Fisher Ames
Massachusetts Federalist regarded as the finest orator of the early House of Representatives.
Overview
Ames served from 1789 to 1797 and made his name in the first Congress with speeches defending the funding of the national debt. His most famous performance came in 1796, when his closing speech for the Jay Treaty reportedly moved the House to pass implementing funds despite fierce Jeffersonian opposition. A close ally of Alexander Hamilton, he argued for a strong energetic government and despaired of democracy's excesses. Plagued by illness, he retired at 39 and became a widely read essayist warning against the rising Democratic-Republican politics of his era.
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