George Washington, Entrepreneur: How Our Founding Father's Private Business Pursuits Changed America and the World

by John Berlau

A detailed business biography of George Washington, focusing on his many innovations and inventions.

George Washington: general, statesman, businessman? Most Americans don't know that Washington was the country's first true entrepreneur, responsible for revolutionizing several industries. In George Washington, Entrepreneur, John Berlau gives us a tour of Mount Vernon, explaining how our founding father is at the heart of American innovation.

Some of Washington's contributions to business and invention:

-Every American mule can be traced to Mount Vernon; Washington was instrumental in breeding horses with donkeys to create a superior farm animal.

-Unlike most Virginia farmers, Washington grew vast fields of wheat. His state-of-the-art mill exported flour throughout the US and Europe. By stamping his initials on each package, he created GW Flour, one of the very first branded food products.

-On the advice of a Scottish worker, Washington built a distillery, grew all of the necessary crops, and became one of the largest American whiskey distributors of his time.

Showing an unfamiliar side of our Founding Father, lovers of business and history will find this book informative and enchanting.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, American History, Presidents, Business, Politics

272 pages, Hardcover

First published June 30, 2020

Reviews

[Sherrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

***I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway***

I very much loathe when an author writes a book on a topic only to go off the rails in the final chapter with some only tangentially related hot take. It's lazy and it makes me question the lens with which the rest of the book should be read through.

So...this book. It's short and interesting and if you're like me and don't know a whole lot about George or Martha Washington then it's a great place to start. I learned some interesting bits, gained respect for certain aspects of these people's character, and am definitely planning to read a more thorough biography (probably Chernow's) before too long.

And then there's the last chapter where the author went from discussing how George's early experience as a surveyor helped guide his approach to business to how to become a surveyor today to a several page Libertarian diatribe about EPA overreach and taxes being too high. 0_o Yeah, that happened. It was such a stretch and it was just painful to read. Like, bro. Stop ruining a good thing. Know when to stop. And this isn't even a knock on Libertarianism...it's a knock on bad writing.

[Debra Pawlak · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advance reading copy of this book from NetGalley.com in return for a fair review. I have been reading a lot about the Revolutionary War lately. This book details the business life of George Washington, which is a little different. There was much more to our first president than a white wig and the battles he led. John Berlau did a fine job bringing to life a brilliant businessman, hard worker and a man dedicated to making the world a better place. There were a lot of things I did not know about President Washington--for example, his take on slavery. Even though he owned slaves, he did not buy and sell them (he inherited most of them). He did not believe in separating families. In addition, when he died, he surprised everyone by freeing all of his slaves and giving them the choice of remaining at Mount Vernon or leaving. He also provided a pension for any who were disabled or too old to find work. In turn, Martha did the same with her slaves as she knew this is what her husband would have wanted. There was a lot to admire about the man, but at the very end of the book, the author decided to use it as a political platform and complain about all of the red tape that the government forces on entrepreneurs and businessmen. That was the deal breaker for me between a five-star and four-star rating. Otherwise, this is an excellent read and brings a little known side of George Washington to light.

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a different type of biography on our first president. It focuses on his agriculturals pursuits throughout his life and how he influenced the development of the early food industry in our country. The book is a quick read. I would recommend skipping the last chapter as the author gets on his soap box and diverges from the theme of the book. I would have rated the book higher except for the last chapter.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook  page.

[William Bahr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating, well-written, and well-researched book about the enterprising side of George Washington.

It covers by chapter: Introduction (Washington’s Greenhouse). 1. Iron Roots: How the Washington’s Family Fortunes Rose, Fell, and Rose Again. 2. The Education of an Entrepreneur: An Eighteenth-Century Boyhood. 3. A Dirty Job: The Origins of Washington’s Career as a Surveyor and Land Speculator. 4. Washington’s Social Network: The Key to Success in Business, Life, and Politics. 5. George and Martha: Partners in Life and Business. 6. Washington’s Green Thumb: The fields and Orchards of Mount Vernon. 7. Washington’s Mount Vernon: The Making of an Industrial Village. 8. Success and Revolution. 9. Father of Invention: Washington’s Support for Eighteen-Century Innovators. 10. Never at Rest: Washington’s Final Years. 11. Mount Vernon and Washington’s Legacy. Acknowledgments. Appendix. Notes. Index.

Throughout the book, one will find many interesting examples of how Washington was: a realistic-visionary, experimentalist, perfectionist, micro-manager, innovative agriculturalist, Renaissance Man, and overall creative genius. In so many words, he was enlightened, energetic, profit-driven, practical, and immensely curious about how things worked. He was, of course, in addition to being a warrior and a statesman, an entrepreneur in so many things.

A very minor observation for the author’s next edition: The photograph in Chapter 2 is not a view of Mount Vernon Today from Across the Potomac River, but a view of Fort Washington Park, MD, across the river from Mount Vernon. Also a heads-up: some may find the author's assertions in the final chapter on Washington's legacy a "silver-dollar-throw-over-the-Potomac" too far.

All in all, however, and bottom line, I think you’ll find this a marvelous read. Highly recommended by a fellow author!

[Anne Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

"George Washington, Entrepreneur" looks not at Washington's role as president or general, but as farmer and landowner, His curiosity with the world and keen powers of observation helped him see things that could be improved instead of just done the way everyone else did them. This led to gristmills, fisheries, and distilleries- among other things- allowing Mount Vernon to remain a viable estate. While much of the information was interesting, I wish that Berlau had gone into more detail, perhaps comparing Washington's work or developments with other farmers in America at the time, or those in Europe, so the reader could get a better sense of the importance or uniqueness of Washington's decisions. Much of the book read to me more like "Washington did this" without necessarily putting it into a larger context to help the reader understand its importance- like building a greenhouse. The writing was choppy, with lots of short sentences that made the flow uneven, and there was more repetition than I thought the book needed. I do give Berlau full credit for saving his own views on regulations and his arguments for why Washington would or would not like how things stand today until the last chapter, instead of pushing his personal agenda throughout the entire book, as some authors would. Overall, I found "George Washington, Entrepreneur" somewhat interesting, but I would have wished for more in-depth analysis context than was given.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

[Fire]

This was a very interesting look into the life of our first president. George Washington was much more than just a military leader and president. He was an avid gardener and had his own greenhouse full of fruits that for the time were considered exotic, such as pineapple and citrus. Washington even grew hemp for making rope and other materials from and bred mules for sale. He even started growing wheat and built a mill to sell flour so customers wouldn't have to grind it themselves. Earlier in life he was a land surveyor and all of his life was a lover of inventions. He often would have inventors demonstrate products to him.

What an interesting read and amazing look into the full life of our first president. I was really intrigued to learn so much about a man I knew so little about outside of his military and political life.

5 Stars!

[Cristie Underwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a unique look at our first a President. I had no idea that he was responsible for mules being created or that he owned a distillery. The business side is one that we don’t hear about with Washington, but these accomplishments are important to know about, as they give a true picture of the personality our President had.

[Peter A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Often authors of histories need to decide on the perspectives they will be providing and prioritize the slices of the history they will tell, be it the politics, wars, society, or economics. In this book, the author gives us a glimpse of Washington, the innovating business man. In the author’s own words (from his Introduction):

"This is a story—told through the careful examination of primary documents—of an innovative entrepreneur who forged a nation through the leadership and management skills he developed in the burgeoning American business world.”

“For them (George and Martha Washington), as for entrepreneurs today, their business pursuits were personal. They poured their passions, creativity, and ingenuity into growing Mount Vernon and its enterprises. And when George saw what they had built coming under threat from increasingly oppressive British taxes and regulations, it motivated him to lead the fight both for his own liberties and those of his countrymen.”

Through an extensive review of diaries (starting from when he was 14 years old), business correspondence, sometimes receipts, as well reading many other biographers of Washington, the authors tells the unique story of Washington’s experience as a surveyor, investor, farmer, and ultimately of a business man that has created multiple industries around his beloved Mt Vernon.
[Note: Collectively Washington’s document, now part of the Library of Congress, “occupy 163 linear feet of shelving and 124 reels of microfilm.”]

The author writes enthusiastically and offers many examples of Washington’s experience which provide insight into Washington’s character, leadership abilities, and thoughts about the future of Mt Vernon and the country. One such example from the Introduction tells of Washington’s interest in learning how to build a green house, and how he goes about asking for input from other people, even as a retired general of the continental army.

The author stresses repeatedly, and with some evidence, that Washington was a life-long learner, reading many books, and asking questions of experts around the country and the world.

Let me relate several insights I gained (although many more exist).
• Surveying helped him start a career, and his meticulous approach and care with that enterprise made him some wealth and built trust with his customers. However, he gave up this career because of regulations. However, surveying lead to his appreciation of maps, and of land. He was able to acquire good land, and the use of maps helped him in the Revolutionary war.
• His activities around Mt. Vernon evolved over time. Before many of his contemporaries, he realized that tobacco was not a crop he could depend on, so, he first migrated to wheat, after consulting others. That lead naturally to building a mill, and making a business from the flour. He evidently also was concerned about positive name-recognition so he ensured a type of copyright to his brand. He designed an 18-sided storage bin. Later he also used the grain to make whiskey; he added a forge for tools; he kept animals, and used the wool from the sheep in on site weaving. Thus, he made around Mt Vernon a small industrial village.
• The match with Marsha Washington was a critical one for Washington, since he relied on her to help manage these small and growing enterprises. Interestingly, after her first marriage, she had two offers to marry. She chose the one with a bit less money and land, but with ambition and plans.
• When he feared that the English could continue to restrict ventures (e.g., industry) in the colonies he with George Mason (likely the primary writer) drafted what would be called the Fairfax Resolve (1774) – a declaration of economic independence from England, to prevent England from taking away the wealth and industries (businesses) he created. They also outlined constitutional rights of the colonists.
• Statement 17 of the Fairfax Resolve is about slavery. In particular it states “Resolved that it is the Opinion of this Meeting, that during our present Difficulties and Distress, no Slaves ought to be imported into any of the British Colonies on this Continent; and we take this Opportunity of declaring our most earnest Wishes to see an entire Stop for ever put to such a wicked cruel and unnatural Trade.”
• Washington also had misgiving about slavery, and in a three-page Emancipation Clause, to his will – written about 6 months before his unexpected death – he described his plan about freeing slaves, educating them, caring for them if they could not find work.

So why is the author telling this story. There seem to be (at least) two reasons.

First, Washington’s interest in creating and supporting new ideas is normally not associated with him, and not to the extent it is associated with Franklin and Jefferson. The author wishes to set the record straight(er) that Washington had a practical and inquisitive nature, keen to learn, ambitious to improve himself throughout his life, willing to learn from others. These skills are demonstrated by how he created or applied ideas to create new activities and improved processes around Mt Vernon, his ability to talk with many people, his ability to lead an army, and his interest in this issue as the first President.

The second motivation of the author is to use the basic and unencumbered entrepreneurial spirit of Washington to advocate for a rethinking of regulation in today’s United States (this in the last few pages of the book). In several places in the book the author distinguishes regulations for protection and safety from those regulations to keep people out of a profession to ensure wealth of those already there, understanding the need for the former and objection to the latter. He finishes with the comment that while taxation is based on representation (Congress) there is often a disconnect between laws and the administrative rules on regulations, for which there is no representation or in fact perhaps no link to Congress. [I am just relating the view of the author, to indicate the shift in tone he takes in the last chapter.]

Overall, the book provides insights and examples of a George Washington many of us do not associate with the first president of the United States. This is a contribution.

Let me close with some additional quotes from the book.

Leading to the revolutionary war
“But the specific reasons Washington gives for turning against Britain have been largely overlooked. This is likely because these reasons can’t really be grasped without an understanding of Washington’s entrepreneurial activities up to this point.

“In his letter, Washington expressed the fear that Britain would not just tax the goods he purchased but shut down his new enterprises through regulation.

“The response (to a law) of Washington and many others was to double down on the type of manufacturing that had been banned or discouraged by the British. With Martha’s help, Washington ramped up Mount Vernon’s textile production.”

Post war
“In his first address to Congress on January 8, 1790, Washington called for the “introductions of new and useful inventions from abroad” and “encouragement . . . of skill and genius in producing them at home.” Congress passed the Patent Act later that year for the purpose (in the Constitution’s words) of “securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.”

“So how did America break from history and show the world how to love inventors? It had a lot to do with both the policies and example set by George Washington, who championed inventors both as president and in his dealings with them as a private citizen.”

“Understanding people from all walks of life is also one of the keys to successful entrepreneurship. To create a market for a good or service, an aspiring entrepreneur has to be familiar with the wants and needs of those he wants as customers.”

Finally, as a disclaimer, I was invited to review a pre-publication version of this book by St Martin’s Press. I wish to express my thanks for this opportunity.

[Antonio · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a uniquely bad book. This book serves only two purposes.

The first purpose is to build the myth of Washington (and American exceptionalism?) by making him out to be something he is not by exaggerating his accomplishments, and even worse, by making his participation in enslaving human beings (and supporting the institution) seem as though it is non-existent, and then later in the book just incidental. These examples are from the introduction alone:

".. the management of his farms at Mount Vernon. ... Washington found time to compose meticulous instructions to his managers about plowing ..." - speaking about his PLANTATION and his OVERSEERS.

"Washington can hold the title of 'self-made man.'" - From a man who inherited land and enslaved people, and who continued to acquire land and enslaved people who would work that land (among other demands) throughout his life.

"When George saw what they had built coming under threat from increasingly oppressive British taxes and regulations, it motivated him to lead the fight both for his own liberties, and those of his countrymen." - Talking about fighting for liberties from taxes and regulation while ignoring his own enslavement of others.

The issue of slavery isn't seriously addressed until we approach the end of the book as a way to celebrate Washington for being forward thinking and including how he said he wanted all the enslaved people that were considered his property to be freed upon his death in his will. Only one was freed at that time. More would be freed later for fear of revolt, but most of the enslaved at Mount Vernon and on his other plantations were not freed. That wasn't entirely on him because family members still considered enslaved people their property, but he never freed them while he was alive, and he certainly never publicly advocated for the end of the institution of slavery. Yet this book makes him out to be on a path toward abolition. Total nonsense.

The second purpose of the book is to make a statement against the government's role in harming business through taxation and regulation. It's a statement we've heard a million times from conservatives and libertarians, but it is odd to see it in a book that you would think is an objective telling of George Washington's so-called entrepreneurial life. Of course, reading everything up to that point makes clear that it is not objective in any way. So it comes as no surprise that this final statement against government interference in the marketplace is also a selective argument that ignores the many ways in which the government actually fuels large corporations and industries at the expense of the rest of society through subsidies, policing of society, the military industrial complex, a regressive tax code that gives the largest breaks to those with the most, and turning a blind eye to monopolistic practices, among others.

I kept reading beyond the introduction to see how bad it could get. After finishing the book I can say that it is all really really bad. I don't understand how anyone could give it more than one star, even if you think the institution of slavery should be ignored or if you believe that the government exists solely to maximize corporate shareholder profits.

[Alger Smythe-Hopkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

A delightful example of amateur history that makes every possible error at some point. I knew I was in for a rare experience when I encountered this on the first page of the text:

Traveling with his older brother in the hopes that the warm tropical weather would improve Lawrence's ailing health, the young Washington wrote of the "many delicious fruits" he had tasted. These included pears, oranges, and pineapples....

Immediately I thought, "Huh? Pears grow in Virginia, not Barbados. Did Berlau just leave off the first word of alligator pear?"
One quick google later I found that in Barbados and Ghana the name for avocado is simply "pear" since they can't grow d'Anjou in the Caribbean. Okay, not a great opening page, but this is an interesting mistake since Berlou apparently believed that Washington had never tasted a pear before going to a place where they don't grow. That was when I snapped into FACT CHECK MODE. So yeah, there are a lot of simple factual errors in this book that go beyond words George Washington wrote in his diary. Here is a sample of fact errors just from the book blurb:

-Every American mule can be traced to Mount Vernon; Washington was instrumental in breeding horses with donkeys to create a superior farm animal.
Yeah....this is just wrong. George Washington did introduce a superior breeding stock of larger donkeys to the United States, but the mule arrived in America with the Spanish. They were well known, common in regions bordering the Spanish colonies of Florida and Louisiana, and traded across the south from the start of English settlement. Furthermore, in the 19th century the Spanish government relaxed donkey export restrictions so hundreds of thousands of donkeys arrived in the states specifically to breed mules, so most mules in the U.S. can't even claim decent from Royal Gift. Similarly, as mules are a sterile hybrid, no mule "can be traced to Mount Vernon" except in the metaphoric sense that Washington's fame helped popularize them as farm animals, but Berlau don't do metaphor.

-Unlike most Virginia farmers, Washington grew vast fields of wheat. His state-of-the-art mill exported flour throughout the US and Europe. By stamping his initials on each package, he created GW Flour, one of the very first branded food products.
Again, this is fiction. The original English colonists introduced wheat into Virginia in the 1600's. In fact wheat production was the law in Jamestown after the initial settlers nearly starved to death in the first year. Later the colonists achieved self-sufficiency in wheat production by the 1630's, and George was seven years old in 1739 when we find records demonstrating that Virginia was exporting large amounts of wheat to the West Indies. (Harold B. Gill, Jr., "Wheat Culture in Colonial Virginia," Agricultural History, Vol.52, No.3 (Jul., 1978), p.381)
The only part of that assertion that holds up is that Washington was unlike most Virginia farmers in growing vast fields of wheat. Washington was able to do so because he was the richest man in the colonies and owned incredible amounts of farmland to plant that wheat. It also is important to note that George was still growing vast fields of tobacco. It's not like he was going to give up that cash crop and he had the land to diversify. As to the "one of the very first branded food products" claim, maybe if we limit our scope to the colonies, but branded products had been around a long time before George built his gist mill. In fact in my refrigerator I have a jar of Maille mustard, a brand founded in 1747, when George was 15 and still hadn't ever tasted a single pear :(

-On the advice of a Scottish worker, Washington built a distillery, grew all of the necessary crops, and became one of the largest American whiskey distributors of his time.
Now this one really bugged me as a misleading claim, because there were a lot of distillers in the colonies - I mean a whole lot. Colonists drank spirits constantly, and distilling whiskey was so vital to the western sections of the newly formed United States that farmers rose up across the region to protest a tax on distilled spirits imposed during the presidency of one George Washington. Yeah, it wasn't like George was unfamiliar with the concept of distilling because they even called this insurrection against unfair taxation The Whiskey Rebellion (Washington sent in the army to crush the rebels by the way).
Also, again, the reason George could grow all the necessary crops and could build the infrastructure to become one of the largest American distributors of his time was that he had the land, the money, and the slaves to make all of this easy. This wealth of resources is why nearly all of the Virginia "founders" had some distilling operation going, this is why there is a chain of Washington DC restaurants serving booze inspired by the various recipes of Madison, Jefferson, Washington, Monroe....

There are so many misrepresentations, factual inaccuracies, and bad history in this volume that to point them out is to reprint the book. Instead let's investigate what I really found interesting: Just why did Berlau write this book?
It wasn't that he wanted to approach this biography with a new angle of First Entrepreneur: How George Washington Built His - and the Nation's - Prosperity because that book already existed. Berlau even cites Lengel's book repeatedly. No, instead he has a much more interesting project that takes issue with one of Lengel's assertions. Berlau plainly did not like that Lengel considered Washington "lucky" in that he was born into the Virginia planter class and married well. That Lengel makes a point of stating that Washington skillfully built upon these windfalls of wealth and property to multiply what he inherited is immaterial to Berlau. For him George's arc has to be a struggle of the Founding Libertarian from childhood deprivation to soaring world changing greatness. Neither did Berlau like that Lengel presented a Washington who used his position and wealth to create advantages for himself. One moment that literally made me choke was a passage where Washington, while serving in the House of Burgesses, introduces a bill that would regulate trademark in the colony. What? Our founding libertarian introduces a regulation?????? Berlau is ON IT.

Many regulations today are rightly criticized as limiting consumer choice, protecting established firms by limiting competition, and escaping accountability through being issued by a remote bureaucracy. Washington's bill contained regulation, but was limited to the core governmental function of protecting consumers from fraud. It did not restrict free entry into the flour-making business by placing limits on the number of manufacturers. And it came straight from the House of Burgesses, an elected body that could be defeated in the next election, making it far different from British edicts imposed on the colonists without their consent.

Yeah, yeah... uhm sure it looks like George is supporting a regulation, but I really want you to notice that anyone is perfectly free to start their own "flour-making business" to compete with the richest man in the Americas who already has an established market and vast fields of wheat. Also, please notice that "flour-making business", aka: "milling". Berlau is so ill informed on the basics of farming and the 18th century production economy that is at the heart of his book that he makes very basic mistakes. At one point he suggests that Washington replaced his seed drill "barrel plows" with threshers. I just... using threshers to plant wheat? Wow. Meanwhile, I still believe that Berlau never understood the purpose of the twelve sided barn and just kind of thought it was a neat architectural whimsy. The twelve-sided barn was used for threshing, a fact that made me laugh all over again while rereading Berlau's passages about the barn.

Now I need to point out that Berlau's amateurishness goes beyond bad faith arguments, ignorance of the subject, continual misrepresentations of George's very entitled lower upper class upbringing, and citing ancient scholarship, webpages lacking citations, and Basic Books just because it agrees with his own views. His chapters don't make sense in the frame of his project, since they don't present new information or a new interpretation of Washington that supports his claim of entrepreneurial genius. As with the trademark bill Washington sponsored to protect his own business interests, Berlau keeps being caught by how very unlibertarian the man was, and how his business interests were closely aligned only with growing his farming empire. So he talks around facts, and if he can't avoid something, he interprets it for us so that it fits his story. As a young man Washington may have inherited 1,400 acres, buildings, money, slaves, and social connections with the elite of the colony, but really he was badly off and struggling.
The pinnacle of Berlau's amateur hour historiography arrives around the midpoint between the covers. George Washington has died and his slaves are freed after Martha dies (serious libertarian cred there for some reason). Where to from here? Well any serious writer would use this final section to restate and summarize their argument within the body of evidence they have presented. Berlau can't do that since he has given us nothing like a coherent argument, and so in Chapter 11 Berlau - finally freed of the burden of having to conform Washington's actual life and words - begins to unravel. The result is a random walk through whatever Berlau can possibly attribute to the virtuous influence of George's impeccable libertarian example. It's rambling and utterly disconnected from what came before. I'm not sure how a history of the Mount Vernon estate and museum plugs into the tale of our First Entrepreneur, but it's retold there in great detail. Then comes a weirdly long acknowledgements for such a short book, and then 35 pages of reprints of source documents that don't really scream Entrepreneur at me either. At the end comes the index that documents how hilariously thin and cherry picked the actual research of this volume was.
All told, this was a hoot. It's a lousy history and biography, but I loved reading it.

[Charlotta Liukas]

A fun premise - looking at George Washington through his commercial activities - with an uninspiring outcome, strangely peppered with the author’s own views on anti-regulation.

I found this book on my library’s tiny “What’s New” shelf and remember again how much I miss bookstores staff curation, browsing library shelves and the Dewey Decimal System (in all the Swiss libraries I’ve visited, the books are arranged in closed shelves and unthematicly according to date of publication, making it impossible to randomly browse books - you have to know what you’re looking for in advance)

[Rick Mitchell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is short. Not short enough, though. It is filled with filler. The first three chapters don't even address Washington's businesses. The next two are about his social network and wife. It is, however, a great advertisement for Mount Vernon and a soapbox for the author's admitted drive to reduce regulations in business. It is only worth it if you have an hour and want to skim for the nuggets that are actually about Washington's business interests.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

George Washington Entrepreneur:
How Our Founding Father's Private Business Pursuits Changed America and the World
By John Berlau
Narrated by: Corey Gagne


Did you know that George Washington was one of America’s first entrepreneurs? No, well neither did a lot of us. But it’s true George Washington was a very forward thinker, a man beyond his time, ambitious and honest and as readers will learn in this exciting biography a true leader.
This book will tell readers how George, a third son made himself rich, how he went from loyal colonist to rebel with a cause. How through dogged determination he started on the long road of self made man, finally turning Mount Vernon (that was never supposed to be his) from a mediocre tobacco farm to a showplace of modern ingenuity, a self-sustaining industrial village including a Dairy, Grist Mill, Textile factory, and fishery and how he did this by excellent land management and by always asking questions, always seeking advice of those who were forward thinkers like himself. Most importantly for today’s world was that George Washington was an abolitionist, yes he was a slave owner like any successful land owner but he not only respected how slaves fought for the revolution but saw the damage that separating families did to them. So he never let any of his families be separated and during his lifetime saw to it that all of his slaves were freed and kept on as paid employees many of them living out their lives at Mount Vernon.

Coery Gagney does a great job of narrating this book his delivery is clear and his distinct voice is pleasant to listen to and makes the audio version the perfect way to enjoy this biography while commuting, traveling, walking or just sitting at home enjoying a listen.

If you’re a history buff, a George Washington enthusiast or love non-fictions about self made people this is a read for you. Also fiction lovers who relish history told in story form will find this incredible book hard to put down.

[Sam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Berlau paints an overly rosy and exaggerated view of Washington throughout this book. Early on, he refers to Washington's slaves as "workers", basically gives him credit for the invention of the steamboat (??) and makes little mention of Washington's many dubious land dealings and business ethics, both when dealing with the Native American tribes and his fellow countrymen. Berlau asserts that "more than most of the founding fathers, Washington can hold the title of self-made man", but later details his vast inheritance of slaves, farmland, and other property. Really- was Washington more "self-made" than say, Franklin or Hamilton?

In the final chapter, Berlau tries to leverage his idealistic picture of Washington to support his own Libertarian ideas about deregulation and government overreach; asserting that, of course, Washington would agree with him! Berlau cites government entities such as the SEC and EPA as those needing to be reigned in. In one passage, he states that "in recent years, small farmers have gone to jail for clearing puddles and ditches the EPA later declared to be "navigable waterways."", for which he cites a single article from 1997. After looking up this case, I found it was actually dropped, and the businessman in question faced no jail time. This is but one example of the "questionable" (or should we say, "false") narrative here.

Berlau, who has worked the past 15 years for a Libertarian think tank, seems more interested in furthering his own political ideas than he is in telling a historically accurate story of our first President. For a better overview of Washington as a businessman, skip this book and try something of substance, like The Indian World of George Washington by Colin G. Calloway.

[Sarah Pesnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. I even learned a few things that I didnt know previously, which is amazing considering the fact that I'm a huge history buff. Excellent job by the author.

[Lance McNeill · Rating 2 out of 5]

33% of the book is appendices, notes, index, etc.

There is about 20% of the content of this “book” that was interesting and relevant. The rest strayed far and wide covering everything from the author’s thoughts on government regulation today to speculation about what Washington might have thought about business and technology today. Reprieve is found about 2/3 through the book as copies of Washington’s letters (primary source material) and notes, index, acknowledgements, etc. add unnecessary bulk to the rest of the book.

[Adam Carman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find these "focus on a new angle about the most overexposed man in US History" books fail generally for one of two reasons--either they realize pretty quickly they don't have enough info and it devolves into another birth to death bio or they go way beyond their evidence. This book was interesting and did stay focused on its main argument--that Washington was a gifted entrepreneur--for the most part. It shared some interesting info--that Washington was the first to trademark food he produced.

Still, overall, it wasn't a great re-imagining. You can never keep the crusading types from their major point and the last chapter of the book devolved into Berlau getting to his real point: how much he hates business regulations and how George Washington would NOT approve. Yet his own discussion of how Washington was one of the first to urge conservation efforts (early Americans generally didn't think about consequences) shows that Washington might actually not have had a problem with regulating business to avoid exploitation. And comparing British taxation and mercantilism with today's regulatory economy is pretty strained. While a lot has changed and it's impossible to predict exactly where the Founders would fall in today's debates, there's at least as much evidence to suggest Washington would be pro-government regulation as there is to suggest he would be today's rabid libertarian lunatic. The American Revolution was never about being anti-government--it was about making sure the people were represented in government; it was never anti-taxation, it was anti-Britain-imposing-taxes-without-consent.

As often happens with adulatory biographies of business successes, the workers get overlooked. Berlau does finally get around to discussing slavery at the end of the story (and does so in a fairly even handed manner) but for most of the book one could be forgiven for thinking Washington's successes due to his own manual labor. I love the guy but we can't ignore that what he was able to do would have been impossible without an enslaved labor force. There's also little note of the displacement of Native Americans because it doesn't fit into the overall, successful-businessman-makes-good narrative Berlau is pushing.

Still, taken with that massive grain of salt, it was an interesting book. He did stay focused on Washington's business side, steering clear of simply retelling the stories of the Revolution and presidency and also delved into some of the more hidden relationships with inventors and scientists. He does provide evidence to his great point that Washington was right there with Jefferson and Franklin and Madison in terms of scientific understanding--he just applied it differently. He also helps see Martha as a worthy businesswoman in her own right (except, of course, again acting as if she did not benefit from a massive enslaved labor force). And finally, but probably greatest of all, he helps to laud and praise the Ladies of Mount Vernon for all they have done to save Washington's legacy. All in all, should be read with several other, more balanced books (Alexis Coe's "You Never Forget Your First" comes to mind) but is an interesting sidenote. Just maybe skip the preaching in the last chapter.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advance Kindle copy of this book from NetGalley.com in return for a fair review.

George Washington has proven that he had the ability to become the enterprising individual described in the title of this book: George Washington, Entrepreneur. He possessed adaptability, persistence, and exhibited a work ethic that eventually turned Mount Vernon into an industrialized village even throughout his long absences during the Revolutionary War and his presidency.

By phasing out tobacco and introducing several types of wheat, he rebuilt the gristmill with imported French buhrstones to produce branded “G. Washington flour” which was shipped throughout the colonies, England, and the West Indies. Experimenting with fertilizer, plowing, and crop rotation, he practiced soil conservation.

Berlau presents Great Britain’s policies dating back to the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries when the Industrial Revolution began. The colonists were not allowed a role in this manufacturing opportunity. We are also presented with the new policies enacted by Great Britain effecting the industries of Mount Vernon and its neighbors that moved him to coordinate with other colonists to begin the road that would lead to the revolution.

His experimental endeavors resulted in many successful enterprises producing the personal skills necessary to conduct the successful war and later manage his presidency. Berlau’s narrative has presented a more detailed account of the many talents Washington mastered to eventually command an army that would take on the British Empire. George Washington became not just an extraordinary entrepreneur, but an entrepreneur extraordinaire.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book from the author. I had the opportunity to review or not.

This book is a look at George Washing in a new role, that of the Entrepreneur. While many people are aware of President Washington’s role as Revolutionary Soldier, as a Founding Father to our great nation and as our first President, they are not as aware of his role as an entrepreneur who influenced many innovations during the development of America.

This is a fascinating look at his life as a farmer and his innovative changes to the farming practices during his life-time, his innovative use of crops to enhance his profits and develop new ways of keeping the land producing better crops. He was among the first American farmers to utilize the use of Greenhouses to grow food that was not otherwise conducive to the climate in Virginia. He used the Potomac River to create a Gristmill in order to supply flour to the colonialists, he exported fish from the river to Britain, among other innovations to his farm.

Many writers of his life do not consider him as a great innovator, reading this book may change their minds. Having been to Mount Vernon as a tourist I was surprised to see so much of his farming industry that was creative and profitable. He was definitely a man looking to the future and finding ways to preserve the farming way of life. If you are interested in George Washington as a man rather than a politician, this is a book that meets that criteria. Take a look at the George you haven’t known.

[Cozy Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a life long student of early America as a Daughter Of The American Revolution and was pleased to read this fascinating book for review. Thank you to the author and to Net Galley for the opportunity. My review opinion is my own. I highly recommend this book for your reading enjoyment for all who enjoy learning about our wonderful history.

Here we are introduced to the man behind the General, behind the President and the Constitution. We are introduced to a brilliant innovator. We learn that Washington was innovative at growing and selling crops , at export overseas and of creating products that would sell . He was self educated in every subject he was interested in and he did not stop at reading books. He put in practice through trial and error a thriving export business of wheat when others would only sell tobacco. He found a market overseas and successful created his export business. He grew various species of trees, fruits and vegetables other had never considered. His business senses of creating a distillery, species of mules, selling his products was unprecedented at his time. Washington never stopped learning throughout his life . He was brilliant at business and built a successful career around his beloved Mt. Vernon with all his pursuits .

I found this fascinating and I learned so much more here after years of studying Washington. I highly recommend this book and consider it a must read . It was fascinating and a wonderful account of our first President and his intelligence.

[Tiffany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Berlau's book offers readers a quick and informative introduction into the various ways George Washington engaged in entrepreneurship. While there is a lot one can gain from the book, there are problematic areas such as referring to the enslaved men and women on his property as "Washington's crew" or "Mount Vernon's workers" rather than actually addressing them as what they were negating the hardships and harshness faced by those people. The issue of slavery is addressed briefly later in the book, but I feel that fails to correct the misuse of terms throughout other areas of the book. Another problematic section of the book is the final chapter where Berlau pushes the political agenda of his company, Competitive Enterprise Institute, and essentially turns the entire book into propaganda for the company's ideology thus rendering the historical value of the work moot. IMO, as a writer or scholar of history, one should strive to limit personal bias that can cloud the focus of the historical information and render it less intellectual pursuit and more personal manifesto.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the DARC of this work in exchange for my honest review.

[David Brandt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a joy and very informative to read. A must for anyone who thinks that Washington's legacy has been embellished or exaggerated as it delivers a boatload of evidence to the contrary. I had always understood Washington to be a great general, leader, unifying force during the continental congress etc - and very tall and imposing! I had never understood that he was much more of a self-made man than most people think of him today as well as somewhat of a business genius and innovator in areas ranging from city planning to agriculture. I never knew of his very early success at age 19 as a surveyor - a skill which helped him as a general and one which he utilized until the end of his life. Although he is described these days as a somewhat inferior mind to someone like Jefferson or Franklin, this book makes clear that this was not at all true and that he was a true renaissance man and completely deserving of his title "father of his country." Well written, with tons of extra sources, letters etc. to back up his claims, Berlau's book is a fascinating look at a fascinating man.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't expect an unbiased review. Our family has been involved in American Revolutionary War re-enacting for years, and GW has always been our Commander In Chief.
But this book is about the whole man and his partner in life and in business, Martha, and how they were exceptional business persons without being crooks. I remember somewhere coming across a statement he made to the effect that he was "just a simple farmer." Ja. I've been to Mt Vernon and have seen the distillery, grist mill, etc. He diversified crops and discarded tobacco as a poor investment long before it was proved over a hundred years later. He involved himself in improvements in Virginia, and when the taxes on ironwork, wool, and other atrocities encroached on the good of the colonies he made the mind of the people known. There are a lot more instances and insights clarified in this book, but I think more people should invest in it besides those of us who follow the scent of cookfires and cannon fire.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley. Thank you!!

[Craig Pearson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. Washington's impact on American life is not disputed. What is more little known about him was his life outside of the Presidency and his generalship. This books has some aspects of a general biography but it focuses primarily on his inventiveness concerning agriculture and entrepeneurship. The author unfortunately is a compiler of information and quotes from other historians rather than making a contribution of his own thoughts. Still good information but it gets quite annoying with constant naming of other writers. When Berlau does get biographical he fails to be honest with Washington's involvement in the French and Indian War as the beginning of the greater Seven Years War. The author twice had the opportunity to show that Washington can rightly be the direct cause of the war because of his massacre of French soldiers. I understand that the point of the book was to show the positive contributions of Washington were but all authors need to historically accurate.

[Jim Benton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book at the Mt. Vernon bookstore with the thought that it was more a keepsake than a work of history. Boy, was I right.

The author makes several errors of omission including totally skipping Washington's role in starting a world war, almost totally ignoring his pursuit of the construction of a canal from the headwaters of the Potmac to the Ohio, and leaving out any discussion of Washington's avid persecution of western whisky distillers as tax cheats while making significant money making his own liquor.

The author also manages to credit Chancellor Robert Livingston with signing the Declaration of Independence when in fact he never did.

Berlau totally lost me in the final chapter, however, when he drops Washington like a hot rock to discourse over 10 pages on the inherent error of federal regulation. Why, you might ask. Beats me, I would answer. I'm pretty sure George would have been in favor of things like wholesome food and safe drugs.

I'll keep this book as a reminder of a pleasant visit to Mt. Vernon. It doesn't belong on the serious history bookcase.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read so many biographies of George Washington, all focusing on his role as first president. When I saw this book offered from NetGalley I wanted to read it for its different approach to his life. There was so much more t0 him than politics,. He was a great intellectual and creative man. I had visited Mount Vernon and wanted to know more about his business methods in agriculture. His attitude towards slavery is touched upon and his ability to adapt to the times was interesting.
There were just two things that kept this from being a five star review. First, I would have liked to have more historical details of agricultural methods worldwide for comparison. Second, I would have dropped the final chapter. The author, in my opinion, spoiled it by mounting his soapbox in the final chapter. But even with that quibble, I enjoyed it overall.
My thanks to the publisher, St. Martin's Press and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

[KathyNV · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, I thought I had a busy life! “George Washington, Entrepreneur” shows you a side of the former President that I never knew about. He was not only a politician and gentleman farmer but who would have thought you could use conservationist, explorer, inventor and distillery owner to describe him. This fascinating personal history of both Washington and his wife helps you to better understand the visionary man who was our first President. My favorite antidotes centered on the American Foxhound and “Royal Gift”. You will not believe the fun stories behind these two gifts! Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Goodreads for the opportunity to read this interesting study of George Washington.

[Lynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting book. I have not read much about George Washington and didn't realize his father died when George was young, which meant George didn't have the advantage of the English education his older brothers had. Nor did he inherit as much. Yet he was very productive from a young age. I mean what teenage boy now starts an apprenticeship and has a business a few years later. I also didn't know he was an inventor and entrepreneur. The writing style is easy-to-read and the has lots of information, but it not bogged down with dry facts. The author makes it more like a story.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and offer my opinion on this book.

[Christopher Cerone · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a unique look at George Washington, the entrepreneur and businessman. Berlau succinctly describes how the Founding Father was constantly experimenting with new agricultural techniques and business approaches, failing at times and succeeding at other times. Washington was constantly reading and learning from other successful entrepreneurs, a trait that served him well in business, politics and the military. This is an enjoyable and accessible glimpse into an under-appreciated aspect of Washington’s life.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audio version of this book. It was a quick listen that provided interesting info about George (and Martha) Washington. I would’ve given it 4 stars had it not been for the last 12 minutes or so of the book when the author complained about modern regulations and what he thought Washington would think of them were he still alive. It was a bizarre ending to what otherwise was a pretty good book.