George Washington: The Political Rise of America's Founding Father

by David O. Stewart

A fascinating and illuminating account of how George Washington became the dominant force in the creation of the United States of America, from award-winning author David O. Stewart

“An outstanding biography . . . [ George Washington ] has a narrative drive such a life deserves.”— The Wall Street Journal

Washington's rise constitutes one of the greatest self-reinventions in history. In his mid-twenties, this third son of a modest Virginia planter had ruined his own military career thanks to an outrageous ego. But by his mid-forties, that headstrong, unwise young man had evolved into an unassailable leader chosen as the commander in chief of the fledgling Continental Army. By his mid-fifties, he was unanimously elected the nation's first president. How did Washington emerge from the wilderness to become the central founder of the United States of America?

In this remarkable new portrait, award-winning historian David O. Stewart unveils the political education that made Washington a master politician—and America's most essential leader. From Virginia's House of Burgesses, where Washington mastered the craft and timing of a practicing politician, to his management of local government as a justice of the Fairfax County Court to his eventual role in the Second Continental Congress and his grueling generalship in the American Revolution, Washington perfected the art of governing and service, earned trust, and built bridges. The lessons in leadership he absorbed along the way would be invaluable during the early years of the republic as he fought to unify the new nation.

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

576 pages, Paperback

First published February 9, 2021

Reviews

[Raymond · Rating 3 out of 5]

David Stewart's biography of George Washington tells the story of a man who was an enigma to me. This is the first full length biography that I read of Washington and I enjoyed learning more about him as a person. Washington was a reader and a gambler, he was very organized, and had a bad temper (which is a trait I did not associate with him). The thesis of this book is that Washington was more of an ambitious political animal than we are generally led to believe. During the French and Indian War he pushed to be a Lieutenant Colonel even when he was not qualified for the role. He had a larger role in shaping how the U.S. Constitution was drafted, especially the office of the Presidency, so much so that some called it George Washington's Constitution. He was also a dealmaker which is shown most notably in the Assumption/Capitol location debate. The book closes with his death and how he handles his slaves in his will. Overall, the book is well written and researched.

Thanks to NetGalley, Dutton, and David Stewart for a free ARC copy in exchange for an honest review. This book will be released on February 9, 2021.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, the obvious and clichéd question: Do we need another book about George Washington? Well, if David O. Stewart writes it, I'm reading it. He's a wonderful author who tells a captivating and engaging story even if you already know what's coming next, and this book is no exception.

Nevertheless, the question remains: Do we need another book about George Washington? Ron Chernow's exhaustive and comprehensive "Washington: A Life" is the definitive modern biography that covers Washington's political life and more, while John Ferling's "The Ascent of George Washington: The Hidden Political Genius of an American Icon" shares Stewart's narrower goal of examining Washington's political acumen. So you could argue that Stewart's thesis is not breaking new ground - but he offers some unique perspectives that makes his book a worthwhile read, even if some of his conclusions are debatable.

Ferling's book has been criticized by some for being too hard on Washington - for finding reasons to knock him down a peg just to prove that he was human and not a flawless demigod. Ultimately, he and Stewart agree that Washington was not the reluctant hero of myth, but one who was ambitious, politically savvy and mindful of his reputation and legacy. Nothing wrong with that, as both also conclude that even a shrewdly self-aware Washington is well-deserving of the esteem in which he's held. But where they differ, is that Ferling calls Washington out for his faults, mistakes and political miscalculations, while Stewart seems to give him the benefit of the doubt, almost every time.

Some of Stewart's conclusions, while they might differ from others', are at least extremely well-argued and convincing. While many historians consider the Battle of Jumonville a disastrous mistake on Washington's part, Stewart makes a well-reasoned argument that Washington was justified in launching the attack. While many biographers suggest a romantic relationship between Washington and the married Sally Fairfax, Stewart makes a credible counterargument. While Washington is popularly regarded as silent and passive at the Constitutional Convention, Stewart presents evidence that he was subtly and importantly influential. While some argue Washington confronting and forcing the resignation of his longtime associate, Attorney General Edmund Randolph, was rash and based on unconvincing evidence of his treachery, Stewart makes a persuasive case that Washington was entirely right to be suspicious of Randolph's integrity. And he disregards Thomas Jefferson's unconvincing story - which many who write about the era accept as fact - about how the Compromise of 1790 came to be, by describing how Washington pulled strings behind the scenes to ensure the U.S. capital would be located along the Potomac in exchange for the federal government's assumption of state debts.

Other atypical conclusions Stewart reaches are not as convincingly supported with thorough, well-reasoned arguments. While some contend that Washington's decision to put down the Whiskey Rebellion by personally leading a military expedition was an overreaction and Washington was manipulated by Alexander Hamilton into doing so, Stewart simply agrees with Washington's own judgment that "it was a crucial success." While Washington's attack on his political opponents' "democratic societies" in his Sixth Annual Message to Congress is often seen as an unforced political error that provoked the nascent partisan divide, enraging and emboldening his opponents, Stewart defends the address as "tame" and "far milder" than it could have been. And even on the question of why Washington never had biological children, Stewart cites "family tradition" (while acknowledging it is "undocumented") that Martha became unable to conceive after her last pregnancy, but never entertains the notion that "a virile figure like Washington" might have been less virile than we think.

And there's at least one curious factual error, where U.S. Ambassador to France James Monroe is described as being left in the dark during negotiations with the British over the Jay Treaty - then a mere eight pages later, after the treaty is ratified, Washington is described as trying to placate an aggrieved France by recalling the sitting U.S. Ambassador to France and sending a new, pro-French ambassador - James Monroe!

So while he rarely finds fault with Washington, Stewart does rightly devote much attention to the often-overlooked period of Washington's life and career between the French and Indian War and the Revolution, crucial years during which Washington served in various public offices and learned the art of politics and governing that would later serve him so well. Stewart describes how Washington's political skills later allowed him to deftly outmaneuver his rivals and earn the loyalty of his soldiers during the Revolution, thwarting the Conway Cabal and putting an end to the Newburgh Conspiracy. And as President, his political skills allowed him to steer the country on a successful course, laying a strong foundation for those who would follow him.

Finally, the one area in which Stewart does not entirely give Washington the benefit of the doubt is slavery. Washington has largely been given great credit for freeing his slaves in his will, which is more than what other slaveowner presidents did, even those who claimed to abhor slavery. Stewart traces Washington's evolving views on slavery, his late-in-life efforts to get himself into a good financial position that would enable him to free his slaves without going broke, and tries to explain why he didn't adopt a more forceful position against slavery and use his will to denounce the institution and plead with his countrymen to do the same. Ultimately, though, Stewart leaves us with the sense that Washington's posthumous emancipation of his slaves was a bit too little, too late, and a tragic missed opportunity to exhort others to follow his example.

The book proceeds chronologically and covers most of the main aspects of Washington's political and personal life, though it's not strictly a biography - particularly during the Revolution, Stewart picks and chooses key events that support his thesis, while skimming or skipping others (Washington's string of early battle defeats, the dramatic crossing of the Delaware and the decisive Battle of Yorktown are only briefly noted, if at all). So this is really more of a character study that should not be anyone's first or only book on George Washington. But it's still well-deserving of being considered among the best modern books on George Washington. I didn't always agree with Stewart's interpretations and conclusions, but for a book that's this well-written, well-argued and well-documented, I enjoyed every moment of it anyway.

[William Bahr · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Washington well worth the wait!

I pre-ordered this book back in October and just recently received it (9 Feb). Yes, even though I’ve read over a hundred books on George Washington, it’s a George Washington read well worth the wait!

I found the book extremely well-written and researched. The author’s style is to make things very clear. As a result, not wanting to burden down the action with lengthy character descriptions, the author introduces all the major players upfront in a “Dramatis Personae,” many of them made full-bodied in portraits at the end.

The major contribution the book makes to Washington literature is to view him through a political lens, a filter framing and highlighting those aspects of his life that brick upon marble brick built the superbly political marble man. Thus, you’ll get the same story you’ve read before, except now you’ll learn way more about why things happened the way they did.

The book shows the welcome results of the author’s immense curiosity: Why? Why? Why? In a world of people and politics, things don’t just happen. As they say, “Some people make things happen; others watch them happen; others don’t have a clue as to what’s happened!” This book is about George Washington making things happen and the reasons the author puts forth — daily choices in Washington’s life — as to why and how he made them happen. Quite often, this is done by just logically adding two plus two, a method primarily employed in eliciting all the reasons why George and Martha married, and for which the author uses a virtual match-making checklist. In other cases, it takes a bit more thinking. Why did surveyors like George do their work in the spring and fall? Because obstructing tree foliage was minimized. Why did George have problems obtaining food for his hungry Virginia troops? Because it was spring, and the farmers had little in their stores left over from the winter.

Here’s an appealing chain of reasoning highlighting George’s rise: English Lord Fairfax needed money to pay his debts; he had more than plenty of land in frontier America; to sell his land, he needed to legally divide it; to divide it, he needed it surveyed; he required a surveyor who was both hardy and knowledgeable; voila, he discovered his cousin’s son-in-law’s brother was a young, eager-to-learn surveyor — Washington! And it goes on from there!

In this manner, the author often goes on minor, stage-setting forays into the fascinating details just off the fairway, the stories behind the stories. The reasons why this, why that. Northern “neck”? The land, looking like a neck, in between two rivers (in this case, the Potomac and Rappahannock). Aha, that’s what they meant; ah, that’s what happened! Again, I applaud the author’s curiosity in chasing down these items requiring intense, sustained research, and integrating them into an intriguing look at Washington’s life.

In doing his work, the author often uses little known statistics to put things into perspective about the forces swirling about Washington. E.g., as regards the need for his Virginia Regiment: 3% of frontier population killed/captured by Indians translates to 1% of total population killed/captured during the 1754-8 timeframe. Other event determinants are more qualitative than quantitative. E.g., the “bloody flux” or dysentery merits vivid description.

When no source documentation is available, the author uses situation-illuminating logical supposition with comments tempered with words such as “likely, maybe, could have, might have, evidently,” vs. annoyingly strong assertions (done recently by several Washington authors) as if imaginings were fact.

A final positive is that the author employs nice turns of phrase. E.g., regarding Washington’s reserve over his mother, Mary: “He was not one to grow maudlin over a mother’s love as the punchbowl drained.”

As far as hoped-for improvements, I wish the author would have spent more time on the Alien and Sedition Acts, which some researchers say that Washington privately supported, especially given the recent national issues our nation is confronting. The author does mention that Washington was incensed with a newspaper article urging he be guillotined. Not mentioned, however, is that, had it not been for the yellow fever epidemic brought on by mosquitoes in 1793, the Citizen Genet-inspired Republican mobs that were threatening to lynch Washington for not supporting France might one night have found their opportunity. To speak freely, or not to speak freely?

In addition, I wish the author would have spent a bit of time on the Quasi-War with France. As well, I personally missed mention of the main key to the Bastille, Lafayette’s gift to Washington, which he proudly displayed in the main entryway of his Mount Vernon mansion.

I’d also like to mention the author’s use of the words “Chopping down his father’s cherry tree.” Actually, George was said to have been “barking” the cherry tree. Barking is something even a child can do, making enough hatchet whacks on a tree’s bark to stop the flow of sap so that the tree eventually dies.

To put things into a better perspective, especially as found in the smaller-page Kindle form, it might have been better if the author had more frequently reminded us of the relevant date (day/year).

OTOH, on another subject that might draw criticism, something that has garnered more than a bit of attention lately, I was not unhappy that the author didn’t fully relitigate issues with some of the more important escaped slaves, e.g., Oney Judge (Martha’s personal maid) and Hercules (Martha’s cook), with the possible reason that George’s beloved wife, Martha, urged him to go all out to capture them. Martha, after all, is said not to have fully shared George’s views on freedom for slaves.

But I realize a book can’t be everything to everyone. Bottom-line, this is a highly refreshing, illuminating, enjoyable read, well worth the ordering! Highly recommended!

Of possible interest: George Washington's Liberty Key: Mount Vernon's Bastille Key - the Mystery and Magic of Its Body, Mind, and Soul, a best-seller at Mount Vernon. “Character is Key for Liberty!” and Strategy Pure and Simple: Essential Moves for Winning in Competition and Cooperation

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

An experienced biographer, historian David O. Stewart focuses on how George Washington became a “master politician,” and how this skill helped him navigate the very treacherous shoals of the early years of the American Republic. The increasingly poisonous atmosphere, especially during Washington’s second term in office, won’t sound so foreign to the current audience.

Stewart devotes most of his attention to Washington’s early years, and especially to those events that defined his later character. He recounts Washington's experiences in the French and Indian War; his terms of office in the Virginia House of Burgesses; service as a judge on Fairfax County Court; and commander of armed forces in the American War of Independence. Stewart documents how, over time, Washington gained control over his apparently fierce temper, and learned the importance of building political coalitions and avoiding controversies whenever he could.

Washington, Stewart reports, never minced words about what he wanted: his goal was renown. Moreover, he craved “the regard and esteem” of fellow countrymen. He had a lifelong dread of any smudge on his reputation, and therefore of failure in any of his endeavors. As he wrote to a relative in 1775, “reputation derives it principal support from success.”

Because he needed success to make a good impression, some controversies were more difficult to avoid than others, especially as they directly would determine the outcome of his biggest challenges. One was the matter of getting colonists to cough up money. The Revolution was tied to Americans’ hatred of taxes, a dislike that has never in fact been dented much. And yet, at the same time, Americans wanted much that depended on government funding, such as an army that could repel the British; protection by an army from Natives increasingly unhappy over the usurpation of their land; and roads and other infrastructure that crossed state boundaries. Washington, who spent so many years leading soldiers who had little food, clothes, equipment, and wages, knew firsthand that a resistance to taxation and demand for services were incompatible desires.

Washington’s awareness of the country’s need for money carried over into his presidency, during which he aligned with Alexander Hamilton on fiscal policies that would retire the war debts and get a standardized currency approved. These unpopular measures needed to have the force of law behind them. As Washington observed back in 1778, “Few men are capable of making a continual sacrifice of all views of private interest, or advantage, to the common good.” He went on to aver that no institution relying on that faulty premise would succeed.

Washington had several factors that worked in his favor in the early republic. One was that Americans then, like now, “craved a hero.” It was generally easier to find someone to fill that need who played a military role, in spite of the fact that Washington’s military victories were few and far between. Much of his success in the Revolution could be attributed just to outlasting the British, who were fighting far from home. But as Stewart points out, it was political savvy, rather than military prowess, that was central to Washington’s success. In the internecine battles for control over the army and influence in Congress, Washington was often just the last man left standing.

Washington always wanted to make sure that everyone knew he didn’t want all these responsibilities (a claim belied by his pursuit of them). Thus if he failed, it wasn’t really his fault because he kept trying to turn down all these positions to which he was unanimously elected.

Once he did accept a position, however, he exerted tight control over that institution. Today he would be called a “micro-manager.” He was deeply involved in every aspect of his army and with all the deal-making under his presidential administration, in spite of his seeming reticence publicly. In fact, one interesting passage in this book deals with the famous compromise over war debt assumption by the new country and the location of its capital. Most histories claim that Jefferson somehow engineered the deal at a dinner party; Stewart contends this was largely a re-writing by Jefferson of what happened. It was a long-term process, Stewart avers, and Washington manipulated all of it.

By Washington’s second term, however, Washington was no longer seen as someone who could do no wrong. The country had grown, and dissent had grown along with it. Opponents launched bitter and often untrue attacks on him. Stewart explores the factors that led to this increase in factionalism, including French interference in American politics; the growing rivalry of Jefferson, who co-opted Madison, a former ally of Washington’s, to his cause; and of course, taxes. Washington couldn’t wait to escape the growing acrimony of political life. On the day John Adams was inaugurated as the second president, Adams later wrote that Washington looked “as serene and unclouded as the day.” He added, “Methought I heard him say, ‘Ay! I am fairly out and you fairly in! See which one of us will be happiest!’”

Washington died in 1799 after a difficult illness that started out as a cold. In his will he freed what slaves he could (some were owned by Martha’s estate and not his to free), and provided for care of others. He never made a public condemnation of slavery, however. Stewart speculates that Washington knew how controversial slavery was and didn’t want to damage his standing any further. Stewart also thought Washington must have known he would have sounded hypocritical if he spoke out against slavery. [That consideration never stopped other Founding Fathers, such as Jefferson.] Moreover, Washington never seemed to have awareness of how awful the state of being “owned” must be to another person. When he was younger, for example, traveling to Barbados with his older half-brother Lawrence in 1751, he gushed in his diary about being “ravished” by the beauty of Barbados, the gorgeous mansions, and the great meals, but evinced no awareness of the harsh lives of the slaves there who made all that possible, especially the short-lived workers in the sugar-cane fields. And much later in life, when Martha’s favorite slave Ona Judge ran away, Washington fumed in a letter:

". . . however well disposed I might be to a gradual abolition, or even to an entire emancipation of that description of People (if the latter was in itself practicable at this moment) it would neither be politic or just to reward unfaithfulness with a premature preference; and thereby discontent before hand the minds of all her fellow-servants who by their steady attachments are far more deserving than herself of favor.”

The Washingtons were incensed and offered a reward for Ona's recapture.

In Washington’s view, Ona, who was money walking out his door, was “ungrateful.” What about a desire for freedom? It seems that for Washington, that wasn’t a relevant or legitimate desire for African Americans.

His blindness about “life, liberty, and happiness” for all extended to Native Americans. When fighting against them on America’s then western border, he reported how upset he was over “barbarous” Indians killing settlers - “poor innocent babes and helpless families.” He never considered why they might have acted that way, insofar as they were being evicted from their homelands, and subject to barbarous murders themselves by settlers covetous of Native property.

Stewart doesn’t make these flaws in Washington’s perception and character central, however, choosing to focus instead on Washington’s self-reinvention and political genius, and how he accomplished the former and developed the latter. In that respect, he does a fine job.

[Richard Propes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Award-winning historian David O. Stewart's "George Washington: The Political Rise of America's Founding Father" is an illuminating and insightful masterwork, a compelling portrayal of the man regarded as America's founding father and a precise testimony as to the journey that got him to such a place.

With books like "Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson" and "The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution," Stewart has long held a reputation as a writer who digs deeper and searches for the truths amidst the historical myths and long-held beliefs that have often defined our perceptions of history. The same is very much true with his latest book "George Washington," scheduled for release in February 2021 from Penguin Group Dutton.

If you believe yourself to know George Washington, it's highly unlikely that you know the George Washington revealed by Stewart. "George Washington" is such a comprehensive book that it demanded my full and focused attention. While I often finish books in 2-3 days, "George Washington" became a book that I absorbed in bits and pieces as I allowed Stewart's stories and insights and findings to slosh around my brain and settle within.

Stewart has an extraordinary gift for making history engaging, writing his words with great detail yet with a rhythm that feels natural and an occasional very light humor that makes you smile as you read his stories and accounts of Washington's life.

"George Washington" unveils the political education, and at times failings, that allowed Washington to become a master politician and a trusted figure in America's early days when nearly a single wrong move could have led to collapse for a fledgling nation struggling to find its voice, its place in the world, and its ability to survive in a harrowing financial climate.

While "George Washington" brings forth insights into Washington's earliest years from childhood through his young adult years and into his marriage and family life with Martha, the book becomes particularly riveting as Washington begins his journey into military leadership and discovering his place within community leadership. He largely learned the craft of politicking as a member of Virginia's House of Burgesses, while daily management skills were given birth when he served as a justice of the Fairfax County Court. We are, perhaps, most familiar with Washington as a leader in the Second Continental Congress and, of course, for his military leadership role in the American Revolution.

Yet, Stewart reveals all of this with far greater insight than many of us, myself included, have likely experienced in our high school U.S. History classes or in textbooks that really only begin to skim the surface of Washington's life and experiences. Stewart paints not just a precise portrait of Washington, but also a precise portrait of the culture in which Washington survived and thrived.

By the end of "George Washington," I had to humble myself and realize how much I did not know about America's founding father. I felt like I understood him more substantially as a human being, as a political leader, and for his role within founding a nation and steering its political values.

It's interesting, of course, to read "George Washington" at a time of great challenge in America, a health pandemic and civil unrest revealing a quaking of sorts in the institutional foundations both revealing weaknesses within our structure and providing opportunities for becoming an even greater nation for all Americans.

Stewart masterfully writes about Washington's own challenges amidst bridge-building and regional interests. He reveals what had to be the earliest gestures of human rights, stories unfamiliar to me yet stories that captivate and intrigue and reveal both the strengths and weaknesses of America even in our earliest days and with our earliest politicians including Washington himself.

"George Washington" is not a glorification of our founding father. Instead, it's a rather remarkable effort to provide positive illumination of the truth of Washington. It would be easy to say "humanizing," but that's not really it. Washington does, indeed, become more accessible via Stewart's words but it's more about creating for us Washington's world and the Washington who lived in that world.

Stewart, a lawyer by background, writes in such a way that it occasionally feels like extraordinary, well researched testimony. He doesn't just assert truths, but he defends them exactly yet in a way that engages and, much like Washington himself, builds bridges.

If you had told me early in 2020 that a biography/memoir of George Washington would end up being one of my favorite books of the year, I'd have likely laughed. Yet, here we are. I was engaged and captivated from beginning to end. I learned immensely and gained understanding into the beginning years of America and the politicians and figures who played key roles in those years. I gained new knowledge and insights into Washington himself, long a myth more than a man and now someone both human and extraordinary whose life journey is one to learn from as he learned how to become the man who would become known as America's founding father.

[Bookreporter.com Biography & Memoir · Rating 4 out of 5]

There can be no doubting the importance of George Washington to our nation’s founding and early survival. Eighteenth-century colonial America had no business becoming the United States of America. It would be challenging to create a more different group of states. To bring them together would take a master politician, and to the good fortune of the colonies they had just such a man. David O. Stewart notes, “Master politicians place the good of the people at the center of their efforts.”

As 21st-century readers, we have endured the tales of cherry trees and Washington’s inability to lie, only to watch our first president grow into an almost mythical persona. As a result, we try to strip away those myths and find an honest portrayal of the man, warts and all.

Stewart introduces us to a young man who is rough around the edges but filled with a sense of destiny. We learn about his early life as a soldier and a landowner, his first foray into politics, his evolution into a man who could be a national figure, and finally the leader who would end up a legend in every American child’s imagination. This book is a testament to the research that Stewart has done. So many factors affected Washington’s life and our history --- including the deaths of loved ones, illnesses and financial difficulties --- and he does an excellent job of bringing these details into the narrative. Who knows what would have happened to our nation had a brother lived, Mount Vernon burned or an election was lost.

My favorite parts of the book are the two titanic struggles that Washington was able to overcome: holding both the Continental Army and the new nation together. Valley Forge has lost all meaning to the average American, and the Continental Congress has been reduced to a test question in high school history. These challenges had to be met, though, for the nation to succeed, and they are unparalleled in our present life. We can no more fathom what they endured at Valley Forge than we can grasp that these men did so without pay. Stewart notes, “On the day the army arrived, the Valley Forge camp became the third largest city in America, but it was a city with no food stored for the winter, one that produced no goods and had little income.”

He goes on to write that the march to Valley Forge was a congressionally declared day of thanksgiving. But with little food and less clothing, no one was feeling thankful. A soldier noted that his ration that day was “a dollop of rice and tablespoon of vinegar, followed by a sermon, topped off with a leg of nothing and no turnips.” Maybe the only thing harsher than the lack of food was the cold. Men were tracked by the blood they left behind as they marched.

Stewart tells us that these hardships resulted in the attempted desertion of 75% of the army and the death of another 20%. However, the army lived due to General Washington’s efforts and personality. The same will be true of the Constitutional Convention and the following eight years of our republic. Without President Washington, we may not have even come into being, let alone survived.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that this book is a bit of a missed opportunity --- to articulate the improbability that one man, within a short period of time, could win a war against the most powerful empire on earth, relinquish that power, bring 13 disparate colonies together, stand as their first leader, and ensure the new nation’s survival. We search history in vain for another man to accomplish similar feats, and I think this warranted more of the book’s attention.

Still, GEORGE WASHINGTON is a great tribute to this seminal figure in American history. Stewart’s attention to detail and consummate research make it a must read.

Reviewed by John Vena

[Stan Prager · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of: George Washington: The Political Rise of America’s Founding Father,
by David O. Stewart
by Stan Prager (1-23-22)

Is another biography of George Washington really necessary? A Google search reveals some nine hundred already exist, not to mention more than five thousand journal articles that chronicle some portion of his life. But the answer turns out to be a resounding yes, and David O. Stewart makes that case magnificently with his latest work, George Washington: The Political Rise of America’s Founding Father, an extremely well-written, insightful, and surprisingly innovative contribution to the historiography.
Many years ago, I recall reading the classic study, Washington: The Indispensable Man, by James Thomas Flexner, which looks beyond his achievements to put emphasis on his most extraordinary contribution, defined not by what he did but what he deliberately did not do: seize power and rule as tyrant. This, of course, is no little thing, as seen in the pages of history from Caesar to Napoleon. When told he would resign his commission and surrender power to a civilian government, King George III—who no doubt would have had him hanged (or worse) had the war gone differently—famously declared that "If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world." Washington demonstrated that greatness again when he voluntarily—you might say eagerly—stepped down after his tenure as President of the United States to retire to private life. Indispensable he was: it is difficult to imagine the course of the American experiment had another served in his place in either of those pivotal roles.
But there is more to Washington than that, and some of it is less than admirable. Notably, there was Washington’s heroic fumble as a young Virginia officer leading colonial forces to warn away the French at what turned into the Battle of Jumonville Glen and helped to spark the French & Indian War. Brash, headstrong, arrogant, thin-skinned, and ever given to an unshakable certitude that his judgment was the sole correct perspective in every matter, the young Washington distinguished himself for his courage and his integrity while at the same time routinely clashing with authority figures, including former mentors that he frequently left exasperated by his demands for recognition.
Biographers tend to visit this period of his life and then fast-forward two decades ahead to the moment when the esteemed if austere middle-aged Washington showed up to the Continental Congress resplendent in his military uniform, the near-unanimous choice to lead the Revolutionary Army in the struggle against Britain. But how did he get here? In most studies, it is not clear. But this is where Stewart shines! The author, whose background is the law rather than academia—he was once a constitutional lawyer who clerked for Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell, Jr.—has proved himself a brilliant historian in several fine works, including his groundbreaking reassessment of a key episode of the early post-Civil War era, Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln’s Legacy. And in Madison’s Gift: Five Partnerships that Built America, Stewart’s careful research, analytical skills, and intuitive approach successfully resurrected portions of James Madison’s elusive personality that had been otherwise mostly lost to history.
This talent is on display here, as well, as Stewart adeptly examines and interprets Washington’s evolution from Jumonville Glen to Valley Forge. Washington’s own personality is something of a conundrum for biographers, as he can seem to be simultaneously both selfless and self-centered. The young Washington so frequently in turn infuriated and alienated peers and superiors alike that it may strike us as fully remarkable that this is the same individual who could later harness the talents and loyalty of both rival generals during the war and the outsize egos of fellow Founders as the new Republic took shape. Stewart demonstrates that Washington was the author of his own success in this arena, quietly in touch with his strengths and weaknesses while earning respect and cultivating goodwill over the years as he established himself as a key figure in the Commonwealth. Washington himself was not in this regard a changed man as much as he was a more mature man who taught himself to modify his demeanor and his behavior in the company of others for mutual advantage. This too, is no small thing.
The subtitle of this book—The Political Rise of America’s Founding Father—is thus hardly accidental, the latest contribution to a rapidly expanding genre focused upon politics and power, showcased in such works as Jon Meacham’s Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, and Robert Dallek’s Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Political Life. Collectively, these studies serve to underscore that politics is ever at the heart of leadership, as well as that great leaders are not born fully formed, but rather evolve and emerge. George Washington perhaps personifies the most salient example of this phenomenon.
The elephant in the room of any examination of Washington—or the other Virginia Founders who championed liberty and equality for that matter—is slavery. Like Jefferson and Madison and a host of others, Washington on various occasions decried the institution of enslaving human beings—while he himself held hundreds as chattel property. Washington is often credited with freeing the enslaved he held direct title to in his will, but that hardly absolves him of the sin of a lifetime of buying, selling, and maintaining an unpaid labor force for nothing less than his own personal gain, especially since he was aware of the moral blemish in doing so. Today’s apologists often caution that is unfair to judge those who walked the earth in the late eighteenth-century by our own contemporary standards, but the reality is that these were Enlightenment-era men that in their own words declared slavery abhorrent while—like Jefferson with his famous “wolf by the ear” cop-out—making excuses to justify participating in and perpetuating a cruel inhumanity that served their own economic self-interests. As biographer, Stewart’s strategy for this dimension of Washington’s life is to treat very little with it in the course of the narrative, while devoting the second to last chapter to a frank and balanced discussion of the ambivalence that governed the thoughts and actions of the master of Mount Vernon. It is neither whitewash nor condemnation.
Stewart’s study is by no means hagiography, but the author clearly admires his subject. Washington gets a pass for his shortcomings at Jumonville, and he is hardly held to strict account for his role as an enslaver. Still, the result of Stewart’s research, analysis, and approach is the most readable and best single-volume account of Washington’s life to date. This is a significant contribution to the scholarship that I suspect will long be deemed required reading.


I reviewed other works by David O. Stewart here:

Review of: Madison’s Gift: Five Partnerships that Built America, by David O. Stewart

Review of: Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln’s Legacy, by David O. Stewart

Review of: George Washington: The Political Rise of America’s Founding Father, by David O. Stewart https://regarp.com/2022/01/23/review-...

[Bob Dorsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read. Washington is universally known and only superficially understood by most of us, who learn only the hagiography/propaganda that has grown up around him. Consequently, many of the more interesting details of his life have faded into the background.

Stewart's approach is to examine Washington by tracing the events in his life through which he became a master politician, and he shows the effects Washington's mastery had on the course of events in American history. This thesis itself may come as a surprise to many who don't think of Washington as a politician, let alone a master of the political arts, but Stewart makes a very persuasive case for his thesis, and adds a very interesting dimension to our knowledge of Washington.

The book is well written and engaging throughout and I think it will be of interest to anyone looking to understand Washington better. I reviewed an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher (Penguin Group) for making it available.

[Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

This chronicle of the development of George Washington's rise to power reveals the sometimes awkwardness but ultimate success of his political education. He seemed to have been driven from an early age to seek opportunities for leadership and authority. His pleasing personality and apparent deftness at building important relationships carried him through in spite of a natural early tendency to challenge others head-on. Through many more years of political engagement than I realized, Washington learned the arts of fact gathering, understanding the positions and arguments of others and building consensus for shared plans and objectives. He also became shrewdly aware of how to use factions against one another to reach beneficial compromise. I am grateful for the insights gained from this revealing biography. They provide important and significant reminders of what true leadership can accomplish for the good of a nation.

[Anthony Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first real biography. Stewart is a great writer, able to take complex historical and political ideas and explain them in a way that the lay reader can understand. After reading this, I want to read more about Washington.

Washington is often held on an almost mythological level, but Stewart is able to show the reader that while Washington was a great man, he was, at the end of the day, a man -- one of many flaws and inconsistencies to be sure, but a great man nonetheless.

[J. Michael Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read lots of presidential biographies, and this was one of the best, not just of Washington, but of any of the presidents. Steward's book is one of the first to reflect the nation's shifting understanding of the relationship between its "heroes" and its enslaved people.

George Washington, like all humans, was part "breath of God" and part "dirt." Unlike most Americans, he had an enormous personality, extraordinary luck, and a fascinating personal story that intertwined with an unusually dynamic time in history. And he finagled his way onto the main stage of that historical narrative.

The book does a great job of showing Washington's growth and maturity as his life went on. It also spells out clearly the challenges he faced as the nation's president and the skills he employed in navigating through those challenges.

Stewart's writing is smooth and his story engaging. And he doesn't let Washington off the hook for his role in perpetuating slavery, nor in the mistreatment of his own slaves. Despite the fact that Washington freed his own slaves, after his death, all the ones he legally could save, Stewart reminds us that when it came to slavery, the first leader of the country failed to lead.

It is important to remember that Washington's failure on slavery isn't the only lesson we need to glean from history. It is also important to glean the lessons of Washington's abilities successful adherence to ethical principles. While he got slavery wrong, he didn't get everything wrong. Coming out of the administration of the nation's 45th president (Trump) there are important lessons to be learned from the first president. While Trump repeatedly insists he was greater than Washington, I'll trust Stewart's summary: (pg. 391)

"Washington's political acumen...was beyond question...no one of his generation understood power so well. Perhaps no American leader ever has...

"Washington had come to believe that partisanship is inevitable; in the Farewell Address he called it "inseparable from our nature, having its roots in the strongest passions of the human mind." Partisanship infects all governments, he continued, though authoritarian regimes suppress it. In popular governments "it is seen in its greatest rankness and is truly their worst enemy."

"Washington offered a sophisticate view of its costs: As factions succeed each other in power, they develop a spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities." Upon winning control, each faction settles old scores and reverses policies, even successful ones. Yet there is a worse outcome. The factional disorders and miseries...gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual..."

"Washington warned that because partisanship will never go away it must be controlled. Unrestrained, partisans run amok. For Washington, constraint must be built into a structure that fractures power among the branches of government...arming each to resist incursions by the others.."

From his Farewell Address: "Union"...a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquility at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very Liberty which you so highly prize."

Reading this book renewed my conviction that in these fraught times, we might each do all we can to see that the enemy isn't really the "other side." It is the fear-mongering and the tribalism that has fractured all of us.

[Mary Hess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Often overshadowed by his showier contemporaries Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, this political biography of George Washington, master of statecraft, arrived at a time of extraordinary testing of the Republic he helped bring into being. Washington’s life is too often rendered in hagiographic terms, which began during. his life post the American Revolution and reached a fever pitch as the young nation mourned its “father.” Today we search for Washington beyond the mythologies of fabulists like Parson Weems and countless careless biographers past and present. Stewart asserts the part Washington himself played in creating his persona, and how he skillfully curated his image. Who knew, for example, that Washington was considered a striking figure - tall, noble in appearance, with a fondness for fine clothes - and that Martha was petite, ordinary: Stewart archly reports that of the two, George was the “peacock.” We meet Washington the family man, with a difficult mother and endless, worrying responsibilities; many friends, siblings, and stepchildren whose early deaths caused him much pain. Stewart pulls off what is most difficult in rendering a life as complex and influential as his: by the end of this long, carefully researched biography, we feel as if we see him whole. For one, Washington is rescued from a reputation for dutiful dullness: his virtue was real enough, but the evolution of his character is thoughtfully examined throughout the stages of his public and private life. While much attention is properly paid to his role as a Commander in chief of the Continental Army, and, of course, to the grim drama of Valley Forge, it is his role as an architect and protector of the nascent Republic that emerges most powerfully from the narrative. Finally, a frank assessment of Washington and slavery is very well done, and his actions late in life to reckon with his slaveholding and that of his wife’s should inform those who assume he followed Jefferson’s example, of agonizing over the sin of slavery but finding only excuses for not freeing them. Stewart has a very disciplined style that still manages wit and grace. Highly recommended for both the casual reader and the specialist. I received a digital prepublication copy from Net Galley.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

George Washington: Becoming a Leader

We think of Washington as a severe figure with white hair at the height of his powers, but he didn’t start that way. He was an often rash young man with a fiery temper. These traits almost brought his military career to an end before it began. Indeed, the book opens with an ill and dispirited Washington leaving his forces during the Indian fighting on Virginia’s Western frontier without the permission of his commander.

From this low point Washington rose through positions in the Virginia House of Burgesses, and as a justice of the Fairfax County Court. Here he learned to control his temper, act as a calming influence, build bridges, and become a significant leader. The remainder of the book details Washington’s rise to become the most beloved leader in colonial America.

If you enjoy history, particularly American history, this is a wonderful book. I have read a number of excellent biographies of Washington, but this one adds an additional dimension with it’s focus on Washington becoming both a great military as well as an outstanding political leader.

The book is easy to read, almost like a novel, but filled with facts and acute observations about Washington and his time. I particularly enjoyed the way the author made colonial America come to life.
I highly recommend this book. In this troubling time, it’s one of the best choices this year.

I received this book from Dutton for this review.

[Andrew Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the latest full length one volume biography of Washington. It won an award from the Mount Vernon Society for one of the five best books on Early America published last year. Stewart goes through Washington's life spending considerable time on his youth and service in the French and Indian War. He also details the tenure of Washington as a burgess in Williamsburg and his efforts to diversify his crops at Mount Vernon. He does not spend a great deal of print on Washington and the Revolutionary War but centers on the Conway Cabal and the Battle of Monmouth. Yorktown is hardly mentioned but he does give some attention to the potential coup at Newburgh. As for Washington and Hamilton, he alludes to their disagreements during the war but does not spend much time on it. As for his Presidency, he cherry picks important topics such as the creation of the Cabinet, the Assumption-National Capital compromise, Genet, and the Jay Treaty. All in all, with some humor, he dissects the career of the First President. Lastly but importantly, he devotes a chapter to Washington and slavery in which Washington does not come out looking like any type of visionary on the subject. Washington does emerge as an indispensable man and his strengths certainly outweigh his faults. This is an important book to read if you are interested to learn more about this President.

[Dr. Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very in-depth book about the political life and development of George Washington. It tells the story of how his life's various achievements added to the multi-faceted political skills he used to overcome opposition during his life.

While Washington was acutely aware of his lack of a formal education in comparison to many of his Founding era colleagues, ( Adams, Madison, and Jefferson), his ability to lead despite this relative deficiency in his background showed that he had an intuitive intelligence regarding leadership.

HIs sound judgement and high moral character set him apart from many of his colleagues. He knew how to " work a room" and influence people to cultivate a cadre of supporters that rarely left his side when needed in battle, whether military or political. HIs long hours in the Virginia House of Burgesses clearly paid dividends later in his life when serving as America's first President.

I thought this book spent a fair amount of time covering the paradox of Washington's life fighting for independence and freedom from the British, while denying those same rights to slaves. The treatment in this book was fair and nuanced, yet did not pull any punches in calling Washington out for not doing more during his lifetime, especially after his presidency was over. Of course, that work was left for President Lincoln, 60 years after GW's death.

[Hal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive and well written account of probably our more significant president. Indeed George Washington did more to set the stage for what we became as a nation that anyone. He was eclipsed in greatness probably by Abraham Lincoln who was tasked with keeping it together.

What made this book so readable and entertaining is that we get a wonderful insight into the character and personality of the man and how it played mainly to to his strength as a leader in the most stressful circumstances of waging war for independence and then forming a government the world had never seen before under the most challenging conditions of the different factions that vied for their own interests. It took a man with the character of Washington to steer this course with the right mix of will and constraint.

The personal sacrifice he put out for the cause so to speak was remarkable and his willingness to stay the course beyond his first term when the pressures from the forming political parties was equally so.

It is hard to imagine another man filling the role of what was needed to create this great experiment and have it succeed. It is all laid out here and here looking back into our history as a nation, inspired by an equally great man who was more than anyone else responsible for success.

[Zachary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a little torn on where to rank this, I think 3.75 is about right.

I was happy with the balance between going into depth on the subject, while also keeping the focus on his development as a politician throughout his life. It is apparently easy for some authors to undervalue Washington's political talents. At the same time, this is tied to a problem with the book, his treatment of Hamilton. Washington clearly had a range of political talents that Hamilton did not, but I feel like this book undervalued Hamilton's contributions to Washington's political success while also attempting to pin undue blame on Hamilton in a conspiracy. I think discussing Washington's reliance on Hamilton, and to a lesser extent Madison, more would actually help bolster the overall argument about Washington's abilities.

I especially appreciated the nuisance Stewart brought to the topic of Washington and his attitudes and practices regarding slavery over time. It did a good job explaining how his ideas on the subject changed overtime, and that he struggled to have his actions match his developing ideals. I think this both humanizes Washington while at the same time holds him up as someone who learned and tried to improve, despite his ability to fully overcome.

[Regina Mastrogiacomo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew he fought for the United States and he never wanted to be a king, but there was a lot I didn't know about him until I read this book. I learned he had a lot of siblings (Did you know that), I learn he was always looking to better himself and I also learned he loved his wife and took care of her children from her first marriage. I also learned that he was influential on how our government was going to be organized and also where Washington D.C. was going to be. Just Wow. There is so much more that was very informational and entertaining in this book that anyone who wants to learn where the United States started from should read it. This biography is one of the best I have ever read and it's not stiff like an encyclopedia but flows like a novel, so its very easy to read.

I want to thank PENGUIN GROUP Dutton and Netgalley for an advance copy of this book. I learned so much about a person that did so much for this country.

[Ivor Armistead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bravo David Stewart. You've done it again!

Many biographies of George Washington have been written and I've read several of them, but Stewart's is different and better. His book, which was thoroughly and meticulously researched, pierces through the myth to find the man. Acknowledging Washington's failures and foibles, Stewart focuses on his ability to learn, develop and mature as a soldier, as a politician and as a man, using his natural gifts to transform himself into one of the greatest leader this country or any other has ever known. Most interesting, to me, was Washington's ability to appear to be above the fray but work subtly, often through others, to shape policy.

It's also important that David Stewart's writing delivers serious history with wit and charm, making his books especially enjoyable reads.

[Daniel Visé · Rating 5 out of 5]

George Washington was such a masterful politician that we don't remember him as a politician. That's what I took away from this book, a wonderful work of narrative-nonfiction history from David O. Stewart. I waltzed right through the 576 pages, carried along by great writing. Much like the best work of Erik Larson, Bill Bryson, Laura Hillenbrand or my other nonfiction favorites, this book was more than a good read: it was a breeze, a joy, effortless, pure fun. And you learn a lot of history along the way. For instance, I had no idea how many failures Washington endured before and between his triumphs. Also, he seems to have been quite the stud, back in the day, a sort of John Wayne-style child of military destiny who would gallop across the front lines, bullets whistling through his wig, never catching so much as a nick. Highly recommended.

[patrick Lorelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book along with some others that I have read about George Washington has changed my view on the man over the years. Where I did not think that much of him Here in this book along with others you can see that over time he has thought about each question that comes up and also some others like the wording “All men are created equal” You can see like I would image over time and age you begin to see things different and question ideas. Here you see his struggle with slavery. You also see him as a commander and the decisions he has to make on the field of battle and how he carries that over as a Statesman and even as a Polotican having to balance the personalities of Hamilton and Jefferson just to name a few. I found this to be a very good read and I was very impressed with the information. I received this book from Netgalley.com

[Susan Clark]

David O. Stewart, a former constitutional lawyer turned author, has done a superb job of showing how George Washington, after a fairly unpromising start in public life, used intelligence and diligence to become the towering figure he was by the end of the American Revolution, and his importance in the writing of the Constitution, and in steering the country through its post-revolutionary days--at a time when the entire effort at building a functioning country could have collapsed.
It's a heavy-duty book: 552 pages, but the last 135 pages are notes, which tells you something about the research the author obviously did--and it shows.
And--kind of a spoiler, although you must know Washington is dead--the intimate account of his death is harrowing and heartbreaking. An engaging and inspiring read.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Washington was America's real-life Indispensable Man. Stewart's book takes us through the principal events of Washington's life that made him the one man that the Founding Era could not do without. From his days as a young officer in the Virginia Militia to his Last Will and Testament, Washington learned from his successes and failures the critical lessons of authentic leadership that allowed him to defeat (against all the odds) a mighty Imperial power and establish the government of a great Republic ("a new order for the ages") that has lasted for 245 years. I recommend this book to all fans, like me, of our nation's First Founding Father. I hope some of our present-day politicians will read it too.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stewart makes a very convincing case that not only was Washington a commanding figure, true leader and crticial member of the FFs, but also an extremely canny political strategist and player. His experience in the Virginia House of Burgesses, judicial work and jockeying with the Continental Congress during the Revolutionary War honed those skills to a powerful and very effective point. Stewart does not gloss over the flaws, early misjudgments and way too little, too late on slavery among them. But he firmly establishes that Washington provided "a model of wisdom and integrity by which every successor would be judged." None of those successors, at least during modern times, can claim the same balance of those two qualities.

[S. Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Historian and novelist Stewart has crafted a readable one-volume biography of the first president of the United States, with an emphasis on Washington's development as a master of politics. From his beginnings as a fiery, even intemperate, young military officer to his acclaim as the most trusted among the nation's founders, the story of George Washington unfolds in thoroughly documented, clearly written prose as accessible to general readers as to specialists in the period. Thanks to the publisher for supplying an advance reading copy via NetGalley.

[Thaïs · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Master politicians place the good of the people at the center of their efforts, and commit themselves to general advancement. Far more difficult, they persuade their countrymen to follow them. When their course proves flawed, they correct it. Finally, they leave their society - and its institutions - stronger then when they began. They leave the people with the greater understanding and power to influence their own lives. The legacy of a master politician includes a shared vision of how to live together; those who are luckiest also leaves times of prosperity and peace."

[Thomas Lambe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this!

I have read many books on George Washington and jump at the chance to read more. He is a difficult man to totally understand. This book deepened my understanding. This was a joy to read! This was my first work by this author. He is very talented! I will read more!

Highly recommend. Even fans of George that have read much about him will learn more I believe.

[Bill Beck · Rating 5 out of 5]

OUTSTANDING read! Stewart thankfully seemed to lightly broach the history lesson information and got into the actual life of our Founding Father. I was grateful for his depiction of Christopher Gist who is some sort of ancestor. Reading this in the backdrop of what’s happening in our country with political extremism, global geopolitical instability, and the most bizarre protestations around the world was like salve for a painful wound. Highly recommend.

[Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A biography that highlights George Washington’s often underrated political acumen, this book is engaging for general nonfiction readers but would likely bore anyone who is strongly averse to biographies. I personally enjoyed it and feel it merits exactly a 4 star rating. I recommended it for readers who are already well versed in the broad outlines of Washington’s life and want a more nuanced look at his sagacity in the political arena.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Stewart provides the definitive account of George Washington's growth and mastery of his political skills in becoming the most effective and popular president of the United States. Focusing on both his flaws and his growth in the political realm, this account provides a great insight into the greatness of George Washington.