{"id":2088,"date":"2014-06-17T07:15:47","date_gmt":"2014-06-17T11:15:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=2088"},"modified":"2015-01-04T07:47:10","modified_gmt":"2015-01-04T12:47:10","slug":"his-excellency-george-washington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=2088","title":{"rendered":"*****His Excellency: George Washington"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"George<\/a>

General George Washington at Trenton by John Trumbull<\/p><\/div>\n

By Joseph J. Ellis<\/strong>–Historical figures go in and out of fashion like men\u2019s wide lapels, and I must have had my little exposure to George Washington during one of his dreary periods, because, well, yawn. This book <\/a>was a revelation. It presents Washington in a balanced light, including his flaws, though the author is obviously a fan. With two Pulitzers to his credit (for Founding Brothers<\/em> and American Sphinx<\/em>, a biography of Thomas Jefferson), Ellis knows his early American history. I had a timely trip to nearby Monmouth Battlefield\u2014where \u201cMolly Pitcher\u201d pitched in\u2014which made the Revolutionary War period of Washington\u2019s career come further alive.<\/p>\n

Because mammoth biographies of Washington already exist, and his papers and letters have been preserved and cataloged, \u201cThe great American patriarch sits squarely in front of us: vulnerable, exposed, even talkative at last.\u201d Thus Ellis\u2019s purposes were to create a biography of modest size (275 pages), not another in an \u201cendless row of verbal coffins,\u201d and to put Washington in clearer context with respect to revolutionary ideology, social and economic forces, the political and military strategic options of 1776, slavery, and the fate of the Indians. The result is an eminently readable story that I expect will provide every reader with new insights about the supremely human Father of our country.
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