fox Professor of American Institutions, University of Wisconsin, Madison

"...a judicious interpretation of the key events in the history of Hamilton's foreign policy and an intriguing interpretation of how Hamilton's approach corresponded to Machiavelli's analysis of events in his own time." The Journal of Southern History, Jerald A. Combs, San Francisco State University

"American Machiavelli is a very effective and interesting account of the foreign policy of the Federalist era and of Hamilton's significant contribution to it. It is made all the more effective by Harper's heavy reliance on primary sources. It may not be accessible to all readers, but I highly recommend it for those especially interested in the subject." Gregg L. Frazer

"Harper's contention that Hamilton governed as a Machiavellian is not an original point. But what is original here is Harper's illumination of the nature of that connection and the larger similarities in the shared understanding of realpolitik that characterized both men. By seeing Hamilton as a state-builder and by connecting his thoughts on state building back to Machiavelli's very similar teachings, Harper has provided a fresh way of understanding the complex Hamilton. Additionally, by focusing on Hamilton the statebuilder, Harper has emphasized a sometimes overlooked aspect of his career, but one which is consonant with other studies emphasizing his quest for fame and glory as a driving passion." New Perspectives on the Eighteenth Century Todd Estes, Oakland University

"...truly original is in its explicit paralleling of Hamilton and the sixteenth century Florentine politico Niccolo Machiavelli." -Kevin M. Gannon, JOURNAL OF THE EARLY REPUBLIC