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George Washington #4
George Washington: Anguish and Farewell, 1793-1799
History has blinded us to the all-too-human character of George Washington; in doing so, it has blinded us to the true nature of his greatness. We have urgent need to know this man we call the Father of Our Country. And now, at last, James Thomas Flexner has given us the biography that fully meets our need.
554 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1972
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About the author
James Thomas Flexner
72 books27 followersJames Thomas Flexner was an American historian and biographer best known for the four-volume biography of George Washington that earned him a National Book Award in Biography and a special Pulitzer Prize. A cum laude graduate of Harvard University, Flexner worked as a reporter for the New York Herald Tribune from 1929 until 1931, after which he worked as an executive secretary for the New York City Department of Health before leaving the job the following year in order to devote his full energies to writing.
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October 9, 2020
George Washington: Anguish and Farewell by James Thomas Flexner
His [Washington’s] breathing became a little easier, and then a fear struck him — the fear of being buried alive. Summoning all his powers, he managed, after several false starts, to say to Lear [his doctor], “I am just going. Have me decently buried, and do not let my body be out into the vault in less than three days after I am dead.”
Lear bows assent, being too moved for words. Washington fixed his gaze. “Do you understand me?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Tis well.” These seem to have been the hero’s last words.
This bio won the National Book Award in 1973. This is not an overly sentimental book and it’s as much a history gem as a straight up biography in my view.
The first pages take us back to 1793, at the start of Washington’s second term, when the French ambassador Edmond Genet lands in Charleston SC. The new French government, having deposed Louis XVI, is now at war with Britain and the United States is in a precarious position.
The young Genet begins to stir up trouble for Washington, and for more than a month he remains in South Carolina giving speeches to sympathetic audiences, telling American citizens that they should abandon relations with Britain and support France exclusively. After five weeks Genet finally arrives in Philadelphia, the nation’s capital, already having caught Secretary of State Jefferson’s sympathetic ear. Jefferson is a Francophile and dislikes the British immensely. So naturally he conspires with Genet.
In the meantime Washington pushes forth the Neutrality Proclamation to keep the U.S. out of the war. But when British ships are seized in U.S. territorial waters by the French, this causes Washington huge headaches. Furthermore the Spanish are allied with the British and Spain controls New Orleans and the southern Mississippi River. Washington and America are hemmed even while owing a moral debt of gratitude to France. But what of this new French government? Can France be trusted? Washington and Hamilton don’t think so.
That same summer, Yellow Fever strikes Philadelphia with full force and Hamilton becomes gravely ill. Washington advises his cabinet to leave the city except for Knox who stays to conduct the president’s business. Washington returns to Mt Vernon and stops by the new city of Washington.
Washington witnesses the cornerstone of the Capitol was laid out. Enfant’s architectural vision for the future city is taking shape. There is pomp and circumstance for the President and a parade is organized for the momentous milestone. It will be another eight years yet until a president, Thomas Jefferson, takes up residence in the future capital.
In early 1794 Genet is recalled by the French government. Upon learning that Genet, whose family has prior loyalties to the executed Louis XVI, will likely be guillotined if he returns to France Washington grants Genet asylum in the United States. This despite his history of insulting and undermining Washington. Genet will eventually marry the daughter of the governor of New York and live on for four decades in East Greenbush on the banks of the Hudson River.
At this time in early 1994, the British begin seizing hundreds of American vessels laden with French trade goods. Hundreds of American sailors are now imprisoned in the Caribbean alone. John Jay is sent to Britain as a special envoy. James Monroe is selected as the French ambassador. But while Washington is justifiably concerned about the war between Britain and France, he is confronted with a new domestic problem.
The Whiskey Rebellion began in 1794 in western Pennsylvania as a protest against the federal whiskey tax. Washington launches an investigation and finds that the grievances are unreasonable and do not match the extreme actions of the rebels who are terrorizing citizens and advocating independence from the United States.
In the fall, Washington and Hamilton lead a militia campaign into the Alleghenies to end the rebellion. Washington feels nostalgia because forty years earlier during the French and Indian War he had led campaigns in this same area. Washington’s militia quickly quashes the rebellion. However Washington’s messaging around the campaign sows deep distrust. Many Americans view Washington as behaving like a monarch. Washington is truly chastened.
For much of 1795 and into 1796, Washington and Congress are embroiled with the Jay Treaty that averts war with Britain but upsets France and Jefferson and his allies. Jefferson resigns. Slave owners in the South are also outraged with the terms of the treaty. Slaveowners are provided no compensation for their slaves who went over to the British during the Revolutionary War. In hindsight this is considered by historians to be a generally beneficial treaty for the United States. It defines America’s borders with Britain which had been unclear since the end of the Revolution a decade earlier.
By the last year of his presidency Washington regrets having served a second term. Public opinion is breaking against him. A review of the portraits that Washington sits for late in his presidency shows an aged and weary man. He has badly fitted false teeth and this disfigurement shows up in some of the portraits. Most notably Gilbert Stuart, the prominent portraiture artist, keeps several versions including an unflattering version that he plans to keep for reproductions. Martha Washington requests the unflattering portrait and never forgives Stuart when he rebuffs her.
In the spring of 1796, nearly a year before his term is to end, Washington, with Hamilton’s assistance, begins writing his famous Farewell Address. Washington has no interest in running for a third term. He simply wants to get back to Mount Vernon and, understandably so, is concerned about how posterity will view him. He has at nearly every turn, while president, taken the high road to help ensure that America remains a democracy. But he is also in some financial trouble and personally responsible many of the presidential expenditures — owing the Federal government more than $10,000. He does not think the leader of the country should appear as a pauper. To be sure, Washington has a lot of wealth in his land holdings, but very little liquidity. So he turns to art collection in addition to his farming and estate management.
Washington lives for only two years after his presidency. The last one hundred pages of this biography covers this period and it is the most intimate section of the book. Washington has no children so he only has to think of Martha and their slaves at Mount Vernon. As he prepares his will in what will be his final months, the question comes up as to whether Washington will free his slaves.
On December 14, 1799 Washington dies rather quickly from what is believed to be pneumonia. He is buried at Mount Vernon in a small quiet ceremony. He was 67.
Although Washington’s will does state that all slaves are to be freed upon his death, most are never freed. The vast majority of the slaves came from Martha’s earlier marriage and dowry. Her nephew by the laws of Virginia at that time has claims to many of the slaves. It is clearly tragic for the slaves but it is hard to know what details they might have known about the contested will. Washington is the only founding father to emancipate his slaves but in truth this effort was largely unsuccessful.
5 stars. There have been many excellent biographies written about Washington’s life and in my opinion this is the best one covering his final years. The only section that felt a little muddled to me were the chapters on the Jay Treaty.
His [Washington’s] breathing became a little easier, and then a fear struck him — the fear of being buried alive. Summoning all his powers, he managed, after several false starts, to say to Lear [his doctor], “I am just going. Have me decently buried, and do not let my body be out into the vault in less than three days after I am dead.”
Lear bows assent, being too moved for words. Washington fixed his gaze. “Do you understand me?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Tis well.” These seem to have been the hero’s last words.
This bio won the National Book Award in 1973. This is not an overly sentimental book and it’s as much a history gem as a straight up biography in my view.
The first pages take us back to 1793, at the start of Washington’s second term, when the French ambassador Edmond Genet lands in Charleston SC. The new French government, having deposed Louis XVI, is now at war with Britain and the United States is in a precarious position.
The young Genet begins to stir up trouble for Washington, and for more than a month he remains in South Carolina giving speeches to sympathetic audiences, telling American citizens that they should abandon relations with Britain and support France exclusively. After five weeks Genet finally arrives in Philadelphia, the nation’s capital, already having caught Secretary of State Jefferson’s sympathetic ear. Jefferson is a Francophile and dislikes the British immensely. So naturally he conspires with Genet.
In the meantime Washington pushes forth the Neutrality Proclamation to keep the U.S. out of the war. But when British ships are seized in U.S. territorial waters by the French, this causes Washington huge headaches. Furthermore the Spanish are allied with the British and Spain controls New Orleans and the southern Mississippi River. Washington and America are hemmed even while owing a moral debt of gratitude to France. But what of this new French government? Can France be trusted? Washington and Hamilton don’t think so.
That same summer, Yellow Fever strikes Philadelphia with full force and Hamilton becomes gravely ill. Washington advises his cabinet to leave the city except for Knox who stays to conduct the president’s business. Washington returns to Mt Vernon and stops by the new city of Washington.
Washington witnesses the cornerstone of the Capitol was laid out. Enfant’s architectural vision for the future city is taking shape. There is pomp and circumstance for the President and a parade is organized for the momentous milestone. It will be another eight years yet until a president, Thomas Jefferson, takes up residence in the future capital.
In early 1794 Genet is recalled by the French government. Upon learning that Genet, whose family has prior loyalties to the executed Louis XVI, will likely be guillotined if he returns to France Washington grants Genet asylum in the United States. This despite his history of insulting and undermining Washington. Genet will eventually marry the daughter of the governor of New York and live on for four decades in East Greenbush on the banks of the Hudson River.
At this time in early 1994, the British begin seizing hundreds of American vessels laden with French trade goods. Hundreds of American sailors are now imprisoned in the Caribbean alone. John Jay is sent to Britain as a special envoy. James Monroe is selected as the French ambassador. But while Washington is justifiably concerned about the war between Britain and France, he is confronted with a new domestic problem.
The Whiskey Rebellion began in 1794 in western Pennsylvania as a protest against the federal whiskey tax. Washington launches an investigation and finds that the grievances are unreasonable and do not match the extreme actions of the rebels who are terrorizing citizens and advocating independence from the United States.
In the fall, Washington and Hamilton lead a militia campaign into the Alleghenies to end the rebellion. Washington feels nostalgia because forty years earlier during the French and Indian War he had led campaigns in this same area. Washington’s militia quickly quashes the rebellion. However Washington’s messaging around the campaign sows deep distrust. Many Americans view Washington as behaving like a monarch. Washington is truly chastened.
For much of 1795 and into 1796, Washington and Congress are embroiled with the Jay Treaty that averts war with Britain but upsets France and Jefferson and his allies. Jefferson resigns. Slave owners in the South are also outraged with the terms of the treaty. Slaveowners are provided no compensation for their slaves who went over to the British during the Revolutionary War. In hindsight this is considered by historians to be a generally beneficial treaty for the United States. It defines America’s borders with Britain which had been unclear since the end of the Revolution a decade earlier.
By the last year of his presidency Washington regrets having served a second term. Public opinion is breaking against him. A review of the portraits that Washington sits for late in his presidency shows an aged and weary man. He has badly fitted false teeth and this disfigurement shows up in some of the portraits. Most notably Gilbert Stuart, the prominent portraiture artist, keeps several versions including an unflattering version that he plans to keep for reproductions. Martha Washington requests the unflattering portrait and never forgives Stuart when he rebuffs her.
In the spring of 1796, nearly a year before his term is to end, Washington, with Hamilton’s assistance, begins writing his famous Farewell Address. Washington has no interest in running for a third term. He simply wants to get back to Mount Vernon and, understandably so, is concerned about how posterity will view him. He has at nearly every turn, while president, taken the high road to help ensure that America remains a democracy. But he is also in some financial trouble and personally responsible many of the presidential expenditures — owing the Federal government more than $10,000. He does not think the leader of the country should appear as a pauper. To be sure, Washington has a lot of wealth in his land holdings, but very little liquidity. So he turns to art collection in addition to his farming and estate management.
Washington lives for only two years after his presidency. The last one hundred pages of this biography covers this period and it is the most intimate section of the book. Washington has no children so he only has to think of Martha and their slaves at Mount Vernon. As he prepares his will in what will be his final months, the question comes up as to whether Washington will free his slaves.
On December 14, 1799 Washington dies rather quickly from what is believed to be pneumonia. He is buried at Mount Vernon in a small quiet ceremony. He was 67.
Although Washington’s will does state that all slaves are to be freed upon his death, most are never freed. The vast majority of the slaves came from Martha’s earlier marriage and dowry. Her nephew by the laws of Virginia at that time has claims to many of the slaves. It is clearly tragic for the slaves but it is hard to know what details they might have known about the contested will. Washington is the only founding father to emancipate his slaves but in truth this effort was largely unsuccessful.
5 stars. There have been many excellent biographies written about Washington’s life and in my opinion this is the best one covering his final years. The only section that felt a little muddled to me were the chapters on the Jay Treaty.
December 6, 2013
http://bestpresidentialbios.com/2013/...
“George Washington: Anguish and Farewell (1793-1799)” is the fourth and final volume in James Thomas Flexner’s detailed and captivating study of the life of our nation’s first President. This volume explores the last years of Washington’s life, from the earliest days of his second term as President to his death at Mt. Vernon. The book also marks the end of a 12 year journey by Flexner to portray the “real” George Washington who he felt had been limited by legend to being a rigid, stoic hero – a robotic figure sent by Providence to mechanically build a new nation.
In his effort to show Washington as a wonderfully colorful character full of the same ambitions and failings as many of us, Flexner succeeded brilliantly. While his series was still a work-in-progress, he was apparently often asked what he hoped to accomplish by writing “yet another” book on Washington. Though his completed series on Washington makes that question seem a bit obtuse, it had been widely believed that little remained to be discovered of Washington (after all, why would anyone actually wish to examine his personality or philosophical convictions?)
What emanates from this final volume in Flexner’s series (and flows freely from each of the three previous books as well) is not only a terrific narrative of the accomplishments and failings that made Washington the man he became but also the ethical principles he embraced, the personal ambitions which provided his fuel and how steadfastly he put his nation’s priorities before his own. Flexner describes a Washington who is seemingly, and sometimes simultaneously, politically naive but also acutely insightful and astute. He describes a President conscious of the precedents he sets at critical moments, yet is often seemingly unaware of the scheming, manipulation and deception being nourished in the shadows around him.
Most poignantly, the Washington we get to know in this book is an almost melancholy figure, only reluctantly accepting of the fact that destiny called him to serve a second term as President. Although he realizes he is the glue holding together a fragile new nation (a fact reinforced by his compatriots at both ends of the political spectrum), it is not difficult to imagine he would have much rather risen each day at Mt. Vernon with little to do but ride his land, inventory his crops and entertain guests. Although we instinctively know it would not have fully satisfied him, we see the image of a man who probably would have, had wishes known only to him come true, traded places with the political figures who so coveted the office he held. Some were, of course, later elected into that position.
Flexner also provides a front row seat to witness the birth of American political parties, whose nasty smears in Washington’s time seem altogether familiar to modern readers. And when describing the violent friction of a then-divided Congress (with a Federalist Senate and Republican House) we are reminded that we are not the first generation to find ourselves with divided (and sometimes useless) government.
Particularly interesting was Flexner’s perspective on Washington’s Farewell Address. While the Address has sometimes received acclaim equal to the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address, authorship has often been – somewhat pejoratively – attributed entirely to Alexander Hamilton’s pen. The full story behind its drafting is more interestingly nuanced and also demonstrates Hamilton’s affection for his former mentor. Despite having another 200 pages to read at that point in the book, I was compelled to read the Farewell Address in its entirety in order to marvel at what history has long recognized (inexplicably, I was never asked to read it while in school).
My favorite aspect of Flexner’s whole series, however, is probably in reading (and re-reading) his conclusions on Washington at each juncture of his life. In this final book of his series, Flexner’s concluding remarks are again penetrating, profoundly insightful and well constructed given the evidence and analysis in preceding chapters. If ever there were pages of a book to copy and set aside, surely Flexner’s final reflections on our nation’s first President, his motives and his relationships is among those to store away and safeguard.
Departing Flexner’s tremendous series on George Washington (after 1,800+ pages), I am looking forward to the other biographies on Washington which I’m about to read. Flexner’s work provides a high bar against which to compare all others, particularly of Washington. But I count fewer than ten reviews on a well-known website for any of Flexner’s four volumes (though his later published abridgment of the series has gained a somewhat wider audience). How this is possible given the quality of Flexner’s series I can only ascribe to the length of time which has passed since publication, the significant time commitment required to get through the series, and the short attention span most of us have for anything unrelated to sports, our children or subjects not taken for a grade.
But now…on to a much shorter and much more well-read biography on Washington. This one authored by a professor educated at an institution where, ironically, George Washington served as its first American chancellor (The College of William & Mary): Pulitzer-prize winning author Joseph J. Ellis, author of “His Excellency: George Washington.”
Overall rating: 5 stars
“George Washington: Anguish and Farewell (1793-1799)” is the fourth and final volume in James Thomas Flexner’s detailed and captivating study of the life of our nation’s first President. This volume explores the last years of Washington’s life, from the earliest days of his second term as President to his death at Mt. Vernon. The book also marks the end of a 12 year journey by Flexner to portray the “real” George Washington who he felt had been limited by legend to being a rigid, stoic hero – a robotic figure sent by Providence to mechanically build a new nation.
In his effort to show Washington as a wonderfully colorful character full of the same ambitions and failings as many of us, Flexner succeeded brilliantly. While his series was still a work-in-progress, he was apparently often asked what he hoped to accomplish by writing “yet another” book on Washington. Though his completed series on Washington makes that question seem a bit obtuse, it had been widely believed that little remained to be discovered of Washington (after all, why would anyone actually wish to examine his personality or philosophical convictions?)
What emanates from this final volume in Flexner’s series (and flows freely from each of the three previous books as well) is not only a terrific narrative of the accomplishments and failings that made Washington the man he became but also the ethical principles he embraced, the personal ambitions which provided his fuel and how steadfastly he put his nation’s priorities before his own. Flexner describes a Washington who is seemingly, and sometimes simultaneously, politically naive but also acutely insightful and astute. He describes a President conscious of the precedents he sets at critical moments, yet is often seemingly unaware of the scheming, manipulation and deception being nourished in the shadows around him.
Most poignantly, the Washington we get to know in this book is an almost melancholy figure, only reluctantly accepting of the fact that destiny called him to serve a second term as President. Although he realizes he is the glue holding together a fragile new nation (a fact reinforced by his compatriots at both ends of the political spectrum), it is not difficult to imagine he would have much rather risen each day at Mt. Vernon with little to do but ride his land, inventory his crops and entertain guests. Although we instinctively know it would not have fully satisfied him, we see the image of a man who probably would have, had wishes known only to him come true, traded places with the political figures who so coveted the office he held. Some were, of course, later elected into that position.
Flexner also provides a front row seat to witness the birth of American political parties, whose nasty smears in Washington’s time seem altogether familiar to modern readers. And when describing the violent friction of a then-divided Congress (with a Federalist Senate and Republican House) we are reminded that we are not the first generation to find ourselves with divided (and sometimes useless) government.
Particularly interesting was Flexner’s perspective on Washington’s Farewell Address. While the Address has sometimes received acclaim equal to the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address, authorship has often been – somewhat pejoratively – attributed entirely to Alexander Hamilton’s pen. The full story behind its drafting is more interestingly nuanced and also demonstrates Hamilton’s affection for his former mentor. Despite having another 200 pages to read at that point in the book, I was compelled to read the Farewell Address in its entirety in order to marvel at what history has long recognized (inexplicably, I was never asked to read it while in school).
My favorite aspect of Flexner’s whole series, however, is probably in reading (and re-reading) his conclusions on Washington at each juncture of his life. In this final book of his series, Flexner’s concluding remarks are again penetrating, profoundly insightful and well constructed given the evidence and analysis in preceding chapters. If ever there were pages of a book to copy and set aside, surely Flexner’s final reflections on our nation’s first President, his motives and his relationships is among those to store away and safeguard.
Departing Flexner’s tremendous series on George Washington (after 1,800+ pages), I am looking forward to the other biographies on Washington which I’m about to read. Flexner’s work provides a high bar against which to compare all others, particularly of Washington. But I count fewer than ten reviews on a well-known website for any of Flexner’s four volumes (though his later published abridgment of the series has gained a somewhat wider audience). How this is possible given the quality of Flexner’s series I can only ascribe to the length of time which has passed since publication, the significant time commitment required to get through the series, and the short attention span most of us have for anything unrelated to sports, our children or subjects not taken for a grade.
But now…on to a much shorter and much more well-read biography on Washington. This one authored by a professor educated at an institution where, ironically, George Washington served as its first American chancellor (The College of William & Mary): Pulitzer-prize winning author Joseph J. Ellis, author of “His Excellency: George Washington.”
Overall rating: 5 stars
August 2, 2025
This is a review of the four-part Flexner Series on Washington, not just on Anguish and Farewell.
i have believe the best single volume biography on Washington is Ron Chernow's. But Flexner's series is the best multi volume biography, which I read a few years ago.
Washington is my favorite founder. In my view he is the essential founder. Our country doesn't win the Revolutionary War without him, nor does the country survive those early years, even after the Constitution was signed.
Flexner dives deep into the entire life of George Washington but keeps the narrative moving along and doesn't drag at all. I learned the most from the first volume, about Washington's early life, and the last volume, which is about his post-Presidential years. The reason is, most biographers spend less time on his years prior of the French and Indian War, and Washington just lived less than three years after he left the Presidency.
By the time Flexner wraps up his series, you will see how Washington grows from a raw, gangly, undereducated young man to one of the greatly admired men of world.
George Washington was a complex man with great abilities and character, but also a man with faults. Flexner breaks down the human side of Washington quite well, and takes away the image of a marble statue.
This is a first-class effort. Highly recommend for those interested in George Washington.
i have believe the best single volume biography on Washington is Ron Chernow's. But Flexner's series is the best multi volume biography, which I read a few years ago.
Washington is my favorite founder. In my view he is the essential founder. Our country doesn't win the Revolutionary War without him, nor does the country survive those early years, even after the Constitution was signed.
Flexner dives deep into the entire life of George Washington but keeps the narrative moving along and doesn't drag at all. I learned the most from the first volume, about Washington's early life, and the last volume, which is about his post-Presidential years. The reason is, most biographers spend less time on his years prior of the French and Indian War, and Washington just lived less than three years after he left the Presidency.
By the time Flexner wraps up his series, you will see how Washington grows from a raw, gangly, undereducated young man to one of the greatly admired men of world.
George Washington was a complex man with great abilities and character, but also a man with faults. Flexner breaks down the human side of Washington quite well, and takes away the image of a marble statue.
This is a first-class effort. Highly recommend for those interested in George Washington.
October 11, 2018
This was probably the best book in the series. Much more readable and enjoyable to me.
March 22, 2019
Whew. That. Was. A. Whole. Deal.
First presidential biography clocked in at right around 2,000 pages.
This volume covers his second term as president, and concludes with his death at Mount Vernon.
Washington's position in the historical memory of later generations - particularly during the twentieth century - would surely have been less troubled had he preserved in his determination not to accept a second Presidential term. However, such a refusal would have been for the evolving United States a misfortune, if not a disaster.
The story of George Washington, sans the French and Indian War, is largely a story of a man reluctantly thrust into the chaotic birth of a nation. It seemed like every time he had to leave Mount Vernon, he had to be drawn out by his peers, and he was always hesitant to take charge of whatever crisis seemed to be plaguing the land at that moment - and there were several.
Many of the events which are cited by his critics as damaging to his reputation - and which also came close to breaking his heart - took place during Washington's second term. But he did succeed in keeping the United States at peace while all the surrounding world went up in flames, and he created the foreign policy which the nation was to pursue - with one major slip in 1812 - for more than a century, during which the nation grew, almost unmolested from abroad, into the great power which during 1916 moved again onto the European scene.
For his inability to take criticism being one of the faults most often attributed to him, he sure weathered a lot of it during the last 6 years of his presidency.
Despite the most violent provocations, Washington did not, while he was in power, make or support even the slightest legal or official move towards curtailing the freedom of the press.
Hamilton and Jefferson were basically Washington's rock and hard place. Even after both had left public office, the parties they created would live on and torment Washington no less. His neutrality with regards to the war in Europe was not received well at the time, and has been a target of historians ever since. The author does a good job at looking at the Neutrality Proclamation and the Jay Treaty with historical context. Washington was in a situation where there was no winning. Whatever path he chose, aside from claiming the head of a faction, would upset his adversaries. So he just did what he thought was best for the country.
Although the corollaries they drew were opposite, Jefferson and Hamilton, the Republicans and the Federalists, agreed that neutrality did not exclude helping your favorite side...Washington disagreed: he wished to keep neutrality on an even keel without experimenting on how far you could tip it safely to either port or starboard.
There can be no doubt that when the European war first exploded and for a considerable time thereafter his personal sympathies were pro-French. Yet as early as October 1789 he recognized, as Jefferson and the Republicans failed to do, that the French upheaval was traveling in directions unfavorable to the rights of man. Since he considered tyranny the same monster from whatever direction it came, he could see no major gain for humanity in a victory of either the British or the French...America's best contribution to the future of mankind would not be, he believed, to serve as a makeweight in European squabbles...Underneath his relative unconcern with the immediate pitches of history lay the bedrock of Washington's conviction that, whatever happened abroad, the United States could, if the people remained united, take care of herself.
...Washington saw the west as a continuing source for "incorruptible love of liberty." A man thus shaped, with such memories and such convictions, could only listen with amazement and regret when those two lawyers who had hardly strayed from the safe settlements, Jefferson and Hamilton, insisted that the American future depended on who won the European war.
I don't know. I didn't really like reading about the last 6 years of his presidency. It was a little depressing. His younger years, and the revolution were fascinating and exciting and engrossing. While I don't doubt what he did as president was equally as important, maybe more, I could just feel that he hated it once the factions dug their heels in - he was taking part in a necessary role that he didn't really want to play and I enjoyed reading about it less. It felt almost merciful when he finally died, and no wonder he seemed so fine with the prospect. His last words were "Tis Well."
He also said, during his last day on earth: "I die hard... Which...is like, one of the coolest things to say if you're dying. "I die hard, but I am not afraid to go...but let me go off quietly...I am just about to change my scene... You almost breathed a sigh of relief when he dies. Maybe he'll finally be able to rest.
So 4 volumes later, what is to be said about George Washington that hasn't already been said? I can't say much more than what's already been said in my past reviews, aside from I think he was one of the greatest men who ever walked the face of the earth. I'll leave it to the author's excellent concluding thoughts.
Many influential writers have studied Washington's governmental thoughts and actions less to discover what really happened, than to make their findings relevant to their own ideas concerning their own particular times.
To an extent which under examination becomes shocking, the passage of years has buried in historical memory the living Washington. The charm and splendor of his character, the greatness of his contribution to the United States and to human freedom everywhere, have been distorted into various caricatures, which are now regarded as the true man...The cold hero who never smiled or loved or told a lie; the comic figure characterized by wooden false teeth; the hypocritical crook who refused any salary as Commander in Chief and then forged his expense account; the autocrat chuckling as he undermined the republican aspirations of American people; the self-congratulatory stuffed shirt - none of these could possibly have done what the record reveals Washington did.
The mature Washington did not, like Jefferson and Hamilton and Adams, express under the moment's incitation a violent opinion one day that he would contradict the next...Thus he applied "judgment" to the ends more commonly sought by "genius."
Although his intelligence and strength and will carried him ahead on his own momentum, he always felt the need of at least one companion to run beside him. It is amazing how numerous these companions were and for how short a time most of them lasted (Reed, Lee, Gates, Madison, Jefferson, Randolph, Hamilton)...The trouble seems to have been Washington's fundamental self-reliance; he moved on his trajectory like a cannon ball. Nothing much clings to a cannon ball.
Many of the philosophical conceptions Washington acted out had originated in France, yet France nurtured in her revolution not another Washington but Robespierre and Napoleon...the empire Napoleon created vanished while Washington's republic remained.
Almost every revolution except the American has eventuated in dictatorship that extinguishes liberty and human rights. For this there are profound reasons. Existing institutions are destroyed and all in turmoil. But the time comes when new institutions must grow rather than be instantly cut off at the roots. Then, a strong man puts one faction in power and forces with the sword unity on the nation.
While President...he was charged with desiring what he had, at a more favorable time, repudiated: trying to establish an American aristocracy with himself at the head...His detractors ran around at will, screaming as loudly as they pleased...The only defense Washington raised against his enemies was a wall of silence. As he retired of his own volition, he made no effort to influence the selection of a successor. He left the field wide open to his foes.
To dig for the ultimate motivation for Washington's behavior, is to unearth a conception mocked at and distrusted [today]: political virtue...The difference lay in his desire to apply that power for the betterment of his fellow men, his belief that his fame would be longer lasting if he did not engage in the dark passions and lust for conquest of his fellow rulers, but led mankind towards peace, self-determination for all nations, universal self-rule.
And one of the best closing passages I've ever read. Flexner truly is a wordsmith:
When an old man smarting under the lashed of his detractors, Washington comforted himself with the thought that "by the records of my administration and not the voice of faction I expect to be acquitted or condemned hereafter." His hope has been disappointed. Although the Washington who lived and was buried did leave solid records behind him, ghostly impostors, each wearing his face and costume, have walked hardly hindered in the American imagination. Generation after generation, he has been re-envisioned in a kaleidoscope of spurious guises. His memory has been pelted and revered. Politicians, fanatics, heroes, villains, prejudiced historians, superpatriots, iconoclasts, greedy hacks and self-enchanted clowns, sanctimonious simpletons, octogenarians in their wheelchairs and children escaping from their nurseries have all unloaded on his image their psychic wounds, their preconceptions, hungers, hopes, ideals, hates, and fears.
Let us turn away from this hurly-burly which has become completely irrelevant to the Washington who really lived; let us descend the bluff on the banks of the Potomac to the little dell which George Washington in his last years selected for his tomb. There is no pomp here, just a small vault embedded in a hillside and preceded by two hideous Victorian shafts raised to later inhabitants of Mount Vernon. Bugles and drums may come here sometimes but they are out of place. Here lies greatness without ostentation, the dust of a man who denied the temptations of power as few other men in history have ever done. A man who desired from his fellow men not awe, not obedience, but love.
First presidential biography clocked in at right around 2,000 pages.
This volume covers his second term as president, and concludes with his death at Mount Vernon.
Washington's position in the historical memory of later generations - particularly during the twentieth century - would surely have been less troubled had he preserved in his determination not to accept a second Presidential term. However, such a refusal would have been for the evolving United States a misfortune, if not a disaster.
The story of George Washington, sans the French and Indian War, is largely a story of a man reluctantly thrust into the chaotic birth of a nation. It seemed like every time he had to leave Mount Vernon, he had to be drawn out by his peers, and he was always hesitant to take charge of whatever crisis seemed to be plaguing the land at that moment - and there were several.
Many of the events which are cited by his critics as damaging to his reputation - and which also came close to breaking his heart - took place during Washington's second term. But he did succeed in keeping the United States at peace while all the surrounding world went up in flames, and he created the foreign policy which the nation was to pursue - with one major slip in 1812 - for more than a century, during which the nation grew, almost unmolested from abroad, into the great power which during 1916 moved again onto the European scene.
For his inability to take criticism being one of the faults most often attributed to him, he sure weathered a lot of it during the last 6 years of his presidency.
Despite the most violent provocations, Washington did not, while he was in power, make or support even the slightest legal or official move towards curtailing the freedom of the press.
Hamilton and Jefferson were basically Washington's rock and hard place. Even after both had left public office, the parties they created would live on and torment Washington no less. His neutrality with regards to the war in Europe was not received well at the time, and has been a target of historians ever since. The author does a good job at looking at the Neutrality Proclamation and the Jay Treaty with historical context. Washington was in a situation where there was no winning. Whatever path he chose, aside from claiming the head of a faction, would upset his adversaries. So he just did what he thought was best for the country.
Although the corollaries they drew were opposite, Jefferson and Hamilton, the Republicans and the Federalists, agreed that neutrality did not exclude helping your favorite side...Washington disagreed: he wished to keep neutrality on an even keel without experimenting on how far you could tip it safely to either port or starboard.
There can be no doubt that when the European war first exploded and for a considerable time thereafter his personal sympathies were pro-French. Yet as early as October 1789 he recognized, as Jefferson and the Republicans failed to do, that the French upheaval was traveling in directions unfavorable to the rights of man. Since he considered tyranny the same monster from whatever direction it came, he could see no major gain for humanity in a victory of either the British or the French...America's best contribution to the future of mankind would not be, he believed, to serve as a makeweight in European squabbles...Underneath his relative unconcern with the immediate pitches of history lay the bedrock of Washington's conviction that, whatever happened abroad, the United States could, if the people remained united, take care of herself.
...Washington saw the west as a continuing source for "incorruptible love of liberty." A man thus shaped, with such memories and such convictions, could only listen with amazement and regret when those two lawyers who had hardly strayed from the safe settlements, Jefferson and Hamilton, insisted that the American future depended on who won the European war.
I don't know. I didn't really like reading about the last 6 years of his presidency. It was a little depressing. His younger years, and the revolution were fascinating and exciting and engrossing. While I don't doubt what he did as president was equally as important, maybe more, I could just feel that he hated it once the factions dug their heels in - he was taking part in a necessary role that he didn't really want to play and I enjoyed reading about it less. It felt almost merciful when he finally died, and no wonder he seemed so fine with the prospect. His last words were "Tis Well."
He also said, during his last day on earth: "I die hard... Which...is like, one of the coolest things to say if you're dying. "I die hard, but I am not afraid to go...but let me go off quietly...I am just about to change my scene... You almost breathed a sigh of relief when he dies. Maybe he'll finally be able to rest.
So 4 volumes later, what is to be said about George Washington that hasn't already been said? I can't say much more than what's already been said in my past reviews, aside from I think he was one of the greatest men who ever walked the face of the earth. I'll leave it to the author's excellent concluding thoughts.
Many influential writers have studied Washington's governmental thoughts and actions less to discover what really happened, than to make their findings relevant to their own ideas concerning their own particular times.
To an extent which under examination becomes shocking, the passage of years has buried in historical memory the living Washington. The charm and splendor of his character, the greatness of his contribution to the United States and to human freedom everywhere, have been distorted into various caricatures, which are now regarded as the true man...The cold hero who never smiled or loved or told a lie; the comic figure characterized by wooden false teeth; the hypocritical crook who refused any salary as Commander in Chief and then forged his expense account; the autocrat chuckling as he undermined the republican aspirations of American people; the self-congratulatory stuffed shirt - none of these could possibly have done what the record reveals Washington did.
The mature Washington did not, like Jefferson and Hamilton and Adams, express under the moment's incitation a violent opinion one day that he would contradict the next...Thus he applied "judgment" to the ends more commonly sought by "genius."
Although his intelligence and strength and will carried him ahead on his own momentum, he always felt the need of at least one companion to run beside him. It is amazing how numerous these companions were and for how short a time most of them lasted (Reed, Lee, Gates, Madison, Jefferson, Randolph, Hamilton)...The trouble seems to have been Washington's fundamental self-reliance; he moved on his trajectory like a cannon ball. Nothing much clings to a cannon ball.
Many of the philosophical conceptions Washington acted out had originated in France, yet France nurtured in her revolution not another Washington but Robespierre and Napoleon...the empire Napoleon created vanished while Washington's republic remained.
Almost every revolution except the American has eventuated in dictatorship that extinguishes liberty and human rights. For this there are profound reasons. Existing institutions are destroyed and all in turmoil. But the time comes when new institutions must grow rather than be instantly cut off at the roots. Then, a strong man puts one faction in power and forces with the sword unity on the nation.
While President...he was charged with desiring what he had, at a more favorable time, repudiated: trying to establish an American aristocracy with himself at the head...His detractors ran around at will, screaming as loudly as they pleased...The only defense Washington raised against his enemies was a wall of silence. As he retired of his own volition, he made no effort to influence the selection of a successor. He left the field wide open to his foes.
To dig for the ultimate motivation for Washington's behavior, is to unearth a conception mocked at and distrusted [today]: political virtue...The difference lay in his desire to apply that power for the betterment of his fellow men, his belief that his fame would be longer lasting if he did not engage in the dark passions and lust for conquest of his fellow rulers, but led mankind towards peace, self-determination for all nations, universal self-rule.
And one of the best closing passages I've ever read. Flexner truly is a wordsmith:
When an old man smarting under the lashed of his detractors, Washington comforted himself with the thought that "by the records of my administration and not the voice of faction I expect to be acquitted or condemned hereafter." His hope has been disappointed. Although the Washington who lived and was buried did leave solid records behind him, ghostly impostors, each wearing his face and costume, have walked hardly hindered in the American imagination. Generation after generation, he has been re-envisioned in a kaleidoscope of spurious guises. His memory has been pelted and revered. Politicians, fanatics, heroes, villains, prejudiced historians, superpatriots, iconoclasts, greedy hacks and self-enchanted clowns, sanctimonious simpletons, octogenarians in their wheelchairs and children escaping from their nurseries have all unloaded on his image their psychic wounds, their preconceptions, hungers, hopes, ideals, hates, and fears.
Let us turn away from this hurly-burly which has become completely irrelevant to the Washington who really lived; let us descend the bluff on the banks of the Potomac to the little dell which George Washington in his last years selected for his tomb. There is no pomp here, just a small vault embedded in a hillside and preceded by two hideous Victorian shafts raised to later inhabitants of Mount Vernon. Bugles and drums may come here sometimes but they are out of place. Here lies greatness without ostentation, the dust of a man who denied the temptations of power as few other men in history have ever done. A man who desired from his fellow men not awe, not obedience, but love.
March 9, 2017
Would have given this final volume 5 stars, like the previous two volumes, however I would be lying if I said some errors didn't bother me.
This takes nothing away from Flexner's scholarship or work on Washington, which was exhaustive. But some errors in dates, particularly in vol's II & IV, marred my view and keep me from giving it the 5 stars it likely deserves. I will be coming back to Washington in the Chernow series and compare the two; however, for now I am taking a break and moving on to Adams.
This takes nothing away from Flexner's scholarship or work on Washington, which was exhaustive. But some errors in dates, particularly in vol's II & IV, marred my view and keep me from giving it the 5 stars it likely deserves. I will be coming back to Washington in the Chernow series and compare the two; however, for now I am taking a break and moving on to Adams.
July 15, 2018
The final volume of Flexner's excellent series on George Washington roughly covers the last seven years of his life: his second term as President and then his all-too-brief retirement before dying shortly before the end of the century. The first part of the book deals mainly with the controversy over the egotistical and troublesome French Minister Edmund Charles Genet. As in so many other books devoted to revolutionary figures, this one takes a dim view of Thomas Jefferson. This was a man who, as the first Secretary of State, while proclaiming to be a loyal subordinate of Washington, continuously worked behind his back to try to undermine his administration, causing Washington a great deal of angst and consternation as a result. Reading about Jefferson's involvement with Genet's unwise scheme of trying to create a separate country in the Spanish-controlled Mississippi Valley area by recruiting westerners to overrun the Spanish made me realize that what Jefferson was doing was, while not exactly treasonous, was incredibly stupid. Washington had specifically stated that he wished for no provocations of any of the European powers, and there Jefferson goes about secretly encouraging a rogue French Minister in his grand machinations. You almost want to feel sorry for Washington – who hated being President – as he keeps being betrayed by Jefferson, and James Madison to an extent as well, although Jefferson's insubordination is much worse since he was a Cabinet member and Washington really relied on him for help. Not that Alexander Hamilton, the Secretary of the Treasury, didn't cause his own problems as well, because he definitely did. Hamilton seemed to have his own agenda, while still trying to act within the confines of what Washington had set for him, while Jefferson was much more willing to try to undermine him.
The reader can feel the pressure ratcheting up on Washington the deeper he/she gets into the book. Washington – who only wanted to go home to Mount Vernon and live out his remaining years – continued to get buffeted by waves of controversy generated by the formations of the first political parties. He seemed to be able to do no right according to both Federalists and Republicans (whose name would later change to Democrats). Despite his repeated statements and actions that indicated that he had no desire to become a monarch-type figure, Jefferson and Madison nonetheless continued to believe that Washington was susceptible to becoming a dictator. Meanwhile, he could never totally appease Hamilton and the Federalists, who were forever in search of more power for the federal government. The resulting frustration seemed to age Washington as much as the trials and tribulations of the Revolutionary War did.
Washington had to personally help quell the Western Pennsylvania Whiskey Rebellion in 1794. In an age before train travel, he had to go by carriage and horseback across most of Pennsylvania before he deemed it safe enough to turn back towards Philadelphia. Washington took heat for going, with Republicans charging that he was attempting to subvert the people to the government. Well, in a way he had to, otherwise the young government would not have survived. But he was not doing it in the sense that he was being accused of doing; he simply wanted the people to understand that laws needed to be obeyed, and that fomenting a rebellion would only lead to anarchy. Of course, this is essentially what the Revolution had been about in the 1760s and 70s. At any rate, Washington was not trying to cow the people before him. Had he not gone, he undoubtedly would have been criticized for not exercising a firm hand on the reigns of government.
This frustration only increased when the Jay Treaty came back in the summer of 1795. By most accounts, it was a poor treaty from the United States' perspective, but put into the context of the time, John Jay had limited room to maneuver. Once again, one is struck by how ill-served Washington was by his top staff. Jay, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and Washington's special envoy to treat with the British, would not even come down from New York to meet with Washington in person once he returned from his mission. Imagine that happening today. James Monroe, meanwhile, was no better, preferring to put his loyalty to Jefferson ahead of the man that he was working for. Monroe did a horrible job representing the U.S. in France, and was insubordinate.
Flexner appears more neutral on Washington in this final installment than he does in the previous three books in the series. He notes Washington's decreasing powers of concentration and occasional failing memory. Washington was now in his mid-60s, which is certainly not old in today's society. But back then, living into your 60s was not anywhere close to expected, especially with diseases such as yellow fever running rampant at times in Philadelphia. Flexner notes that Washington's legacy on slavery is decidedly mixed: while in general he treated his slaves well (even though that seems to be accurate, it just does not seem right when looking at those words together, and certainly I find it morally unconscionable), he was capable of harsh treatment and cruelty at times. My overall impression on Washington and slavery is that he was not quite as hypocritical as Jefferson was about it, yet in the end they both willingly owned other human beings. It is difficult for me to fathom how anyone, at any time, could think that was remotely okay.
Flexner also takes Washington to task for interfering with the administration of his successor John Adams. Washington became demanding and somewhat conspiratorial in regards to becoming once again the head of the U.S. Army. Adams was having enough problems of his own (some certainly of his own making) without needing any additional burden from Washington. Flexner concludes with a chapter reviewing Washington's overall life and personality in relation to others and the times that he lived in.
In the end, I sense that Washington did not enjoy his brief (less than three years) period of retirement, and that he never found peace with the developing country that he helped found, and with himself personally as he left no direct heirs. Indeed, there is a sense of melancholy that seems to hover over this book as Washington's frustrations increasingly mount while he deals with aging and with partisan political attacks. Overall this is an excellent series to read: Flexner consistently tries to show both good and bad traits of Washington, and astutely analyzes his actions as both a general and a president. Why this series is not more well-known is a mystery to me as it engaging, fair, and easy to read.
Grade: A
The reader can feel the pressure ratcheting up on Washington the deeper he/she gets into the book. Washington – who only wanted to go home to Mount Vernon and live out his remaining years – continued to get buffeted by waves of controversy generated by the formations of the first political parties. He seemed to be able to do no right according to both Federalists and Republicans (whose name would later change to Democrats). Despite his repeated statements and actions that indicated that he had no desire to become a monarch-type figure, Jefferson and Madison nonetheless continued to believe that Washington was susceptible to becoming a dictator. Meanwhile, he could never totally appease Hamilton and the Federalists, who were forever in search of more power for the federal government. The resulting frustration seemed to age Washington as much as the trials and tribulations of the Revolutionary War did.
Washington had to personally help quell the Western Pennsylvania Whiskey Rebellion in 1794. In an age before train travel, he had to go by carriage and horseback across most of Pennsylvania before he deemed it safe enough to turn back towards Philadelphia. Washington took heat for going, with Republicans charging that he was attempting to subvert the people to the government. Well, in a way he had to, otherwise the young government would not have survived. But he was not doing it in the sense that he was being accused of doing; he simply wanted the people to understand that laws needed to be obeyed, and that fomenting a rebellion would only lead to anarchy. Of course, this is essentially what the Revolution had been about in the 1760s and 70s. At any rate, Washington was not trying to cow the people before him. Had he not gone, he undoubtedly would have been criticized for not exercising a firm hand on the reigns of government.
This frustration only increased when the Jay Treaty came back in the summer of 1795. By most accounts, it was a poor treaty from the United States' perspective, but put into the context of the time, John Jay had limited room to maneuver. Once again, one is struck by how ill-served Washington was by his top staff. Jay, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and Washington's special envoy to treat with the British, would not even come down from New York to meet with Washington in person once he returned from his mission. Imagine that happening today. James Monroe, meanwhile, was no better, preferring to put his loyalty to Jefferson ahead of the man that he was working for. Monroe did a horrible job representing the U.S. in France, and was insubordinate.
Flexner appears more neutral on Washington in this final installment than he does in the previous three books in the series. He notes Washington's decreasing powers of concentration and occasional failing memory. Washington was now in his mid-60s, which is certainly not old in today's society. But back then, living into your 60s was not anywhere close to expected, especially with diseases such as yellow fever running rampant at times in Philadelphia. Flexner notes that Washington's legacy on slavery is decidedly mixed: while in general he treated his slaves well (even though that seems to be accurate, it just does not seem right when looking at those words together, and certainly I find it morally unconscionable), he was capable of harsh treatment and cruelty at times. My overall impression on Washington and slavery is that he was not quite as hypocritical as Jefferson was about it, yet in the end they both willingly owned other human beings. It is difficult for me to fathom how anyone, at any time, could think that was remotely okay.
Flexner also takes Washington to task for interfering with the administration of his successor John Adams. Washington became demanding and somewhat conspiratorial in regards to becoming once again the head of the U.S. Army. Adams was having enough problems of his own (some certainly of his own making) without needing any additional burden from Washington. Flexner concludes with a chapter reviewing Washington's overall life and personality in relation to others and the times that he lived in.
In the end, I sense that Washington did not enjoy his brief (less than three years) period of retirement, and that he never found peace with the developing country that he helped found, and with himself personally as he left no direct heirs. Indeed, there is a sense of melancholy that seems to hover over this book as Washington's frustrations increasingly mount while he deals with aging and with partisan political attacks. Overall this is an excellent series to read: Flexner consistently tries to show both good and bad traits of Washington, and astutely analyzes his actions as both a general and a president. Why this series is not more well-known is a mystery to me as it engaging, fair, and easy to read.
Grade: A
February 10, 2018
This felt like a little bit of a drop off from the last two volumes, but it's still a good 4.5. It may just be me, since I find Washington's domestic life the most tedious part, and this volume had a lot about his life in retirement. Flexner does a great job of covering all that, and the second presidential term, however. And his overviews of Washington's second term and his life are excellent.
The whole series has been great and very comprehensive. I'm still interested in reading Chernow's Pulitzer Prize winning single volume biography to see how that compares. But this was a good start (or re-start) to my presidential biography challenge.
The whole series has been great and very comprehensive. I'm still interested in reading Chernow's Pulitzer Prize winning single volume biography to see how that compares. But this was a good start (or re-start) to my presidential biography challenge.
January 22, 2012
Great ending to a really good series.
March 30, 2019
Washington exits the stage, amidst much storm, scorn, and anguish, in James Thomas Flexner's concluding volume documenting the life of George Washington. Of all the Founding Fathers, Washington can seem the most inaccessible: even his monument is the most aloof and stoic, a towering pillar of granite rising from the center of the city bearing his name. It possesses little of the humanity of Lincoln gazing out over the Mall, Jefferson standing surrounded by his florid words, or the brooding portraits of Benjamin Franklin appearing as the suave and satirical grandfather of the new nation.
Flexner's series, particularly the last volume, corrects the impression of Washington as granite. Washington is seen struggling with the flourishing of pro-French Democratic Societies and struggling to keep America safe from the bloody wars and intrigues of France and Britain. Alas, Washington is vilified repeatedly by a press trafficking in "fake news" every bit as polarized as the modern-day media.
Through it all, Washington does appear perturbed, angry, resentful, and sometimes error-prone. However, the guiding light for Washington is always his judgment, his common-sense derived from experience rather than book-learning. His greatest achievements, beyond his active measures to win independence on the battlefields and secure it in the early days of the government under the Constitution, are his leaving of positions: Commander-in-Chief, as well as President. His faith in the people is extraordinary, even after years of seeing the absolute worst of many of them.
One aspect of Washington not completely resolved in this work, nor any work, is of his views on slavery. Surely he appears more progressive on the issue than Jefferson or Madison in freeing his slaves in his will. However, the description Flexner paints of the slaves living in quarters worse than any the Continental soldiers endured, as well as his pursuit of his escaped slave Oney Judge, lead a modern reader to question how a man so great could participate in something so fundamentally evil. The question will likely never be answered.
For all of the other questions, though, Flexner supplies many answers, and many good ones at that. His prose, though a little "old-fashioned" is pleasing and easy to follow. One has the sense of following Washington the man rather than reading a list of accomplishments.
Flexner concludes the series by finding that Washington truly yearned for the love of his countrymen. Modern Americans revere Washington; it is to be hoped that, by way of Flexner, we can love and appreciate the man as a human more than a monument or ideal.
Flexner's series, particularly the last volume, corrects the impression of Washington as granite. Washington is seen struggling with the flourishing of pro-French Democratic Societies and struggling to keep America safe from the bloody wars and intrigues of France and Britain. Alas, Washington is vilified repeatedly by a press trafficking in "fake news" every bit as polarized as the modern-day media.
Through it all, Washington does appear perturbed, angry, resentful, and sometimes error-prone. However, the guiding light for Washington is always his judgment, his common-sense derived from experience rather than book-learning. His greatest achievements, beyond his active measures to win independence on the battlefields and secure it in the early days of the government under the Constitution, are his leaving of positions: Commander-in-Chief, as well as President. His faith in the people is extraordinary, even after years of seeing the absolute worst of many of them.
One aspect of Washington not completely resolved in this work, nor any work, is of his views on slavery. Surely he appears more progressive on the issue than Jefferson or Madison in freeing his slaves in his will. However, the description Flexner paints of the slaves living in quarters worse than any the Continental soldiers endured, as well as his pursuit of his escaped slave Oney Judge, lead a modern reader to question how a man so great could participate in something so fundamentally evil. The question will likely never be answered.
For all of the other questions, though, Flexner supplies many answers, and many good ones at that. His prose, though a little "old-fashioned" is pleasing and easy to follow. One has the sense of following Washington the man rather than reading a list of accomplishments.
Flexner concludes the series by finding that Washington truly yearned for the love of his countrymen. Modern Americans revere Washington; it is to be hoped that, by way of Flexner, we can love and appreciate the man as a human more than a monument or ideal.
June 22, 2021
This volume, covering his second term and the time up to his death, completes the story of America's first President.
Having finished the four volumes, and having given each of them 4 stars, I think there's some synergy at work here. If I had a way to rate the series as a whole, I'd give it 5 stars.
The material in this volume is much like that in the previous ones: thoroughly researched, well told, and even-handed. The major events are the internal threats (the Whiskey Rebellion) and external threats (potential war with France), and the loss of his trusted advisors from his cabinet (the departures of Hamilton and Jefferson). In addition to the more or less chronological telling of events, we also get some welcome insight to his struggles with slavery.
I particularly liked the last few chapters at the end. The narrative ends with Washington's death: no funeral, no denouement, no description of his legacy. But we do get a few chapters that attempt to sum up the man and his accomplishments.
I think, perhaps, the first two volumes of the set could be read without reading the rest. Doing this might be of interest to those seeking information on the French and Indian Wars and/or the Revolutionary War. The last two volumes aren't stand-alone. At best, the third and fourth volumes could be read to learn about his presidency, but I truly believe the thing to do is read all four.
Having finished the four volumes, and having given each of them 4 stars, I think there's some synergy at work here. If I had a way to rate the series as a whole, I'd give it 5 stars.
The material in this volume is much like that in the previous ones: thoroughly researched, well told, and even-handed. The major events are the internal threats (the Whiskey Rebellion) and external threats (potential war with France), and the loss of his trusted advisors from his cabinet (the departures of Hamilton and Jefferson). In addition to the more or less chronological telling of events, we also get some welcome insight to his struggles with slavery.
I particularly liked the last few chapters at the end. The narrative ends with Washington's death: no funeral, no denouement, no description of his legacy. But we do get a few chapters that attempt to sum up the man and his accomplishments.
I think, perhaps, the first two volumes of the set could be read without reading the rest. Doing this might be of interest to those seeking information on the French and Indian Wars and/or the Revolutionary War. The last two volumes aren't stand-alone. At best, the third and fourth volumes could be read to learn about his presidency, but I truly believe the thing to do is read all four.
January 15, 2022
A summation, fantastic in describing how the fast-moving political world was leaving Washington behind, but always needed him just the same - a dichotomy that plagued him until his death. All in all, a great series, if not for the faint of heart (or the uninitiated).
December 21, 2019
FAREWELL. GEORGE WASHINGTON. GREAT BOOK. THANKS.
December 16, 2020
The masterful and concluding volume of James Thomas Flexner's multi volume study of George Washington. Rich and penetrating in its study of Washington the man and leader.
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