The Hamilton–Reynolds affair involved Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who had an affair with Maria Reynolds between 1791 and 1792, during George Washington's presidency. Upon discovery of the affair by Maria's husband, James Reynolds, Hamilton paid him over $1,300 (about a third of his annual income) of blackmail money to maintain secrecy. In 1797, Hamilton was forced to publicly admit to the affair after James Reynolds threatened to implicate him in Reynolds' own scheme involving unpaid back wages intended for Revolutionary War veterans. The affair was one of the first major sex scandals in American political history.