The Making of the Prefident 1789: The Unauthorized Campaign Biography

by Marvin Kitman, John Cleese (Foreword)

George Washington was said to be "First in War, First in Peace." In The Making of the President 1789, humorist Marvin Kitman argues that our first president was also the first American leader to ride his personal foibles to political greatness. Kitman lampoons the modern "campaign insider" books, "How is it possible that a man with no military experience becomes a general? He loses more battles than he wins and becomes a war hero? He has absolutely no political opinions in the most sophisticated intellectual period of our history? He has no ambitions, and he wins?" Through careful research, Kitman exposes Washington's weaknesses for social climbing and high-stakes whist and his relationships with the Founding Girlfriends.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History, Humor

368 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1989

About the author

Marvin Kitman was an American television critic, humorist, and author.

Reviews

[Robfussell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Washington was naughty...very Naughty

[Riq Hoelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is primarily a biography of humor, and often very funny! But the author has clearly researched Washington very deeply, and particularly in matters of everyday life, which other historians do not cover, but which do reveal a subject's character. It does contain quite a few legitimate footnotes and notices some interesting trends such as the way Washington would continually manage his image and peoples emotions. He seemed to intuitively understand that the way to get most people behind an idea was not to appeal to their brains, but to their hearts.

Students of Washington are familiar with the way he gained sympathy with the soldiers during the near mutiny at Newburgh by putting on his glasses to read something and complaining that his eyes didn't work so well anymore. But did you know he used the exact same trick on two other occasions?

There's also a considerable amount about the Friends of Washington and the way he cultivated them to further his career.

Then too there are all the ladies who flocked to him, making one wonder what all was in those private letters Martha burned just after his death. And so on.

Seems unnecessarily harsh on Robert Morris. I don't think historians hold such a negative view today.

[Judith Bozeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too funny!!!

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

It seems like there are two types of books about history. The first kind is the dry husk of the past, the ones that say, "These are the names and these are the dates. Remember them, because you will be tested later." This is what people dread when they think of History: the marble monuments, the statuaries that the pigeons take a dump on. No blood flowing through it whatsoever.

Marvin Kitman is the other type of history writer, the type that wants to know who the people are under the armor-plated notions, and that brings us to The Making of the Prefident 1789, which is an attempt to put skin on the bone that is the "official" life of George Washington. By taking the modern perspective for his interpretation, Kitman makes for a humorous trip through the Revolution and paints Washington as a guy who became a war hero in spite of his actual battle record, and moved on to president (or "prefident", as he insists on spelling it), monument, bridge, city, etc. in spite of himself. In the process of doing this, we get a side-trip through the skeleton closets of the Founding Whatnots, the woman George left behind, and a few he didn't. It's a ripping read, and full of the types of juicy details your high school teacher left out.

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely hilarious! The untold story of George Washington's rise to power. When people mourn that there are no more heroes, no more great men, they should really be mourning the loss of really good press agents who created a myth a whole country could be founded upon. If all history was told like this, students would be more apt to hit the books.

[Lin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Redundancy reigns supreme in much writing today. This book is no exception. The humor is not strong and weakens with repetition. But I find the author on the mark regarding Washington's smugness and fake humility.

[Thomas Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic, fun read. A great way to learn about our first prefident.