Trivia: Who was the first U.S. secretary of the treasury?
James Madison
John Hancock
Alexander Hamilton
Benjamin Franklin
The correct answer is Alexander Hamilton
So why is this answer correct? : Upon President George Washington’s inauguration in 1789, Alexander Hamilton was appointed the first secretary of the treasury and became the architect of the nation’s economic development. In that role, Hamilton often butted heads with then-Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson about how much power the Department of the Treasury should wield in the new country’s government. The financial system he conceived depended on revenues and excise taxes, and he also started the First Bank in 1791.