8. Callender revealed the Hamilton-Reynolds Affair to the public
Beginning around 1792, James Callender enjoyed the friendship and patronage of Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson helped the writer obtain employment, and forwarded sums of money to the chronically impoverished Callender. In return, Callender published articles and pamphlets endorsing the views of the Democratic-Republicans and denouncing those of the Federalists. His attacks on the Federalists included personal accounts of their characters and implied behaviors unsupported by sources or facts. Jefferson supported the idea of direct election of Senators by the people, rather than by the state legislatures. Callender supported the same view in his writings, referring to the corruption in the states leading to Senators appointed via patronage. Throughout political Philadelphia, Callender became widely viewed as Jefferson’s mouthpiece.
When James Monroe investigated the accusations against Alexander Hamilton in 1792, he forwarded Hamilton’s letters and other documents describing the affair to Jefferson. Among the documents were those prepared by Reynolds accusing the Secretary of the Treasury of misappropriation of government funds. Whether Jefferson provided these materials to Callender has never been definitively proved, but somehow the writer obtained the information. By 1796, Hamilton’s influence in the government reached its peak. The following year, Callender published, in serial form, a pamphlet entitled The History of the United States for 1796. In it, Callender wrote, “The more that a nation knows about the mode of conducting its business, the better chance has that business of being properly conducted”. He also related the story of the Hamilton-Reynolds affair, implying the Secretary of the Treasury had been guilty of misconduct in office.