Opening a book I started reading: Brilliant, handsome, orphan, poor, Alexander Hamilton left St. Croix, landed in New York at fifteen, married a wealthy man’s daughter, joined the army in 1775, pursued glory, didn’t find it until he led a night charge in the last battle at Yorktown.

George Washington made him Secretary of the Treasury. During the revolution, broke, unable to pay soldiers, instead of cash Congress handed them IOU’s it called bonds. Ten years later, still unpaid, the IOU’s were worthless. Hamilton set out to redeem them, pay the soldiers.

The government moved to Philadelphia. Hamilton’s wife and children stayed in New York. A beautiful blonde knocked on his door, told him her husband, a conman, had abused her, left her for another woman – she needed money to go home. She was twenty-three. He was thirty-four. That night he went to her boarding house, in her bedroom handed her money, an affair began.

Maria’s husband came home – the affair continued, Hamilton met the conman who said he was buying bonds from soldiers for pennies on the dollar.

Hamilton asked who told him to do that.

Hamilton had made his wife’s cousin, a former Congressman, William Duer, assistant Treasury Secretary. Duer and the conman brought worthless bonds from soldiers for pennies. When the Treasury Department redeemed the bonds, Duer and the conman pocketed a fortune.

Maria wrote Hamilton a letter – her husband was going to tell his wife about their affair. Hamilton paid the conman hush money. Then more money. His affair landed in a newspaper, the first major sex scandal.

I closed the book, thought, A corrupt politician, a conman, a blonde, and a sex scandal. Sounds familiar.