Hamilton, who was terribly well read, was Washington’s secretary during much of the War and helped craft many of his papers during his Presidency. Like God according to Aquinas, Washington was almost pure Act. He never was a “mouse of the scrolls” in Ezra Pound’s phrase. A doer rather than a writer. He made an immense impression on those who met him, and his leadership skills were off the charts. Such personal leadership tends to be too overlooked by historians who are almost always, including me, “mice of the scrolls”.
