Hamilton's policy was one of energetic and intelligent assertion of the national good.

He knew that the only method whereby the good could prevail either in individual or social life was by persistently willing that it should prevail and by the adoption of intelligent means to that end.

His vision of the national good was limited; but he was absolutely right about the way in which it was to be achieved.
Hamilton was not afraid to exhibit in his own life moral and intellectual independence.

He was not afraid to incur unpopularity for pursuing what he believed to be a wise public policy, and the general disapprobation under which he suffered during the last years of his life, while it was chiefly due, as we have seen, to his distrust of the American democracy, was also partly due to his high conception of the duties of leadership.

Jefferson, on the other hand, afforded an equally impressive example of the statesman who assiduously and intentionally courted popular favor.