About Bill Chrystal

“Every person on this planet can be as great as George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams or Thomas Jefferson!  They just have to be taught the simple steps to take…and then take them,” according to historical interpreter Bill Chrystal.

Bill has shown thousands of people how Alexander Hamilton became one of our country’s top five Founding Fathers (the others are George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams).  Bill’s technique is to portray Alexander Hamilton and after an informative monologue to interact with the audience and answer their questions as Hamilton. Bill’s years of study of American history and over a decade as the moderator of the nationally syndicated NPR radio program, The Thomas Jefferson Hour, has given him background knowledge of the Founding Era unsurpassed by other Hamilton pretenders.

Bill recently retired after 30 years as a Congregational minister, five of which were as a Navy Chaplain. In addition, he has three Master's Degrees (Education, Divinity and American History).  His education and career taught him how to help people connect with ideas. Connect at a deep level that can help them change their thinking. 

Bill is the author of two books on the influential Niebuhr family along with dozens of articles.  He has appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Boston Globe, the L.A. Times, the Christian Science Monitor and the Washington Post. He is also the author of Hamilton by the Slice: Falling in Love with Our Most Influential Founding Father, and his soon-to-be released book Alexander Hamilton's Leadership Secrets for Students: Creating Prosperous, Meaningful, and Happy Lives!

Bill is able to put people at ease, draw out the question behind the question, and help others be the best they can be.  “My job is to help each person in the audience connect with the Alexander Hamilton inside him or herself.  To make Hamilton come alive and be relevant to today in a way that the audience can understand and take a piece of him home with them,” says Bill Chrystal.