Hamilton Reynolds affair

In 1791, Maria Reynolds approached Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton in Philadelphia, claiming that her husband had abandoned her and asking for financial help. Hamilton gave her money and soon began an affair with her that continued into 1792. After discovering the relationship, Maria’s husband, James Reynolds, blackmailed Hamilton for payments totaling more than $1,000.

The affair became public after Reynolds was arrested in 1792 on an unrelated forgery charge and implicated Hamilton in financial misconduct. To clear himself of the accusation, Hamilton admitted the affair to investigators, including James Monroe, while maintaining that he had committed no financial wrongdoing. When details of the affair later became public, Hamilton published his famous **Reynolds Pamphlet** in 1797, a lengthy defense of his conduct as Treasury Secretary that also openly acknowledged the affair. Although the confession helped establish that Hamilton had not misused public funds, the scandal severely damaged his political reputation and effectively ended his presidential ambitions.