First in the Hearts of His Countrymen : The Death and Legacy of George Washington

by Larry Rothstein

• ISBN13: 9780762772711
• ISBN10: 0762772719
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2013-10-01
• Publisher: Lyons Press

Summary

The dramatic story of George Washington's last days, his visionary death-bed act, and America's first national tragedy For more than thirty hours, his larynx slowly closed. Three doctors tried valiantly to save his life, but succeeded only in draining half his body's blood. At 10:00 p.m. on December 14, 1799, George Washington felt his own pulse and spoke his last words: "'Tis well." Minutes later he died. On his death, his will freed all his slaves, and Washington thereby took sides in the embroilment that slavery would create in America in the coming decades. Surrounding him at Mount Vernon were Martha, his wife of forty years; Tobias Lear, his personal secretary, who held the general's hand as he died; and three doctors, who were following the standard medical procedures of the day. As word spread, the fledgling nation plunged into grief. Mock funerals took place in every major city and town, and thousands donned mourning clothes for months. First in the Hearts of His Countrymentakes the death of the nation's first president as a finely polished lens through which to view the stories of key figures in Washington's life and then to examine the social and political issues and events of this critical period in our nation's history.

Author Biography

Larry Rothstein has developed, edited, ghost-written, and coauthored more than twenty books, including several national bestsellers. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Excerpts

“Nearly two centuries after his death, George Washington is out of fashion, too remote in time and temperament, too encased in marbled veneration, to engage our emotions.”

—Richard Norton Smith, historian and author ofPatriarch

 

What Professor Smith wrote eleven years ago remains true today. If Washington is recalled at all, it is on his birthday when businesses use his image to sell cars, furniture, and mattresses. I want to restore the president to his countrymen, to become once again “Our Washington,” the words future Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Marshall used to announce the president’s death to Congress—“Our Washington is no more.” . . .

 

This emotional and spiritual connection is needed more than ever as the nation struggles through a time of political paralysis, extreme partisanship, a lack of governmental and business leadership and a series of scandals involving elected officials. Washington must again become a guiding light as to how we should conduct our lives both in private and public, and we must again reclaim the legacy he left us.

—from the Preface