Transcripts For CSPAN3 Alexander Hamiltons Legacy 20160806

Everybody, welcome, to the celebrate hamilton 2016 events. On the 202th anniversary of Alexander Hamiltons passing that happened in 1804, at the young age of 47. President ofolet, the Awareness Society. Society. Hort, the aha we have had many discoveries, and we just revealed three new ones this past thursday at liberty hall. So check online for that. The Society Needs to give a special thanks to a number of organizations that made this program possible today. Especially, Trinity Church who hosted us with great support. Alexander hamilton was a congregant. The u. S. Coast guard and auxiliary as you heard mentioned, Alexander Hamilton was the founder of the u. S. Coast guard. And the members of the aha society and the board of directors all worked hard to bring this together. We had 32 events in 20 locations over 10 days. And it took everyones support and encouragement. The society joins with you to honor Alexander Hamiltons life. And his legacy. In that light, the Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society will be presenting the first hamilton lengle legacy award to richard brookhiser, for educating the public about Alexander Hamilton. The revival of interest in the 21st century can be traced to mr. Brookhisers work. I will give you four examples. Number one, after reading about and studying about in writing a book on George Washington, mr. Brookhiser saw that there was life,e, a man in his Alexander Hamilton, he became intrigued and wrote a tremendous book in 1999. The book is only 220 pages long. That deserves an award. If you can tell alexander all of thelife in dimensions of it in 220 pages, it is magnificent. And the other thing that we really appreciate about mr. Brookhiser, it really gets the true hamilton. And going to the primary sources. It has been really helpful to the cause of looking for people to learn about the accurate characterization of Alexander Hamilton, where many of us did not hear about him a couple of years ago because of the mischaracterizations. So, we thank them for the book. Really quite a compliment. Is ar two, mr. Brookhiser historian curator for Alexander Hamilton, the man who made modern america, which was displayed at the New York Historical society of 2004. How many able to see that . Good. The institute,h then there were these Alexander Hamilton exhibit panels that were produced. It was so excited. We went to the caribbean, there were those panels. We were just at the paterson sorry,yesterday, no, im sunday. There were the panels, just so articulately telling the stories of all dimensions of his life. Number three, mr. Brookhiser with the pbs to write and host an innovative documentary called rediscovery, in 2011. All of these resources graded a foundation some years ago that resulted in great scholarship and content of much renown. They have become the core resource material this year. You may have heard the support of the institute, along with the rockefeller foundation, and the hamilton all caps together to serve 20,000 students. To see that over 18 months in matinees. And that rich content was because of the work of mr. Brookhiser, over many years. It is quite a hamilton legacy, mr. Brookhiser. Because of his efforts to continue to show his story, richard is very deserving of the first recipient of the hamilton legacy award, which reads, richard is hereby presented with the hamilton legacy award, four decades of Outstanding Service and dedication to educating the public about the contributions of Alexander Hamilton to the United States of america the Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society, 2016. Ser. Us thank richard brookhi [applause] mr. Brookhiser thank you, so much. The Founding Fathers were a very practical generation. Hamilton being among the most practical. Idealsy knew that true were vital. You had to have them. They are not enough. They have to be made real in the world, you have to work for them. And the same is true of memory. You know, we have to remember what we have done right. We have to remember what we have done wrong. But memory is not automatic. It has to be informed, and it has to be cherished and encouraged. And the Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society does splendid work in that regard. And it is a great honor to be recognized by it. Thank you. [applause] mr. Scholet the hamilton musical ends with a profound perspective, and a set of questions. Dies, who tells your story . I would like to answer those in three parts. Who lives . We all live in hamiltons america. Alexander hamilton created a vision, and changed the foundations of how the United States of america achieved greatness. Who dies . 12, 212 yearsuly ago, Alexander Hamilton died, defending his honor. Beh that he would say, to in the future useful. In 18 minutes, it will be the 2 00 passing of Alexander Hamilton, after 30 years from his injury from the duel. He often chose the nations wellbeing over his physical, financial, and familys wellbeing. Who tells the story . We are most privileged to have richard tell the story Alexander Hamilton, the man who made america prosperous. Gentlemen,of them i richard brookhiser. Mr. Brookhiser so, how did hamilton make america prosperous . I think we have to look at three things. We have to look at the arc of his life, where he came from, and where he went. And then, we have to review what he did at the height of his life. And then, we have to consider what inspired him, utmost moved him. Hamilton, as you know, was an immigrant. And there will several other immigrants among the Founding Fathers, horatio gates, robert morris, james wilson. But these other men all came from the british isles. Hamilton was the unique immigrant from the west indies, born on the island of nevis, raised on the island of st. Croix, which is on the virgin islands. In his lifetime, mid to late 18thcentury, was like the middle east today. It was the place with the saying that everyone wanted came from. Today, that is oil. In the 18th century, that was sugar. The wealth that was generated by west indian sugar was fantastic. Old,hamilton was six years 1763, the french and indian war ended, also called the seven years war. And at the end of this world war between britain and france, britain had conquered so many of frances colonies, that they had to get some back. They could not possibly hold all that they had won. So, there was a serious debate in the british government. Should we keep canada or the island of waterloo bay . Half of north america . Or one sugarproducing island . They decided to get back waterloo. And they were fiercely criticized by the British Business community. How could they have done this . Canada is only snow. Sugar, where the money is made. That was a sign of how valuable the islands were. Hamilton saw the commerce that was generated from the ground up. Croix wasjob in st. An emergent house, headquartered in new york city, branches in the west indies, and another branch in bristol, england. The person who ran the branch became a member of parliament, and he represented britain along with edmund burke, another sign of the importance of the sugar trade wealth that was generated. Hamilton was not bound for parliament. He was a clerk in a store. But he saw from the bottom, from the ground up, how trading was done, how money circulated, how deals were made. He also saw the enormous disparities in the holding of this wealth. Most of this money went to planters. Many did not even live on the island were there plantations were. Novel, afields plantation owner in antigo, he appears in the novel halfway through, but many of the planters never left england, france, their home country. The islands were run by overseers. But there was a Small Service class, agents, merchants, a few professionals. This is the class which hamiltons parents belong, james and rachel. He was a merchant. She owned a small store. But the vast bulk of the population was slaves. When helation of nevis lived there was 10,000 slaves, 500 white people. The population of st. Croix was 22,000 slaves, 2000 white people. The average life span of a field hand, brought to the west indies from west africa, was seven years, before he was work to before he died from disease. The planters were not concerned because there was always another slave ship coming in. Beekman and kruger dealt in slaves. When hamilton lived in nevis, he was just down the street from a large pen, where the slaves of africa were held before they were sorted out and put on smaller ships, sent to the rest of the british west indies. So, this was a social system hamilton grew up in, heavily skewed, no opportunity to rise. He managed to get out because of his own brilliance and because of his luck. He was a very smart boy, and a smart young man. Is employers recognize that. So did the local minister, a christian man, he had connections in the north american mainland. So, when hamilton was a teenager, he was sent to north american to be educated. The plan was to get him trained as a doctor, and he would come back to the islands and practice. And the first plan was to send them to the college of new jersey, now princeton. That did not work. So, he went to kings college, which is now columbia, then just up broadway from this building. This is the second important location in hamiltons life. The fact that he came here to new york, rather than to philadelphia or to boston, which were the other significant cities in british north america. Philadelphia was the largest. New york had passed boston to become second, gaining on philadelphia. They were all commercial cities. But boston and philadelphia had been founded as holy cities. They were religious experiments. Boston was the city on the hill. Philadelphia was the city of brotherly love. And some of that atmosphere still clung to them. But new york was always and only about getting and spending. The dutch had founded it as new amsterdam, at the trading post to take furs from the iroquois indian, ship them back to holland. One of the fur traffic died and withered, they traded others. The english acquired the city, but it kept its character. I am sure you all know the founding myth of new york. That it was bought from the beads, for 24 in trinkets, tools by peter minuet in 1624. And the way the mess is usually told is that the indians were cheated, because for 24 they gave up manhattan island, worth billions and billions now. But i have heard some tellings of the myth, and that the indians who sold manhattan did not live here, they were just passing through. There may have been doubledealing on both sides. But myths always tell the truth. And the truth of that myth is that the soul of new york is commerce. That is why people live here, to make it, to get ahead. So, hamilton was coming for one commercial place, to another very commercial, innately commercial, place. It was also a more equal place. It was by no means a paradigm. New york was a slave city and a slave colony. When hamilton came here, the population of the city was about 1 6 slave. And they work as house servants, also working on the small farms in what is now brooklyn and queens. The city was doubly bound to slavery, because what was grown and produced on those farms, food, timber, fabric was shipped down to the west indies. So, there was still slavery here in new york. But there were other things going on. There was a lot of commerce. There was also some manufacturing. It was not supposed to happen under the british mercantile system. According to them, all manufacturing was to be done in the home country, shipped out to the colonies. But people got around the rules and laws, as i hear they still do in new york, and so, there was manufacturing ehre in new york. Hamilton came from a place that marked him, and he moved to a place that continued to mark him. He never graduated from columbia. The revolution had happened, and he left his college to fight. He started in a student militia company, and he became a captain of an artillery company. He was noticed by George Washington, on his staff as a kernel, where he served for four years. And finally, at the end of the fighting, given a deal to manage the battle of yorktown. After the war, he came back to new york. Made his money as a lawyer, but he also briefly served in the new york assembly, and in the Continental Congress. He was sent as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in philadelphia in 1787. He was not a very regular in his attempts. But after the constitution was written, he took up the job of campaigning for it in the newspapers. And here,s performance was stellar. He organized a series of essays, we would now call them oped in the new york newspapers. Acause it was crucial, central location. New york state, as of the country, new england split off. So, new york was a must win state. Hamilton found two collaborators, james madison, a colleague from the Continental Congress, john jay, a former diplomat and spymaster. The three of them wrote 85 essays for new york newspapers. Jay got sick early on, so we only wrote five. Madison wrote 29. Hamilton road 61. These essays came out at a rate of six a week, reaching 2000 words long. Some weeks, there were five. One week, there was six. Colonists from the New York Times today, they write 750 words twice a week. So, this with greater frequency, greater length, also immortal. After the constitution was ratified, George Washington had to pick a first treasury secretary. He first asked robert morris, who had run the finances of the country during the second half of the revolution. Morris was the richest man in america, but he did not want to do Public Service again. He wanted to make money. So, recommended Alexander Hamilton, saying he was damn sharp. Washington knew that already as he was on his staff. He became secretary in december of 1789, when he is 32 years old. And now, we come to what he did at the climax of his life. And the problem that he face was debt. Wars cost money. And the United States had no money. We had gone through the war, a. 5 year war, the longest war we fought until vietnam. Longer than the civil war, our portion of world war ii, but together. But we could not pay for it. The government under the Continental Congress and the articles of confederation could not tax the state. They could ask the state for money. And as the states would not or could not pay, they did not have to pay. Robert morris said at one point that asking the states for money was like preaching to the dead. So, they did other things. They printed paper money. And as unbacked paper money always does, it inflated away until it was almost worthless. Then, they called in all of the old dollars. 40 worth the new one, issuing new money, but that began to inflate in turn. They did funny stuff with creditors. They took out loans. They took out loans from the rich people who existed in america, they also got loans from dutch bankers, who were willing to run a risk. They got loans from france. And they scraped through at the very end of the war, the soldiers marching to yorktown would not have got there, because they had not been paid. But a french ship filled with silver was part of the armada that came to participate in the yorktown campaign. And so, that campaign was funded. In america won the final victory. War, the ledger was truly bare. We were trading in europe, twerp,dam, ann essentially junk, a quarter of its value. What did hamilton do . He had going for him that the new constitution did allow the federal government to raise taxes, so that is a plus. But how the money be spent . He made two early decisions of great consequence. One was called consumption. The other was called nondiscrimination. The first had to do with the fact that there was not one american debt, but 14. There were the debts owed by the United States, and the debts owed by each of the 13 states. The 13 states had raised their own troops. They had made their own expenses for the war. And some of them were badly in arrears. Massachusetts, in particular. And also, south carolina. But there was ill feeling because some of the states and paid off debt, why should we take on obligations by the deadbeat states . Now, not all of the states who paid the debt did honestly. North carolina simply announced they would not off 20 dependent arrest. Rhode island paid itself by printing paper money. There was a lot of suffering and a sharp dealing, on all sides. Hamiltons argument was that the war had been a common struggle. All of the states were fighting together for the liberty of all, the whole country. So, he assumed the debt of the 13 states, along with the federal debt. It would all be treated as one debt. They would be paid off at the same time. This was the decision for assumption. Nondiscrimination had to do with the creditors, the holders of the debt. Most of them were soldiers, who have not been paid during the war. This was simply chronic. Soldiers were not paid. They were given ious. And of the end of the war, they were sent home with the ious, promises of future payment. But over the years, some of these ious have been sold, as a soldier needed money immediately, he might sell them at a discount to a merchant. Or, may be he would sell to a speculator, to someone with ll,ources who thought, we one day the things they be paid off let me buy them from soldiers,. The iou had been traded. Everyone agreed that soldiers should be paid off at the full value. These men had suffered for the country. They had fought, they had bled. But Many Americans thought why should we pay off speculators . They have not thought, they have not bled. They were silly looking for a profit. Hamilton knew the way the world of money works. Andnew that if debtors pick choose among their creditors, they can do it once. They will not be able to get a loan again. Or if they can, it will be at a punishing rate of interest. So, he said there should be nondiscrimination, that all the creditors would be paid off at a common rate. And he was able to get congress to agree to this, too. Now, he had to do some bargaining to make this happen. The most consequential deal was to move the capital of the york, firsts to new in philadelphia for 10 years, then to a place and the potomac, then undeveloped, now washington, d. C. So, we incurred a future of murderous washington summers, but we got americas debts paid off in a timely fashion. Hamiltonss due to foresight and his clever dealmaking. He also had an insight about how to handle the debt. His intention was not to pay it off and make it go away. He wanted to manage the debt. He wanted the debt where regular payments would be made on the interest. And his insight was that if you did that with debt, the terms of liability,a turning into a resource. Well see you are not struggling under the burden, you are maintaining it, so they are maintaining it. That becomes credit. Debt can become money. If you have a credit card, you know how this works. If you have 20 credit cards, you know how this does not work. That has to be managed carefully, and that was hamiltons intention. His way of managing the debt was a new thing in world finance. Two countries had gone his direction, holland and england followed. France and tried to join the new financial world, but the man in charge of their debt was not cautious, a scotsman, really, literally, a gambler. He certainly gambled with frances money. And the smashup in france was so terrible, that the french were suspicious of banks, to this day. They are not called banks. And that is how deep the suspicion in france of how banking goes. Alexander hamilton was good to take this small country on the edge of nowhere and make it the third country in the world in the new world of modern finance. There are going to be many bumps on the road after his death. People did not maintain his policy. We would have panic, depression, but he got us off to a solid start. When he came in as treasury our debt, as i said, was trading to a quarter or a third of his value. Atn he left, he was trading 10 . Ian made it worth as good as gold. They were willing to pay a small premium to hold in europe. The phrase we use for poor, troubled new nations is banana republic, because they are in countries where bananas grow. But america was on its way to being that country. If hamilton had not lived and served, the phrase for a troubled new nation would be pine from public, because we would have been the first. He helped us avoid that fate. But he was not doing it only to balance the books. He wasnt even doing it to expand the economy. He had a further vision in mind. And that is what i want to end with. We see it in manufacturing. In theiety had an event passaic, where the Passaic River drops 50 feet on its way to the atlantic. And hamilton saw that during the war he had met, with George Washington and lafayette, this can be a source of power, used for factories. And there were some problems with hamiltons plan. The first director was a crook, embezzling funds. But the factory to come to patterson, and they did come to america. And the report that hamilton issued to congress, he talked about the benefits of a diverse economy to the United States. He said we have agriculture. We have commerce and trade, but we also need manufacturing. We need all we can get. And he went to great detail about the kinds of things that could be made in america. One of the people that he found was samuel colt, who built a factory in patterson, then moved it to hartford. Pistol and weapons were made by him and his descendents, and he was one of hamiltons picks for the hamilton great falls project. But in his report on manufacturing, hamilton talks about what manufacturing and Economic Diversity can do for people. And he wrote what i consider to be the most eloquent, most moving words he ever wrote. Of the that minds strongest and most agile major can fall below mediocrity, and labor without the fact, if confined to uncongenial pursuits. All of the different kinds of industry, obtained in a community, each individual can find his proper elements and call into activity the full vigor of his nature. Each individual can find his proper element and call into activity the whole vigor of his nature. Beyond dollarsng and cents, he is even going beyond diversity. He is looking at an economys effect on people. I find this moving because he is writing about himself. He could so easily have fallen below mediocrity, and labored without effect. If he had stayed the rest of his life in the islands, that wouldve been his life story. But through brilliance and luck, he got out and had a career. But unlike some people who rise from nowhere and make it, he thought of other Alexander Hamiltons. He wanted to make the world where it would be easier and better for that. That is what he wanted the American Economy to be, what he was trying to create. We are here to celebrate his life, but we are also commemorating we have been calling it his passing but let us be honest, his death, in the duel, which i believe was needless and tragic. Makes me angry with him, whenever i consider it. I remember the first time i went to weehauken. Ght is long gone, up on the hudson, dynamited for railroad. At the top of the cliff, they have a tiny little park, not much bigger than this lectern. Ich hamiltonrack wh is said to have leaned on after he was shot. And there is a bench. There is really not much to see there. The weather is to see is across the water, right on the hudson. East, youok to the see all of manhattan. All the way upy, through midtown, all the way up through riverside church. Manhattan Mountain Range of skyscrapers and apartments. And i know if hamilton could see that now, he would say this is why i came here. This is what i worked to build. Thanks very much. [applause] hasscholet mr. Brookhiser been gracious enough to take some questions, and to answer them. And please, for consideration of other people, if you can keep your questions short, not statements. You will see a microphone, if you want to come up with a short and terse question. Thank you. Mr. Brookhiser this is not the Constitutional Convention. Hamilton gave one speech that was six hours. We will not emulate. Did hamilton have any economic interest built at great falls . Mr. Brookhiser well, you know, i cannot say he did not have a dime in it, but he was probably the poorest treasury secretary we have ever had. His money came from being a lawyer. A lawyer. And he was a very good one, very well paid one. And after he retired from the treasury and was back in legal takence,s finances had a hit, but he hoped to recoup. And he expected to be a believe his wife and children a nice estate. But his death cut that short. And his widow and his family was in very dire circumstances afterwards. The reason why i asked is that there is an attack on hamilton currently, that really is an act go of attacks on hamilton that went on in his life and after his life, as i understand his wife spent 50 years defending him after his death. Mr. Brookhiser they have been attacking him for a long time. People, whoom my maybe once were jeffersonians, i dont know what the hell they are today, but theyre saying that hamilton was a capitalistic exporter of everybody. Only built the Great Falls Dam because he owned the land, or had a financial interest. I do not believe it. So, im glad to hear that you agree it is a lie. Mr. Brookhiser right, you can always ask them if they want to live in a poor country . With that be better . Any other questions . Yes, sir. Heres one. You mentioned something i think is very sophisticated, talking about every person as a specialist. Maybe even talk about specialization of labor, which is a big part of capitalism. Each individual is his own personal talent and profession, being specialized. I had not heard that. Mr. Brookhiser well, the report on manufacturers is very long. There is a lot, and it is easy to miss this paragraph. You know, a leaked out at me as a biographer. That i did have this sense that hamilton was writing about himself, which he rarely does. He is not a self analytical person. He is not very self reflective. He never kept a diary. Some of his letters talk about himself, and this is true of most of the Founding Fathers. Any were not generally inward looking lot. John adams was. He had some of that puritan selfexamination, and he keeps a very detailed diary. At, no, i thought here, surprising moment, seeing something about perhaps not even aware of it, perhaps not even aware that this is his own life, how it couldve gone, his alternate life. He is describing, but it could have so easily have happened. Ok, he worked for a merchant firm headquartered here. He had a minister antiquated at princeton when he was a teenager, he wrote a letter about a hurricane in st. Croix, it was published in the local newspaper, the royal danish american gazette. You know, some people read this thing. This is a bright kid. Let us give him a boost. But you could so easily see none of those things happening, just shortcircuiting somehow. And i just see him wanting to change the deck for future players. Very inspiring. Any other questions . I know you have seen the play hamilton, but the source material, is there anything you would have changed, add, or is a perfect the way it is . Mr. Brookhiser i love the play. I saw it at the public theater. I reviewed it. They made me pay for the reviewers to get. That is how hot the show was before it went to broadway. Manuel red chernoffs book. Yeardy agrees, except the hamilton was born. There is controversy. Michael newton has finally put that to rest. He agrees with me. [laughter] no, i agree with hamilton. Was he born in 1755 or 1757 . , the one thing the play does, and i see why they did it, they make ehrenberg basically a nice guy aaron burr basically a nice guy. A good srot. And this is done for dramatic reasons. You want an antagonist not just villain, not parity between him and hamilton, but nothing lopsided. Certainly, burr has many admirable qualities. He was a brave and intelligent man, well read man. But i simply see something cold and empty at the heart of him, anuel is not the way m goes. Not the way the chernoff goes, his book is very upbeat. Any other questions . Yes . I can hear. Why dont you do it so everybody else can hear . Speak to were able to like huge rooms in the 18th century. You know, they did it differently. Mustve been like singing. I like to ask you a question that i asked and Alexander Hamilton at the grange. I asked the question in front of professor dylan freeman, and the actor did not give me an answer, but the portrayal was offended by my question. I would like to ask you was Alexander Hamilton romantically in love with his wifes sister . Thank you. Yes,brookhiser you know, but did they have an affair . You know, we never know. Wifes sister, angelica, betsy skyler was one of a number of daughters. The sister married a man name john church. And it was actually john churchs dueling pistols that were used in the fatal duel with aaron burr. I have seen that. Theyre really good looking. And that makes that terrible. These are fetishized objects of gentlemanly death. It is chilling to see these things. Incidentally, dueling was illegal in new jersey. It was considered murder. But they were never prosecuted. Nullification, no jury would have convicted. That is what gentlemen did. It was a parallel system. It was a wicked system, but we lived with it. Sisters,ese church clearly angelica is also smitten with hamilton. She writes these letters to him and about him, and he reminds me of a character in a jane austen novel, amusing by how annoying they are. There always kind of in your face, putting emotions before you. And i think hamilton was very flattered by this attention. He had an eye for the ladies. He is not the only person you can think of who falls in love with a whole group of sisters simultaneously. Dickens didles that. Kind of a common pattern for someone often maybe from the margins, and they need rich, glamorous, or attractive sisters. You know, they pick out one to marry. But they are all in love with the whole crop of them. That is my best answer. Proof ofno solid anything more than that. But yes, i think there was a kind of erotic sized quality to the whole relationship with the schuyler girls. Well, thank you so much for your attention. [applause] mr. Scholet to can tell by mr. Brookhisers knowledge and the depth that he has, there are many historians, many biographies, many authors, many journalists, very few have the scholarly depth that mr. Brookhiser has. I want to share this with you all today because we announced at last week, but richard has also been designated as a National Hamilton squalor, which reads for exemplary scholarship to provide accurate and objective information to the public about the remarkable founding father, Alexander Hamilton. The Alexander Hamilton Awareness Society, 2016. Thank you for your service to Alexander Hamilton. [applause] and to conclude, we just want to let you know that if you have not gotten one of these, you can ask for it afterwards. But we have a number of more hamilton events. Upcoming, hamilton on the hudson commit Hudson Valley region. 1517. T is july and the Trinity Church archives are going to have original five ofs, i believe all hamiltons children. I encourage you to see that. Thank you so much for coming. And keep following and cheering on Alexander Hamilton and his contributions. [applause] announcer you are watching American History tv, all weekend, every weekend on cspan3. Like us on facebook at cspan history to join the conversation. Sunday night, civil war historian and Virginia Tech Professor Emeritus discusses his book after the civil war, the heroes, villains, soldiers, civilians who changed america. Back as there were settlers in the country, i think one has to keep that in mind, i am not belittling savory. It is the major cause of the war. But you can explain the actions of good, decent men like robert ely and the pious stonewall jackson, they fight because virginia need them, not that they supported the confederate cause. Neither one day. Announcer sunday night at 8 p. M. Eastern on cspan. This week and come our road to the white house coverage takes you to the Political Party for the green party in houston. See the acceptance speeches by the nominees for president and vice president. Watch commercialfree coverage on cspan, listen on your desktop or mobile device using the radio app, or watch anytime at cspan. Org. Now, the contenders. Our series on keep little figures who ran for president and lost, but who nevertheless changed history. We feature former governor of new york al smith, democratic candidate in 1928. This twohour program was sen. Mccain i come here tonight knowing i am the underdog in these final weeks. If you know where to look, there are signs of hope. Even in the most unexpected places. Even in this room full of proud manhattan democrats. I cant shake that feeling that some people here are pulling for me. [applause] i am delighted to see you here tonight, hillary. [laughter] pres. Obama i was thrilled to get this invitation. I feel right at home here because it is often said i share e