A leading international finance expert reveals how our national security depends on our financial security. America's first secretary of the treasury, Alexander Hamilton, identified the Revolutionary War debt as a threat to the nation's creditworthiness and its very existence. In response, he established financial principles for securing the country--principles that endure to this day. Here, one of America's leading experts on international finance shows how leaders from Madison and Lincoln to FDR and Reagan have followed Hamilton's ideals. Drawing on these historical lessons, Hormats argues that the rampant borrowing to pay for the war in Iraq and the short-sighted tax cuts in the face of a long-term war on terrorism run counter to American tradition and place our country's security in peril.--From publisher description.