No free samples here. Money is printed at the mints around the country. This beautiful building was a symbol of our new country. After all, a country has bills and how can one pay its bills without a treasury so in 1789 by an act of the newly minted Congress created the Department of the Treasury. The purpose of the department was/is to manage the revenue of the country. The Treasury is run by the Secretary of the Treasury who is a member of the President’s cabinet.

Most people know or can guess that Alexander Hamilton served as Secretary of the Treasury in the early years but he’s not the reason for this  little history lesson. Albert Gallatin is. Never heard of him? Neither had I and useless you are a really  history buff I would be willing to bet most people haven’t yet with out him our country might have  a very different look today.

Albert Gallatin was a Swiss American politician. We all know that Switzerland is known as a banking capital of the world and it seems that Gallatin had the banking gene. Appointed Secretary of the Treasury in 1801 by President Jefferson and continuing under President James Madison until 1814, Gallatin was in office nearly thirteen years, the longest term of any Secretary in the Department’s history. He was responsible for the law of 1801 requiring an annual report by the Secretary of the Treasury

But on to the good stuff. Do you remember  a little land purchase called the Louisiana Purchase? The Louisiana Purchase was by far the largest territorial gain in U.S. history.

Now a search of the Louisiana Purchase probably won’t turn up any mention of Gallatin but if not for his ideas and service the U.S> would not have been able to afford the purchase price.

Galletin preached to the congress that the MUST keep a balanced budget. They COULD NOT keep spending money they did not have.

Jefferson and Gallatin focused on the danger that the public debt, unless it was paid off, would be a threat to republican values.  Gallatin was the Republican Party’s chief expert on fiscal issues and as Treasury Secretary under Jefferson and Madison worked hard to lower taxes and lower the debt, while at the same time paying cash for the Louisiana Purchase and funding the War of 1812.

When Joey Explained this as we stood in the cold and rain in front of the Statue of Galletin at the Treasury Building, all I could think was “We need him now!”