Who was the first secretary of the treasury?
History of the Treasury Secretaries of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton (1789 – 1795) At the inauguration of the constitutional government in 1789 Alexander Hamilton (1757-1804), George Washington’s former military aide and a renowned financier, was appointed the first Secretary of the Treasury and thus he became the architect of the structure of the Department. Desirous of a strong, centrally controlled Treasury, Hamilton did constant battle with Thomas Jefferson, then Secretary of State, and Albert Gallatin, then a Congressman, over the amount of power the Department of the Treasury should be allowed to wield. He designed a Treasury Department for the collection and disbursing of public revenue, but also for the promotion of the economic development of the country.
