On the 4th of July this year, the United States is going to be treating the founding fathers

like they are secular saints. But the truth behind the Declaration of Independence is far more

explosive. Today we meet two of the most famous men in American history. First, the ultimate

outsider and most unlikely star of a Broadway musical, Alexander Hamilton, a penniless,

orphaned immigrant from the Caribbean, who survived a literal hurricane to build the world's most

powerful financial machine. And then the man who became the face and the father of the nation,

George Washington. He wasn't a philosopher, nor was he a genius writer.

He was a silent, imposing unifier who knew exactly how to use his power and went to give it up.

From Hamilton's self-destructive sex scandals to Washington's iron-willed discipline, we're peeling

back the marble to find who the men beneath really are.

Hello and welcome to a new episode of Legacy. I'm Peter Franco Pern. I'm Afwa Hersch.

And this is Legacy, the show that explores the lives, events and ideas that have shaped our world

and asks whether they have the reputations that they truly deserve. This is the founding fathers, saints and sinners.

Thanks for joining us on Legacy Today.

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Sign up at legacy. dot supportingcast.com. Okay, I'm for Alexander Hamilton. We've been waiting for this one. If my voice was in better shape, I would have sung that line. Could you do that? My name is Alexander Hamilton. I'm not throwing away my shot. Go on, Peter. Take it. Do you know, we, you've seen Hamilton, right? Not only have we seen it. We took our four lovely kids to it and we thought, okay, there's no way they're going to enjoy it. So we told them a little bit about what the story was, about, you know, musicals. It's a bit of a quiet taste. We sat there, the curtain came up and and all four of them were sitting on the edges of their seats. I mean, they were completely transfixed. So by the time we drove back home, back down to Oxford, we were playing the soundtrack on repeat. And they've all been to see it, I mean, literally 10 times. I mean, they've absolutely loved it. Well, you must have gone gone early than me because when I went with my daughter, she already knew all the words, as did

every other young person in the audience. But I have to say, I went to see it with a friend who

nearly walked out. He was so offended by it. So maybe we'll get to that. But it's not all celebratory.

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