Alexander Hamilton McCone is Starbuck's conservative, capitalist mentor. He is named after one of the founding fathers of the United States (Alexander Hamilton was a financier rather than a politician, but he nevertheless played a key role in developing and defining America's economic foundations). The prologue describes how he (McCone) was traumatized by a violent incident involving his industrialist family and a violent, tragic, fatal labor dispute, to the point that he developed a completely debilitating stammer.