Alexander Hamilton was born in the West Indies in 1757, to James Hamilton, a Scottish merchant of St. Christopher and Rachel Fawcett. He was educated early by his mother and as well as a Presbyterian clergyman on St. Croix. Hamilton went to further his education in Elizabethtown, NJ, but by 1773 he entered at Kings College. Here his interest in politics became apparent. In 1775 after discontinuing his education he founded a volunteer military company, which led to him accompanying George Washington during the winter of 1777-1778 at Valley Forge. As a result Washington noticed that he had outstanding leadership abilities. Not only was he a war veteran, but he was also an influential man in the shaping of our economy today. He was a constitutional reformer, as well as a federalist. However, he is best known for his tenure as Secretary of treasury. His vision of a centralized economy is still in tact today. He favored a strong central government, a national banking system with a uniform currency, and preservation of ties to England industrial strength to develop manufacturing in America. He believed that a central bank was permitted under "implied powers" of the constitution, namely within the framework of enacting laws necessary for collecting taxes, regulating trade and providing for the national defense. The complexity of the Hamilton system is demonstrated by the first two major victories of his career at the Treasury Department: the financing of the public credit and the federal assumption if the states war debts. During the war the government had raised money by issuing public bonds, which resulted in a fifty million of debt. His second major success stemmed from his proposal that the national government assume responsibility for the debts that the states incurred during the war. He argued that since the war was fought for the union, the union should pick up the tab, and that " A national debt attaches many citizens ...