The Congress has had an uneasy relationship with banks and bankers since Alexander Hamilton. It took the United States until 1913 to set up a central bank. The Federal Reserve earned its hard-won independence over years of effort.

Robert Zoellick's quote highlights the historical tension between the U.S. Congress and banks, particularly with bankers, dating back to the time of Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton, as the first Secretary of the Treasury, played a pivotal role in establishing the First Bank of the United States, a move that faced significant opposition from many in Congress. Zoellick points to this as the beginning of a longstanding uneasy relationship between the government and the banking sector, which has shaped U.S. economic policy.

The quote also underscores that it took the United States nearly a century and a half to establish a central bank, with the Federal Reserve being created in 1913. This highlights the delays and challenges in centralizing monetary control within the U.S. financial system. The decision to create the Federal Reserve was a response to growing economic instability, and it represented a significant shift in how the nation handled its monetary policy and financial regulation.

Zoellick emphasizes that the Federal Reserve earned its independence over time, referring to the long and often contentious process by which the central bank gained autonomy from political influence. This hard-won independence was crucial in ensuring that the Federal Reserve could make decisions based on economic conditions rather than political pressures, thus preserving the stability and integrity of the U.S. financial system.

Overall, Zoellick's quote reflects on the evolution of the relationship between Congress and financial institutions, and how the Federal Reserve came to symbolize a key institution in U.S. governance. The creation and independence of the Federal Reserve became a significant milestone in the development of U.S. economic policy, ensuring that monetary decisions could be made free from political interference.