Here's how the group has progressed on General George...

Patriarch:George Washington and the new American Nation by Richard Norton Smith
cyderry
lauranav
General George Washington: a military life by Edward G Lengel
bfertig
Washington: The Indispensable Man by James Thomas Flexner
lindapanzo
garp83
George Washington: A Life by Willard Sterne Randall
stellarexplorer
His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis
drneutron
billiejean
LittleTaiko
Vic33
ShanM816
lindapanzo
ktleyed
krenzel16
scaifea
infopump
auntmarge64
garp83
ludmillalotaria
Washington: A Biography by Douglas Southall Freeman
cweller
The World of George Washington
cal8769
George Washington: A Life
cal8769
George Washington by Paul Leicester Ford
gmillar



Election 1789 Washington (69 electoral votes) vs. unopposed
Election 1792 Washington (132 electoral votes) vs. Adams (77)

George Washington had to borrow money to go to his own inauguration.
George Washington who commanded the Continental Army as a four-star general was promoted posthumously to the position of six-star "General of the Armies of Congress" by an order of Jimmy Carter, who felt America's first President should also be America's highest military official.
When George Washington was elected President, there was a king in France, a czarina in Russia, an emperor in China, and a shogun in Japan. Only the office of President remains.
Washington was one of two Presidents that signed the U.S. Constitution.
George Washington was a half first cousin twice removed of James Madison, a second cousin seven times removed of Queen Elizabeth II, a third cousin twice removed of Robert E. Lee, and an eighth cousin six times removed of Winston Churchill.
Washington was the only president elected unanimously, receiving all 69 of the electoral votes cast.
Washington carried a portable sundial.
Washington's inauguration speech was 183 words long and took 90 seconds to read. This was because of his false teeth.
Washington loved to help fight fires.
Washington's favorite sports were fishing and fox hunting.
Washington's face was scarred from smallpox.
Washington was the only president to die in the 1700s.
George Washington had two ice cream freezers installed at his home in Mount Vernon.
George Washington left no direct descendant. Though his wife Martha had four children by a previous marriage., Washington never sired a child to continue his line.
Washington once issued an order that forbade swearing throughout the U.S. Army.
Washington used to take a boat from Mount Vernon to Washington D.C. to get to work.
Washington's IQ was estimated to be about 125.
He was a very loud snorer.

Message edited by its author, Oct 8, 2009, 8:09pm.

Interesting collection of facts. The impact of his having been the only president to die in the 1700s is somewhat mitigated, I think, by there having been only two to serve in that century... But nonetheless, interesting.

Washington is such a tempting topic for biographers, I'm sure there are many good biographies out there. The one I really enjoyed was George Washington: A Life by Willard Sterne Randall http://www.librarything.com/work/148642

Engaging, comprehensive, and full of the history of the times admixed with the life of the man himself. As a good biography should be. I actually listened to it on audiotape in the car, and it was readily absorbed in that format.

Cheli---not sure where the tidbit about taking the boat from Mt V to Washington came from. I'll have to research, but I don't think DC even existed during Wasington's tenure. He did take a boat from Mt Vernon up the Potomac to Alexandria VA.

Having lived in Alexandria, and in a house that actually stood on the site of one of George's 5 farms, I remember when they rebuilt the dock at Mt Vernon. I love these trivia bits...maybe we can get the correct answer from a reader of one of the hundreds of good biographies out there.

I did a quick search on wikipedia. Georgetown was chartered by the Province of Maryland in 1751. Alexandria was chartered in 1749. George Washington selected the site for the federal district that became the city of Washington in the Territory of Columbia. Much later these were united as the District of Columbia. So it's likely that he did indeed take a boat across the Potomac to Washington, but not as part of his responsibilities as President, since the capital was Philadelphia at the time.

Decent wikipedia page, by the way.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington,...

Thanks Jim, for verifying that info. I got all the Trivia from a Trivia page for presidents.

Picked up my first President today - Patriarch for George. It's supposed to go in depth on the problems during his presidency so I can't wait to start it.

12/18 I'm gettingthis book out and starting it today!

Message edited by its author, Dec 18, 2008, 12:35pm.

Not trying to be a nitpicker, but should we define "biography"? This books purports to start at his presidency -which to me puts it in the category of other books. Are we going to define bio as the story of his life, starting somewhere close to birth with discussions of person influential in early life, etc, moving on thru all years. Or is any book that touches on the presidential years going to count.

Should this be a discussion on the general tab instead so we can all pitch in?

I wanted to start with this one and if I feel that I didn't get enough early years I may get another. I don't want to be so restrictivve that we are eliminating books simply because they don't go back far enough or end before he dies, I'm really looking for something that tells me about his presidential years. I've heard so much about his revolutionary years (Valley Forge, crossing the Delaware,etc.) but never very much about what he went through as the first President. That's why I chose this book above others.

I think each reader needs to determine what they want to "learn" from the challenge and each president. It may be something different from each guy.
One of the reasons I want to read them in order is to see if there is something that leads me to want to know more about the next guy because of what happened to the guy before him.

I think that this does need to be on the general thread so that everyone is included, I wil copy are comments and post them there.

I've picked His Excellency: George Washington and An Imperfect God as my January President reads. The first is a more classic bio, the second looks at Washington through his relationships with his slaves and the issue of slavery in general.

Cheli...I think that's the way to go--let everyone decide depth of the work they want to read and the order in which they want to do. I like the idea of reading in order, but don't want to spend a long time waiting to find the next one....that's how I got off track last time. Couldn't find a good one of Monroe, and went on to read cozies instead.

Drneutron...Imperfect God looks like a great one for my ancillary list. I'm going to try to make the first book for each pres a true bio, but will be keeping a side list and definitely doing some side reading on specific issues. That sounds like a great one.

I think I'm going to start with the one volume Washington: The Indispensible Man by James Flexner. His original work is four volumes and highly acclaimed, and I'd like to read that, but with the 999 challenge going at the same time, I think I'll start with the single volume. Reserve the right to change my mind of course. And I'm waiting to see what others come up with in suggestions.

I ordered the book His Excellency: George Washington, also. I won't be able to start reading until after the first because I am going out of town. I am excited about starting this challenge! :)
--BJ

GEORGE WASHINGTON
BOOK TITLE: Patriarch: George Washington and the New American nation
Author: Richard Norton Smith
Read: Dec 18 - Jan 1
Category: Biography
Pages: 448

WHAT AN AMAZING MAN!
I just finished this superb book! It was kind of hard to start but once the author got on a roll, it was great! There were so many things that I never knew that came out in this book. My review is kind of long (just click on the touchstone and you'll see it) but I wanted to do him justice. I would definitely recommend this book if you want to find out about the startup government and how it survived.

Cheli

Message edited by its author, Jan 16, 2009, 6:27pm.

tutu - FYI

In the Washington book, it did make note that after he retired, he was still overseeing the "Federal City" construction and often took a boat from Alexandria port to the Georgetown port to review progress.

Good to know...

Speaking of Washington's oversight of the Federal City construction, there are some great scenes in the PBS John Adams miniseries showing John and Abigail arriving at the White House during construction, and living for quite a while amidst the work.

I read His Excellency when it first came out, and consider it one of Ellis' best.

I read His Excellency a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. We are truly lucky that he was chosen to be our first president. It took a really extraordinary person to make the decisions that he did and to unite our country.

I agree. After reading the Patriarch I was stunned because you never hear about all he went through with the new government, only about his war record.

Awhile back, I read James Thomas Flexner's outstanding one volume biography of George Washington. It's called Washington: The Indispensable Man. I think it was about 450 pages long.

Flexner is a prominent Washington scholar who has also written a 4-volume biography of Washington.

I would definitely recommend this one.

Just finished His Excellency: George Washington. I've always enjoyed Revolutionary War history but never actually read a George bio. The book was very good. As others have said, most people know his part in the Revolution but not quite as much about his Presidency and his retirement years. This book does a good job covering those years.

I'm about 2/3 of the way through His Excellency. I agree - it's very good. My only criticism so far is that the reader really should be familiar with the basic history of the American revolutionary period. Ellis goes for larger themes and an understanding of Washington himself rather than a detailed retelling of events. It worked for me very well, but others may not have the needed background.

I'm glad to here so many good things about His Excellency - I just ordered it the other day. I'm a little slow getting started here, but it's because I only allow myself to place book orders once a month!

Now that I'm done, I can heartily recommend His Excellency. It held up well to the end. I was fascinated with Washington's second retirement - he entertained anybody who dropped by!

Alexander Hamilton has a lot of detailed interesting look into Washington's Presidency (and Adams), and so I'll use the Hamilton book as a placeholder until I find something more focused on Washington.

Even though the book is focused on Hamilton, it is filled with information about Washington and Adams and their presidencies. Less information on Jefferson, and almost no information on Jefferson's first term (when Hamilton was still alive).

Quite detailed about the era, and the various "names" of that era. Interesting look at Madison, Jefferson, Aaron Burr, George Clinton, and other big names of the era.

OK, well, these aren't biographies, per se, but as the comments above suggest that I can choose what I want to get out of this, I'm counting the following for what I've read on Washington. I'll be upfront that most likely, the other books I select on other presidents may very well not be cradle to grave biographies.

General George Washington: a military life - this was an interesting account focusing on his military/military administrative career and goes back to his role in the French and Indian war before getting into Revolutionary times. I thought it interesting because it suggested he really grew into his own over his military careers, showing real growth.

1776 - who can resist McCullough? Though, I read this after reading Washington's Crossing and thought that 1776 was a little more cramped than McCullough's other writing due to both its brevity and its adherence to just examining this particular year in somewhat of a vacuum, rather than as the continuum of events that led up to and followed. Washington's Crossing was a great read and I found myself wishing there were more of it as I neared the end.

#25 I also though 1776 felt incomplete, since it doesn't tell a complete story of anything. But he told us up front that it was going to be just the significant events of that one year, and it was. I wasn't ready for it to end, though, since the story wasn't over yet!

bfertig, it all balances out in the end. Someone could choose to read all the slim American Presidents series volumes (125-150 pages each) and just scratch the surface for each. Many will probably go in depth on the presidents who are of most interest to them.

There aren't any quizzes at the end (unless Cheli is going to surprise us?)

I hadn't thought about it, but maybe I should.

>26
I thought 1776 was just right. It had limited aims, and accomplished these with with a deft and picturesque brush. No substitute for a biography of Washington, but as a portrait of a crucial moment in America's founding, a satisfying dish indeed.

I also read His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis and I thought that it was just great. This book was extremely well-written and I want to read more from Ellis. I learned so much about Washington.
--BJ

I haven't read this one--I just came upon it at the History Book Club website. It sounds interesting. Washington sat for 28 different portrait artists during his lifetime.

The Painter's Chair: George Washington and the Making of American Art by Hugh Howard

I finished the Joseph J. Ellis biography, His Excellency: George Washington.

The first half or so, before Washington became president, did not hold my interest and it took me forever to slog through it. However, it picked up once Ellis reached Washington's presidency, I thought.

This book did refresh my memory as to many of the key issues of the revolutionary war era and so now I feel more comfortable moving on to John Adams.

Hi everyone, I'm new to this group, and I recently read His Excellency and I guess I'm the dissenting voice here, I did not think it was that great. I've read much better bios, I got the distinct impression Ellis didn't even like who he was writing about! It was obviously well researched, but I thought it was dry, I agree with lindapanzo that it picked up considerably once Washington was president. I learned a great deal about him, but I just can't say the book was all that entertaining. Just because the book is a historic biography doesn't mean it has to be dull and crammed full of facts. Maybe I'm just not too fond of Ellis' style, it just sounded like he an axe to grind while writing it, not a flattering portrait of Washington, IMHO.

Message edited by its author, Apr 3, 2009, 2:47pm.

ktleyed: I'm reading His Excellency now, and I agree with you about Ellis. He seems to believe that he's a wonderful writer, and that really annoys me.

#34 scaifea - yup, I got the same impression. Even his preface alludes to it a bit.

From the mixed reviews of His Excellency I'm glad that I read Patriarch instead. I thought Norton really admired Washington and made a big effort to show all that Washington had to go through to keep on a bipartisan road between Adams and Jefferson. The book mainly centered around his presidency so it was very enlightening to me since most of what I knew before was Revolutionary War related.

Now that the Spring Semester is over, I'm finally able to start this challenge. I just checked George Washington: A Life by Willard Sterne Randall and hope to get started in the next day or two.

exlibrismcp

Glad that you are getting a chance to get started. Be sure and let us know what you think about this bio.

*pipes up from the peanut gallery*

I enjoyed Randall's book. Listened to it on audiotape. It did a nice job with GW's not-so-spectacular adventure in the French and Indian War, and how it made him one of the very few with military experience in 1775. Advance planning was not a bit part of the Revolution!

But it worked out in the end, depending on your point of view ;-D

Message edited by its author, May 20, 2009, 9:28pm.

Lengel also did a good job covering that aspect in his book. It was interesting to contrast the mediocrity Lengel exposes in Washington's early career with the brilliance Fischer expounds on in his later career. Good to see evidence that even the greats learn from experience.

Message edited by its author, May 21, 2009, 1:10pm.

>40
That's a great point, because while GW may have showed promise before the opportunity for greatness was thrust upon him, no one could have predicted it from his military past. Perhaps from his bearing, from his personal rectitude, from his leadership skills, etc, but not as a military leader. Rare it is that just the right person was in the right place as the right time.

I always looked at his early career as his learning curve. He made some mistakes that he took to heart and it showed in his later performance. He also later had a fair measure of luck thrown his way that he knew how to make the most of.

Finally finished His Excellency. Ugh. I hope my other choices turn out better. The content was interesting, but, again, the writing was irritating.
Up next for me is John Adams by David McCullough.

I actually really liked His Excellency. It kind of started off dry, so I was unsure at the beginning, but by the end I thought the author had succeeded in transforming Washington from the "oldest, deadest white guy" in our history to an actual human being.

The other thing I liked about the book was that it actually said what Washington thought about the American Revolution. That is a major theme of the Jefferson books I read -- that Jefferson viewed it as not only a political revolution, but a social one also, doing away with both the class sytem and a strong federal government -- so I thought Ellis's discussion of Washington's views -- which were far more pragmatic than Jefferson's -- was very interesting. I wish McCullough would have gone more into what Adams thought the American Revolution actually meant in his book, like Ellis did in His Excellency.

I just started reading Washington by Douglas Southall Freeman. It is considered to be the definitive biography on Washington. I'll admit to cheating a little and reading the abridged version rather than all 7 volumes.

I can't blame you for the abridged version if unabridged is 7 volumes! The whole idea is to get the information that you want for each president so if abridged gives you that, go for it!

I will eventually read the full biography. I'm just waiting for either Easton Press or The Folio Society to publish them again.

I visited Mt. Vernon for the first time last weekend and George has gone up further in my estimation as a Renaissance kind of guy. I think he would be pleased overall with how things have been maintained except for one thing. There were some minor issues in need of restoration and a guide did reveal that the foundations were in serious need of work, but the thing that concerned me was the lack of cleaning of the interior of the home. I realize it must be done delicately, but the layers of dirt and cobwebs on the furniture, moldings, etc. reflect not short term, but years of neglect. Surely to goodness some interns could be found who with the proper instruction could clean the place up. Since Mt. Vernon is privately owned and apparently a money maker I can't imagine what excuse there could be for this. Even if George didn't care I think Martha would be pissed.

Varielle.....Before we moved to Maine, I lived for several years less than a mile from MT Vernon--in fact my house was on one of his original five farms. I am quite familiar with the site and the recent upgrades are, as you reported, really well done.

However, I do want to gently correct what seems to be a perception that MV is a money-maker. It's not. While it takes in money, the balance sheet is precarious, and they are always looking for grants, for volunteers, doing special projects (one year we 'bought' a window so that those apertures could be upgraded/replaced to save heat/humidity, etc.) I'm sorry to hear that it needed cleaning, and you're right--there's no excuse for that unless it was after a major tourist event (the place gets very dirty very fast whenever large crowds traipse thru).

Let's hope they get it cleaned up and keep up the marvelous work. To any of the rest of you, if you've never visited, be sure to go if you get to the DC area. It is well worth the 1/2 hour drive down the Mt Vernon Parkway (in any season one of the most beautiful drives in the country).

ETA: here's a link to Mt Vernon's Homepage Enjoy...

Message edited by its author, Jun 2, 2009, 5:32pm.

I visited Mt Vernon for the first time last year - on a cold and rainy day in March. It was too gloomy indoors to notice whether there were dust or cobwebs. But I was impressed with the entire estate and the care that has been taken to keep it intact - especially the effort to purchase the land across the river to prevent it from being developed and preserving the view from the house. I can't wait to go back again on a dry and sunny day and spend more time strolling the grounds.

We took the metro from DC and transferred to a bus out to the estate - a relaxing and easy trip that only cost a couple of bucks - and a chance to get some reading done!

I fell in love with the color of paint, verdigris green, in the dining room. Tons of people tramping through can create a lot of dirt. No, I imagine no one is getting rich there and I know it's expensive to keep an old structure from falling completely apart, so they are likely paddling hard to stay above water. Though they did emphasize they are the most visited home in the US and have retained all the copyrights to interior photography, and the restaurants and gift shops seem to be doing a brisk business. It did seem that efforts were started, but left unfinished. For instance, a great deal of trouble was apparently gone to in order to have the vegetable and flower garden going for the season, but the plants hadn't been maintained. Having hired a fair number of interns eager to work for free, for very little, just for college credit or to slap something impressive on their resume, I can't help but think that a semester or a summer at Mt. Vernon would be a great and apparently missed opportunity for history, museum studies, or parks/req majors out there. I feel like going back and taking my dust rag. Hopefully, this is just an anomaly and when I go back someday all will be well.

I just finished Washington by Douglas Southall Freeman. This was a little hard going until it reached his Presidency. I do wander how much was lost in the abridgement. Overall this was a very thorough biography on Washington. His character really comes through the pages. It was interesting to note how he never allowed personal ambitions to cloud his judgment to what was best for America.

cweller

I found the same thing.. he really was a dedicated patriot. He wanted on the best, even if it wasn't the best thing for him.

Hi everyone.

I am almost finished with The World of George Washington by Richard M. Ketchum. It isn't a very good (as in indepth) look at Washington but it had maps and pictures. I just love maps and pictures. :) Ketchum seemed to skim over Washington's life but that is OK with me. I'm not up on my history the way I should be. This book seemed to give me direction and an easy history lesson. I have George Washington:A Life by Willard Sterne Randall waiting in the wings.

#54 it had maps and pictures. I just love maps and pictures. Me too. :-)

I've read and listened to a number of presidential biographies in the past, but won't be counting them since I've decided to start this project like my country anew.

finished 8/3/2009
Title: His Excellency : George Washington
Author: Joseph J. Ellis

I'm reading in order and have just finished my first of the three by Joseph J. Ellis which I intend to read. I thought that it was very good, though not quite great.

Message edited by its author, Aug 3, 2009, 9:05am.

I finished His Excellency last evening and was very impressed, by both the man and the writer. I've never been much of a bio reader (so how, exactly, did I get involved with this challenge?), but the book kept me very interested. I've got Flexner's Washington: The Indispensable Man ready to read but will save it for later, because I'm anxious to get on with the challenge. Next up, McCullough's John Adams.

What I found most interesting was (1) how much unlikeable stuff is actually known about GW; (2) how he really IS the father of our country; (3) and how little I'm liking Jefferson at the moment, looking at him from the perspective given by Ellis. (I've got Ellis' American Sphinx for my Jefferson book, so that should be an interesting juxtaposition.)

His Excellency is actually not a great Washington bio and it is, in my opinion, one of Ellis' weaker books, although I enjoyed reading it. The best one in my opinion is Flexner's Indispensable Man which truly captures the man and his critical place in our history. There would have been no successful revolution nor no successful American republic without Washington, I would wager.

The interesting thing about Washington is that it was as if fate put him on a path to play the role that he played.

He inadvertently bumbled into almost single-handedly starting the Seven Years War (the French & Indian War), which is THE event and its aftermath that led to the Revolution. He shows up in uniform -- twice the size of every other man in attendance -- at the Continental Convention and becomes commanding general. Earlier in his life, he had contracted smallpox in the West Indies, so during a smallpox epidemic that claimed perhaps thousands during the war, Washington is immune. He also seems immune to bullets, cold, deprivation, and other disease. He loses almost every battle hut manages to claim victory simply by avoiding losing. Then he does the unthinkable and relinquishes power. Later, when the nascent democracy is struggling, he re-emerges and is the first President, and then he relinquishes power again. He is vain, he is not too bright, he is prideful, he is arrogant in his own way, he is thin-skinned, but yet he is great because at the end of it all he puts his state, his country, his countrymen before him.

There is little to like about Washington when you get to know him, but there is enough to admire that you want to bow to him as he passes you in the historical pantheon of great men.

I agree he wasn't the smartest man, but as you said he did put the nation before himself and that I think is what made him a great leader for the nation at the time they needed such a man.

Message edited by its author, Aug 14, 2009, 12:01am.

George Washington by Paul Leicester Ford
A simplistic but unusal treatment of an important life. The original publication was 1896. This is a presentation of an honest man who felt a responsibility to serve. I don't see Washington as a person who was out for personal aggrandizement.

Actually, while the later Washington ultimately put the needs of the emerging United States well before his own ambitions, the younger Washington was driven largely by that ambition for personal wealth and for position.

Maybe it was the way the book was written, maybe it was that my deep read of it was quite a while ago, but I missed that part of the man. It wasn't an impression that lodged in my mind from reading this book. I can readily believe that there was an ambition for wealth and position, the existence of Mt Vernon would attest to that. I still like my first impression though.

Well I haven't read the Ford book so I can't speak to it, but I might generalize in that the majority of 19th century treatments of Washington were purely laudatory and many were -- like Weems' bio -- pure mythology.

Washington was a complex character and perhaps the most difficult of the founders to get to know. He was aloof in his life and carried with him a kind of almost impenetrable dignity. There is a story -- I don't know if it is true or not -- about a lawmaker who dared another to simply touch Washington's sleeve. The story has it that the man took up the dare but mostly wilted at the icy glare that he provoked from the great man.

But Washington had many flaws and all of the current historical studies underscore these as well as the elements of his character that we otherwise celebrate.

He was a very vain man, very thin-skinned to real or perceived rebuke and he was highly ambitious for wealth, power and prestige. It has been suggested by more than one biographer that had the British granted him the military commission in the English army that he most coveted, the course of the Revolution might have been very different. (The same argument has been made about Franklin, who was denied the position of chief postmaster he so wanted.)

Of course, without Washington it is dubious that the American Revolution or the foundation of the new government would have followed the courses they did.

I think your last sentence is a very fair statement and it should probably be copied and pasted to the bios of the first four presidents. It is astonishing that all the necessary men lived at the same time in the same general area and with the same aspirations for that land in which they lived. We would probably have to journey back to the very beginning of the Christian Era to find such a felicitous circumstance. Having said that, there are a lot of cultures about which I know little enough to make that a categorical statement.
Any way you look ai it, we who enjoy the fruits of their labors are very lucky people .

Well I'm not sure I would go along with the Christian era comments, but yes gmiller you are right in that were very fortunate to have that group of men working in combination towards the common goal -- our new nation. May I strongly recommend to you the Joseph Ellis book: Founding Brothers -- it will further underscore this appreciation of our good fortune in this regard.

Thanks, I've ordered a copy.

gmiller -- let me know what you think when you read it. I have met Ellis and read many of his books & I believe that is the best one!

Will do.

By the way, so far on Washington I have read His Excellency by Ellis and Washington The Indispensible Man by Flexner.

I have also read a number of books where Washington is a critical character, including Founding Brothers by Ellis and American Creation also by Ellis

Message edited by its author, Sep 1, 2009, 8:41pm.

I finished His Excellency this morning. Enjoyed it, but glad I had already read some other books, such as McCullough's 1776, that fill in some of the detail that Ellis skims over. My experience with Ellis is that he's very analytical, and this is more of an analytical look at Washington's record and legacy than a detailed look at his life a pure biographer might give. I think both are actually needed. I might eventually seek out another bio of GW to round out my impressions.

Next up is Patricia Brady's biography of Martha Washington. I'll post in the First Ladies thread when I'm done with that one.

Message edited by its author, Oct 4, 2009, 9:18am.

Ludmilla -- read the Flexner one volume Washington bio -- excellent!