Washington’s flirtations with stylish, younger, but married women also get far more play than they warrant, given that they never transcended “some saucy banter and teasing pleasantries.” Instead he married Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, who reappears as the same genial, saintly companion on page after page. But this joke, funny at first, withers in the retelling, as this one-note harridan appears over and over again in Chernow’s narrative. It is certainly amusing to encounter Washington’s egotistical and berating mother, Mary Ball Washington, who felt neglected no matter how hard her son tried to impress her and attend to her: he may have been first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen, but he ranked last to his own mother. In his long book, though, he digresses too often and sometimes too long. Not only did Washington gather around himself the foremost figures of the age, including James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, but he also brilliantly orchestrated their actions to shape the new federal government, define the separation of powers, and establish the office of the presidency.An accomplished biographer, Chernow seeks to enliven the past for a broad readership. He also provides a lavishly detailed portrait of his marriage to Martha and his complex behavior as a slave master.Īt the same time, Washington is an astute and surprising portrait of a canny political genius who knew how to inspire people.
Probing his private life, he explores his fraught relationship with his crusty mother, his youthful infatuation with the married Sally Fairfax, and his often conflicted feelings toward his adopted children and grandchildren. Chernow brings to vivid life a dashing, passionate man of fiery opinions and many moods.
In this groundbreaking work, based on massive research, Chernow dashes forever the stereotype of a stolid, unemotional man.Ī strapping six feet, Washington was a celebrated horseman, elegant dancer, and tireless hunter, with a fiercely guarded emotional life. A laconic man of granite self-control, he often arouses more respect than affection. With a breadth and depth matched by no other one-volume life of Washington, this crisply paced narrative carries the listener through his troubled boyhood, his precocious feats in the French and Indian War, his creation of Mount Vernon, his heroic exploits with the Continental Army, his presiding over the Constitutional Convention, and his magnificent performance as America's first president.ĭespite the reverence his name inspires, Washington remains a lifeless waxwork for many Americans, worthy but dull. In Washington: A Life celebrated biographer Ron Chernow provides a richly nuanced portrait of the father of our nation.
From National Book Award winner Ron Chernow, a landmark biography of George Washington.
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