" measure bound to bring about the more perfect union of which he was now considered a founder. That he was a true hero in the Revolutionary War, I will never deny. That he finally came round to seeing good sense in some matters, I will grant. I can even give grudging admiration for his political genius in wrapping himself in the flag in an attempt to prevent the nation’s disunion. But James Monroe is not now and never was the better man. None of them were. Not Jefferson. Not Adams. Not Burr. Not Madison. Not Monroe. "

― Stephanie Dray , My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton