Who was the first United States secretary of the treasury under President George Washington?

Alexander Hamilton was the first United States secretary of the treasury under President George Washington.

Washington appointed Hamilton in 1789, and the Senate confirmed him as the first Treasury secretary. Hamilton designed a financial program intended to stabilize the new federal government and establish national credit.

His proposals included federal assumption of state debts, funding national obligations at face value, and creating a national bank. Congress also adopted tariff and excise measures that supplied revenue to the government.

Hamilton’s financial program provoked political opposition, particularly from Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, and contributed to the formation of the first American party divisions. Hamilton later became one of the principal authors of The Federalist Papers and remained a major figure in the early republic.