George Washington, heroic general of the Revolution, master of Mount Vernon, and first president of the United States, remains the most enigmatic figure of the founding generation, with historians and the public at large still arguing over the strengths of his character and the nature of his intellectual and political contributions to the early republic. Representing the finest recent scholarship on Washington, these thirteen essays by the leading scholars in the field strike a balance between Washington's personal life and character and his public life as a soldier and political figure. Editor Don Higginbotham provides an introduction about Washington and his treatment by historians, and an afterword devoted to how the American people have viewed Washington, including the 1999 commemorations of the bicentennial of his death. With three essays written specifically for this volume, George Washington Reconsidered is the first collection of its kind to be published in over thirty years.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "An elegantly written account of leadership at the most pivotal moment in American history" (Philadelphia Inquirer): Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Edward J. Larson reveals how George Washington saved the United States by coming out of retirement to lead the Constitutional Convention and serve as our first president. After leading the Continental Army to victory in the Revolutionary War, George Washington shocked the world: he retired. In December 1783, General Washington, the most powerful man in the country, stepped down as Commander in Chief and returned to private life at Mount Vernon. Yet as Washington contentedly grew his estate, the fledgling American experiment floundered. Under the Articles of Confederation, the weak central government was unable to raise revenue to pay its debts or reach a consensus on national policy. The states bickered and grew apart. When a Constitutional Convention was established to address these problems, its chances of success were slim. Jefferson, Madison, and the other Founding Fathers realized that only one man could unite the fractious states: George Washington. Reluctant, but duty-bound, Washington rode to Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 to preside over the Convention. Although Washington is often overlooked in most accounts of the period, this masterful new history from Pulitzer Prize-winner Edward J. Larson brilliantly uncovers Washington’s vital role in shaping the Convention—and shows how it was only with Washington’s support and his willingness to serve as President that the states were brought together and ratified the Constitution, thereby saving the country.

In the first specialized study of thhe Washington presidency published in a generation, historian Jack D. Warren, Jr., outlines the first president's practical accomplishments; the establishment of the executive as an energetic and effective branch of government, the resolution of the new nation's financial crisis, the opening of the trans-Appalachian West, the creation of Washington, D.C., and the preservation of peace with the warring powers of Europe. In a time of intense partisanship, Warren explains that Washington worked constantly to strengthen the Union, gave his office a character that transcends politics, and set a standard of conduct for national leaders that has endured for more than two centuries. Washington shaped the powers of the presidency, former President George Bush says in his Foreword, "yet never wavered from his promise to remain a servant of the people." - Back cover.

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2013 in the subject History - America, grade: 5,00, Warsaw University (English Philology), course: V, language: English, abstract: This bachelor thesis examines George Washington and his identity and the questions whether he identified himself more as British or as American. In studying the Founding Fathers one should take into consideration a political elite however a more open one than those holding sway in Europe. Moreover that elite had to interact with the people during the Revolution and in the periods of the Consideration and the Early Republic. Although they may have sought to direct the course of events and they had to respond the changes coming from below as well as the changes of opinions among the people, who were increasingly willing to express their own views, and follow their own way. One of the most disturbing theme in the studies arising doubts on the disinterestedness of the Founding Fathers is highlighting clashes of ideals and interests between different levels of American society, which caused some „ordinary people” wondered whether the American victory in Revolution was a hollow triumph. For these reasons, reconsidering the Founding Fathers within their historical context depicts the evolution of American politics and democracy, complementing these groups previously excluded from historical studies. Another point which cannot be ignored in discussion on the Founding Fathers is that they attempted to order the world however not by force, but with words by creating and adopting a series of documentation related to political foundation: institutions, declarations, bills of rights, treaties and laws. John Adams called this period “the age of revolutions and constitutions. The possibilities and limitations of ordering the world with words is the theme described in their writings. It was the issue which gave hope but frequently caused the frustration. In this circumstances re-examining the Founding Fathers helps to recover the possibilities and purposes of political thought and action. Finally the Founding Fathers’ reconsideration makes it necessary to review the complex story of their historical reputations, both as members of the group and as individuals as well as their legacies within two hundred years since the Revolution.

Discusses George Washington's military strategies during the American Revolution and how his particular tactics aided in defeating the British army, including his utilization of European training techniques and his moral leadership.

National Bestseller To this landmark biography of our first president, Joseph J. Ellis brings the exacting scholarship, shrewd analysis, and lyric prose that have made him one of the premier historians of the Revolutionary era. Training his lens on a figure who sometimes seems as remote as his effigy on Mount Rushmore, Ellis assesses George Washington as a military and political leader and a man whose “statue-like solidity” concealed volcanic energies and emotions. Here is the impetuous young officer whose miraculous survival in combat half-convinced him that he could not be killed. Here is the free-spending landowner whose debts to English merchants instilled him with a prickly resentment of imperial power. We see the general who lost more battles than he won and the reluctant president who tried to float above the partisan feuding of his cabinet. His Excellency is a magnificent work, indispensable to an understanding not only of its subject but also of the nation he brought into being.