Bestselling historian John Ferling draws on his unsurpassed knowledge of the Founding Fathers to provide a fresh and provocative new portrait of the greatest of them all, George Washington.Even compared to his fellow founders, George Washington stands tall. Our first president has long been considered a stoic hero, holding himself above the rough-and-tumble politics of his day. Now John Ferling peers behind that image, carefully burnished by Washington himself, to show us a leader who was not only not above politics, but a canny infightera master of persuasion, manipulation, and deniability.In the War of Independence, Washington used his skills to steer the Continental Army through crises that would have broken less determined men; he squeezed out rival generals and defused dissent from those below him. Ending the war as a national hero, Washington "allowed" himself to be pressed into the presidency, guiding the nation with the same brilliantly maintained pose of selfless public interest. In short, Washington deftly screened a burning ambition behind his image of republican virtuebut that image, maintained not without cost, made him just the leader the overmatched army, and then the shaky young nation, desperately needed.Ferling argues that not only was Washington one of America's most adroit politiciansthe proof of his genius is that he is no longer thought of as a politician at all.

John Ferling is a professor emeritus of history at the State University of West Georgia. A leading authority on American Revolutionary history, he is the author of seven books, including Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, The First of Men: A Life of George Washington, and the award-winning A Leap in the Dark: The Struggle to Create the American Republic. His most recent work, Almost a Miracle, was a history bestseller.

Preface	p. xvii
Introduction: The Founding Father Who Wielded Power Without Ambition	p. 1
Rise from Obscurity
Soldier for Virginia: An Introduction to Politics	p. 9
The Burgess: George Washington, Virginia Politician	p. 46
American Hero
The Crucial First Year: Boston, 1775-1776	p. 83
The War in 1776-1777: In the Depths of Despair	p. 104
The Untouchable: General Washington's Great Crisis	p. 140
Victory and Glory	p. 182
First in the Hearts of His Countrymen
Washington and the Politics of Intrigue: To the End of the War	p. 221
Soaring to the Pinnacle	p. 245
President of the United States: The First Term, 1789-1792	p. 278
Endless Crises: Washington's Second Term, 1793-1797	p. 308
The Sand Runs Out	p. 351
Reckoning	p. 367
Select Bibliography	p. 375
Abbreviations	p. 379
Notes	p. 383
Index	p. 425
Maps
Washington's Virginia and Western Country	p. ix
Boston and Vicinity	p. x
New York and Connecticut	p. xi
Manhattan Island to Harlem Heights	p. xii
Washington's Retreat Across New Jersey	p. xiii
New Jersey and Pennsylvania	p. xiv
Siege of Yorktown	p. xv
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The Ascent of George Washington The Hidden Political Genius of an American Icon

9781596914650

1596914653

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